Wed, Jul 22, 2009
FADEC Proves Itself In Flight Tests
TCM is spilling the beans on some intriguing test flights that
they've undertaken in recent days. Over the course of these tests,
TCM achieved a peak fuel economy of 30.7 miles per gallon in a Full
Authority Digital Electronic Controlled (FADEC) piston engine
aircraft. The fuel economy demonstration flight consisted of two
legs of 339.3 nautical miles each.
The flight was conducted in a Diamond DA20 (file photo below)
powered by a TCM IOF240 FADEC controlled engine. The flight covered
a 678.6 NM round-trip route from Mobile Downtown Airport (KBFM) in
Mobile, Alabama to Craig Municipal Airport (KCRG) in Jacksonville,
Florida. On the first leg, the flight achieved 30.7 miles per
gallon. Due to inclement weather on the return leg, TCM
demonstration pilot, Tim Kenney, requested several vectors and
altitude changes to avoid thunderstorms and turbulence. Even with
the diversions on the return leg, which are a normal part of flying
in the real world, the FADEC powered DA20 achieved an average 24.4
MPG rating with an average true airspeed of 127 MPH over the full
678.6 NM course.
File Photo
"Today's announcement is another example of Continental Motors'
commitment towards advancing modern engine technology without
compromising owner economy" said Rhett Ross, President of Teledyne
Continental Motors (pictured below). "TCM's FADEC products offers
today's pilot reduced workloads and operating costs - Two distinct
benefits that only TCM can deliver," Ross concluded.
TCM's FADEC provides single lever, electronic engine control for
piston powered general aviation aircraft. It is the first
production system of its kind for piston engine aircraft designed
to reduce a pilot's engine management tasks to simply selecting the
desired power setting through a single control lever. The power of
FADEC also gives operators and maintainers unprecedented access to
diagnostic and analytical tools enabling faster and more reliable
fault detection and correction which minimizes downtime and
maximizes utility.
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