What happened to the Zoche aero diesel? Did it work?

Question

Supposedly a revolutionary lightweight aircraft diesel engine invented by Michael Zoche, of Munich, Germany

Answer 1

According to Zoche it works, but not approved yet.
I would wonder why this has taken so long...they bench tested it first in 1995 or so..wonder
From the site :
"As with any leading edge technology, precise schedules are difficult to predict. We expect to ship the first production engines one year after Engine Type Certification. The 300 and 150 hp aero-diesels will be first on the market, to be followed by the 70 hp ZO 03A."

Answer 2

For One: The price of Diesel has gotten higher than gasoline for whatever reason. Two: Diesel stations are harder to find. Three: Emissions are a headache for diesel car makers because the EPA is tightening the screws on all diesels. They've been emission exempt for so long there's no good technology there. What I mean is, diesel engines work differently than gas and produce different pollutants than gas so controlling fuel etc. and putting it all into an OBDII computer controlled type of system that can be tested by plugging a P.C. into it is an inherent challenge. I do emission testing in MO. and any diesel car here 1997 and newer with LESS than an 8500 pound Gross Vehicle Weight Rating(GVWR) is required to be tested. So far I have not seen ONE diesel car come in. The only Diesel's we see are for safety only inspections and are emission exempt trucks over 8500 GVWR. Those would be 3/4 ton trucks and UP. Like F-250's, Chevy 2500's, Ram 2500's etc. Four: The old diesel car's from Mercedes to Oldsmobile were slow, smelly, noisy and problematic so the buying public is still wary of diesel car's. Back in the '80's alot of GM diesel car's, for one, were snapped up by Hot Rodder's because they were certified emission exempt by there VIN #, so they would put souped up V8 gas engines in them and as long as nobody knew, you would never have to worry about emissions. Unlike the guy down the street with the same year make and model car that came certified with the emission tested gas engine. By the way, American V8 Diesel pick up's 'are' cost effective when compared to American V8 Gas pick up's if you need a truck everyday. I agree that more of the diesel car's will come back. After all, Diesel fuel is still alot simpler to find when compared to E85 and diesels are cheaper to build than Hybrids.

Answer 3

I believe there have been some technical snags. Little things like they keep quitting in flight. As soon as the bugs are worked out they will be type certificated in the US. There are quite a few of them flying in Europe and so far have proved durable enough, but I guess US authorities are not yet convinced.

Answer 4

a company called Diamond aircraft uses Mercedes turbo diesels to ppower some of its models, and of corse they have excellent economy with regard to fuel burn. As far a Zoche I haven't heard of it .

Answer 5

Think about it: if it worked, we would have heard about it.