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DeltaHawk Diesel Engine


Dave Clifford

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DeltaHawk just updated their web site on 03/09/03. They are now installing their first flight engine in the Velocity. It will be interesting if this engine actually goes into production. They have a lot invested in this to give up now.:rolleyes:

Dave Clifford

"The Metal Man" Musketeer

Vise grip hands and Micrometer eyes!!

 

Cozy MKIV Plans #656

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No a real surprise. I saw the engine running on the velocity... must have been 3 years ago. Put in a pre-order for one. They have drogue their feet so much I just bought a tried and true engine, a Lycoming.

Regards, Nick

___________________________________

Charleston, SC LongEZ, N29TM, 2400 hrs

http://www.canardzone.com/members/nickugolini/

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Originally posted by Nick Ugolini

No a real surprise. I saw the engine running on the velocity... must have been 3 years ago.

Nope. Four and a half. It was OSH, 1998 - that was the year I was there with Bose, and I remember seeing them taxiing a Velocity with no wings attached around on one of the taxiways as a demo. That was three years after seeing them run one on a test stand at OSH in 1995.

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Yes.

I was there also and saw this. The engine they are installing in the same Velocity now is the version they hope to put into production. They claim to have solved the problems that cropped up with the engine we saw at Osh '98. They claim to have made significant refinements. We will see.:rolleyes:

Dave Clifford

"The Metal Man" Musketeer

Vise grip hands and Micrometer eyes!!

 

Cozy MKIV Plans #656

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 years later...

This may be a dumb question but here goes: Deltahawk has been in business for 12+ years at this point and as far as I can tell, they haven't sold a single engine (experimental or certified). How can they afford to stay in business? They must have millions of dollars of backing to be "just 1 or 2 years away from FAA certification. Anyone talk to them at Oshkosh and get any real news on why they're taking so long?:(

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Do not confuse the following 2 statements:

 

"They have not sold a single engine."

"They have not shipped a single engine."

 

They have been in business for a long time. And if they were completely dishonest people, they would have dissapeared ages ago. If they were completely honest people, they would have closed up shop, appologized for wasting people's time, and possibly declared bankruptcy. Unfortunately, they are in between, and so have little to show for the money raised, but probably have little left to spend in maui.

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Perhaps they are just funded by somebodies sugardagdaddy who doesnt mind showing a loss at the end of the year. We have LOTS of art galleries and Boutique clothing stores here in expensive Carmel that the husband/ doctor big money boy puts his wife/etc in business, so she has ''something to do'' and they dont care if they make the nut.

Who knows, everything isnt 'shady' in the world?

Self confessed Wingnut.

Now think about it...wouldn't you rather LIVE your life, rather than watch someone else's, on Reality T.V.?

Get up off that couch!!! =)

 

Progress; Fuselage on all three, with outside and inside nearly complete. 8 inch extended nose. FHC done. Canard finished. ERacer wings done with blended winglets. IO540 starting rebuild. Mounting Spar. Starting strake ribs.

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Perhaps they are just funded by somebodies sugardagdaddy who doesnt mind showing a loss at the end of the year. We have LOTS of art galleries and Boutique clothing stores here in expensive Carmel that the husband/ doctor big money boy puts his wife/etc in business, so she has ''something to do'' and they dont care if they make the nut.

Who knows, everything isnt 'shady' in the world?

I doublechecked, and I think I misunderstood one thing about them: it doesn't look like they require a deposit for a pre-order! Not so shady, *and* it makes the sugardaddy scenario (or something like it) likely.

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You can also imagine the liability they would be exposing themselves to if they actually produced an engine and sold it.

 

Check out Luscombe aircraft in Altus OK. I was Living in Altus until 2005. I've seen the two (and only two) prototypes at SNF twice now. They started this venture in 1996.

 

I personally spoke to Daniels (The President) a few times and he spoke glowingly of the future of the company. But here it is twelve years later,... and no airplanes!

Check out this article from 2004.

http://www.altustimes.com/articles/2004/04/17/news/top01.txt

 

Good luck getting your engine!

 

RE-ally!!! Just don't put a deposit down on it! I would have to see a working engine on a test stand that I could pay cash for, and take it home that day before I spent a dime on one.

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DeltaHawk is making forward progress.

 

Engine is in it's 5th or 6th generation,

several generations have been flying,

plus 1000's of hours spinning a prop on a test stand.

 

Certainly internal changes resulted from this testing.

Which always calls for more testing.......

 

Along the way they flipped from a "Vee" to an

"Inverted Vee" to better fit "under the hood".

 

Some visible refinements appear each year at Oshkosh.

 

Yes, they are taking a very cautious approach treading into the unknown.

 

But do we want a repeat of Theilet's disaster ?

 

JCP

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  • 9 months later...

I saw these dudes @ Oshkosh this year. Looks like they have an engine that is almost down the engine development cycle :). My experience is with Jet Engines, but I imagine the development cycle is similar, and it takes a good 10 years from inception to production for a new engine. There are so many things to work out, I am glad they kept it up! I am not sure I like that it's going to cost $70K a new engine (I think this was for the 300 HP version they are planning), but they said it was for everything forward of the firewall (Behind in my design though, and the same for the velocity that's already flying!). Anyway, my $0.02 is they should be nearly done and ready to actually start selling, which is what they told me when i spoke to them. I'm still 10 years out from needing to make a deposit, but I need to make a selection on which engine architecture for my design I am going to choose. The appeal from my perspective is the better SFC (If you believe their values) and that you are using fuel that will be around for a long time. They are working on Jet-A from biofuels. Still not sure which way I will go, but I am hoping I can figure out a way to make my mind up in the next 6 months or so, and then I can finish my preliminary sizing! Yay! Anywho, I thought it was neat to talk to them at OSH and I hope to see them next year with production starting!

 

-Chris

Chris Zupp

~Aircraft Designer~

Preliminary Design Sequence I: Project Endeavour

Aeronautical/Mechanical Engineer

Private Pilot

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My understanding is that they have sold engines (to the military for UAV's), they just haven't built any "production" engines - and that's where some of the money to keep them operating is coming from.

 

Brett

I don't think they have sold any engines to anyone, let alone the military. I've been following them for years, there is pleanty of possible applications for this in the military but they haven't sold any. Please correct me if you have evidence otherwise though.
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I don't think they have sold any engines to anyone, let alone the military. I've been following them for years, there is pleanty of possible applications for this in the military but they haven't sold any. Please correct me if you have evidence otherwise though.

Well, I guess I can Google that for you....

http://dieselair.com/2005/10/why-deltahawk-diesel-engines-inc-will.html

 

DeltaHawk short term source of revenue is the UAV market. 6 UAV applications have been sold with success and Carl is expecting a strong business development on this market within next 6 months. Thanks to that market the business doesn’t face financial hurdles. Also, around 10 engines have been supplied to partners developing applications (STCs and OEMs), and the present backlog is of 40 engines.

 

Good enough rydogg? How about a little research, that wasn't really that hard?

 

http://www.deltahawkengines.com/uavflight.shtml

 

Brett

---

Brett Ferrell

Velocity XL/FG

Cincinnati, OH

http://www.velocityxl.com

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It's good to see that they are scoring UAV contracts! If they are successful for the company it will be great for the company's capital, and hopefully that means that they will fund the 200+ HP version! I have to do some more calculations, but I actually may need only the 200 HP version since it's turbo-ed and doesn't lose power in the altitude range I am looking at! Actually, as I think about this, I am encouraged by this realization. Endeavour is a little heavier than the velocity XL at the moment (3200 lbs) but will not be designed to fly as fast, so maybe this will work! Gotta go crunch the numbers now! Maybe Deltahawk is looking better and better! Take care!

 

-Chris

Chris Zupp

~Aircraft Designer~

Preliminary Design Sequence I: Project Endeavour

Aeronautical/Mechanical Engineer

Private Pilot

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How about a little research, that wasn't really that hard?

But can it be believed?

Carl expects, based on recent orders, that 12 Velocitys will be flying by late 2006.

- checks calender, hmmm, it looks like its late 2009, how many are flying now? The article said 6 UAV applications have been sold, but how many have been delivered? How many flown? I've seen two of the engines 'supplied to partners'. One can't run, it sits on a stand over which the distributor spruiks its virtues, and the other is installed in a helicopter that hasn't flown either.

 

I wish the project well and would like to own one one day, but I'm NOT CONVINCED that will ever happen!

Mark Spedding - Spodman
Darraweit Guim - Australia
Cozy IV #1331 -  Chapter 09
www.mykitlog.com/Spodman
www.sites.google.com/site/thespodplane/the-spodplane

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Looks like they are installing one in a Cirrus airframe. Heres a press release dated August 7, 2009:

 

http://www.deltahawkengines.com/DeltaHawk%20Diesel-Powered%20SR20%20Announced.pdf

 

Be great if they can do it.

 

LoPresti has a lot of good things to his credit, excluding, of course the reintroduction the modified swift.

 

The delta hawk was mounted in a Velocity, at least 12 years ago when they were located at Kenosha Wi Airport.

 

Has that plane flown yet?

 

It will be great if they can really pull this off and have the press releases mean something except publicity

I Canardly contain myself!

Rich :D

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The delta hawk was mounted in a Velocity, at least 12 years ago when they were located at Kenosha Wi Airport.

 

Has that plane flown yet?

 

Look, I don't own stock in the company, and I know they're behind schedule, but I really don't understand the vitriol here. Yes, the Velocity has been flying for years, and look, here's a picture of it in flight! But, you probably don't believe that either... nope, just Photoshop. Now, where did I get that picture, oh yea, Sport Aviation June 2003...

 

http://wiki.velocityxl.com/index.php?title=Brooks_N211JP

 

Brett

Posted Image

---

Brett Ferrell

Velocity XL/FG

Cincinnati, OH

http://www.velocityxl.com

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I wish the project well and would like to own one one day,

If you think that is vitriol you must lead a VERY sheltered life.

 

Not sure what the press release about the SR20 installation is about. What is the point of developing new applications and spruiking them without building and delivering some engines, like the ones they have deposits on???

 

I spoke to the Australian distributor, Graeme Smith at Avalon this year. He said they were slowly progressing toward the 100 hour demonstration required for certification. He said they could start deliveries now, but the early testing had revealed changes were necessary to achieve the 100 hr demo, and they didn't want to release anything until all their product can achieve this outcome. Fair enuf.

Mark Spedding - Spodman
Darraweit Guim - Australia
Cozy IV #1331 -  Chapter 09
www.mykitlog.com/Spodman
www.sites.google.com/site/thespodplane/the-spodplane

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Look, I don't own stock in the company, and I know they're behind schedule, but I really don't understand the vitriol here. Yes, the Velocity has been flying for years, and look, here's a picture of it in flight! But, you probably don't believe that either... nope, just Photoshop. Now, where did I get that picture, oh yea, Sport Aviation June 2003...

 

http://wiki.velocityxl.com/index.php?title=Brooks_N211JP

 

Brett

 

 

No vitriol here,

 

Just been there and done that. The engine that was flying in that article has been considerably changed. The new engine is inverted, I think it has 2 turbo or super charger systems among other changes, minor and probably major.

 

They will probably get it right some day, and hopefully soon. But until then, ones order and the investor's money is up in the air, so to speak.:(

 

Remember Zoche and others.

I Canardly contain myself!

Rich :D

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