Collaborates With McDonalds For Fuel Source

ANN APRIL 1st "SPECIAL" EDITION: And we thought reducing the weight of the venerable O-200 was impressive. On Tuesday, representatives with Teledyne Continental Motors announced the company is also jumping into the aviation diesel fray, with its new O-200TD-F.

"This engine will not only revolutionize the general aviation segment, but also change the way everyone looks at small aircraft," said TCM Marketing and Communications director Mac Little.

Mounted to the nose of a Cessna 152 technical demonstrator, the first FADEC-equipped O-200TD-F comes in at just a hair over 250 lbs, and generates 125 horsepower at the prop at a low 1900 rpm. Little says the turbocharged O-200TD-F is exceptionally smooth in normal operation, and develops about the same amount of noise as a conventional O-200.

But that's not the engine's most saleable feature, Little adds.

"Look at this over here," Little said, pointing to a canister mounted to the rear of the four-cylinder engine. "That is the aviation world's first biodiesel fuel converter. That useful gadget -- patent pending, and please, no pictures -- will allow pilots to burn used vegetable oil grease and other sources of fuel without the need for expensive home-converting equipment.

"Let's face it -- nearly all pilots have been to McDonald's a time of two in their lives," Little continued. "And many of us are on first-name terms with employees of our local fast food eateries, if only because we often grab a morning snack on the way to the airport. Those fast-food outlets are only too happy to have someone come and haul away their used cooking grease -- and with our unique engine, you can collect about 10 gallons of grease at a time, dump it in the tank, and our engine does the rest!"

Little acknowledged the engine is still under development, and cautions owners of current aircraft to NOT dump cooking grease into their planes. "But if all goes to plan, in a couple years pilots will be able to do exactly that!" Little exclaimed. " And just think... the air over your local airport could soon smell of french fries... that will no doubt help calm neighbors nervous about having airports in their backyards... am I right?"

FMI: www.tcm-maciscrazy.com