Company's Diesel Engines To Be Installed In RedHawk Aero Aircraft

Continental Motors Group has been selected as the engine supplier for Cochise College’s six new RedHawk Aero training aircraft to be purchased in 2015. Continental Motors will supply six of its technologically advanced CD-135 diesel engines as the single lever, Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) power plants for the RedHawk Training Aircraft.

Continental Diesel engines are popular with flight schools around the world including Europe, China and Africa. Their popularity stems from the benefits that they provide to the pilot, operator, and maintainers. For the pilot, they offer simple, single lever operation that allows the pilot to focus on the most important aspect of their training and piloting skills. It also better prepares the pilot for a career in aviation since the engine’s controls are similar to those they will encounter as they pursue an aviation career that involves turbine powered aircraft.

For the operator, the engine uses Jet-A fuel, simplifying fuel infrastructure and costs, as well as lowering the fuel cost per hour due to the engine’s higher efficiency as compared to either gasoline or turbine powered aircraft. Finally, the maintainer benefits from a modern, electronically controlled engine with data collection. This reduces maintenance time and costs, as well as supporting advanced diagnostic based maintenance reviews and scheduling.

“The CD-135 is an ideal engine for training aircraft based on our well proven operational reliability and efficiencies”, stated Johnny Doo, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Business Development for Continental Motors.

“We selected the CD-135 for our new trainer aircraft because of the outstanding performance this Jet-A Fuel, FADEC-managed engine offered," stated Darren Bien, Vice President of Operations, RedHawk Aero. “Continental’s turbo-diesel engine is a perfect match for our remanufactured Cessna 172. We have the ideal training aircraft solution that is affordable, operationally economical and technologically advanced."

“We were looking to replace some of our older, well-aged fleet with a modern, technologically advanced aircraft that was also affordable and provided operational savings. We’ve had a long relationship with Redbird and was impressed with their development of the RedHawk trainer powered by Continental’s CD-135 engine," said Belinda Burnett, Director of Aviation Programs and Chief Flight Instructor for Cochise College. “We have field elevations of more than 4000 feet and test flights demonstrated improved climb performance to our existing fleet while burning less than 6 gallons per hour."

(Image from file)

FMI: www.continentalmotors.aero