Continental Aerospace Technologies has announced an STC diesel engine retrofit for a bush flying workhouse that toils in some of the most remote places on the planet. Continental says it hopes to have the CD-300 Jet-A engine fitted to a demonstration aircraft by sometime in 2025 and is considering similar adaptations to other aircraft that use 300-horsepower engines. “We hope to have a demo aircraft at Oshkosh next year,” said CEO Karen Hong.
This is the company’s first foray into the retrofit market for the CD-300, which is the same engine that powers Diamond’s DA50 high-performance single. Reduced fuel burn and maintenance will compensate owners for the higher price of the compression combustion engine and give operators an alternative to 100LL in a world where access to avgas is shrinking. The engine and adaptation kit will sell for about $300,000, and more aircraft models will be STC’d in coming months.
