Honestly, I am pleasantly surprised by the news that Thielert Aircraft Engines’ insolvency administrator has announced a (probably small) profit, and is looking for a buyer.

You can find a rundown of my previous stuff here, but here is the nickel tour:

• Thielert makes a revolutionary aircraft turbo diesel based on a Mercedes block, which is fuel efficient and runs on AvJet fuel, which is easier to find, and cheaper, than AvGas.
• Thielert gets a number of deals to supply engines in the aftermarket, to OEMs (particularly Diamond), and for UAVs.
• Thielert gets into financial problems.
• This appears to be 1 part fraud, and 1 part that the engine, particularly the reduction gearing to the prop needs more maintenance than anticipated, and Thielert is getting hammered by guarantee costs.
• The founder is kicked out, and the company is placed under an insolvency administrator (in the US, we would call this Chapter 11).
• The administrator cancels guarantee support and jacks up the price (gouges really) on spares, forcing most of the operators to ground their aircraft.
• Diamond tells Thielert to go Cheney themselves, and starts to develop an aero-diesel based on the same engine block.
• Diamond also takes a major hit in their business too, as they had used the Thielert engine extensively, and certification of a new engine is a non-trivial process.

What has happened over the past few months apparently is that the insolvency administrator, Bruno Kübler, has come to understand the market, reduced spares prices, and started to supply a limited amount of support under its old guarantees.

Additionally, they are looking to sell the engine in the future without the extensive guarantee, so as to avoid this problem in the future….It’s a change in business model, with the majority of future profits being in engine support, rather than the initial sale.

It’s still a promising technology, though I am still dubious of Thielert’s continued existence.