Cessina's 182 JT-A is set to go to market, but that airplane's SMA SR305 turbodiesel isn't the only game in town. Two other diesel engines of European origin have been flying for several years. First came Thielert Aircraft Engines' TAE-125 engines, which were produced in 1.7- and 2.0-liter versions and powered Diamond Aircraft's DA42 Twin Stars. It was an unhappy marriage. Thielert's engines proved less than robust, couldn't be overhauled (instead, you buy a new engine at the overhaul time of 1,200 hours), and needed their clutches overhauled and gearboxes inspected at 300-hour intervals. It got worse. In 2008, Thielert went bankrupt, and criminal charges were levied against company CEO Frank Thielert. He was accused of falsifying invoices to artificially boost his bottom line.
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