LoPresti Speed Merchants and diesel engine manufacturer DeltaHawk have teamed up to produce a retrofit engine and cowling package for the Cirrus SR20. DeltaHawk’s 180-horsepower turbodiesel brings the promise of maintaining that power output to 18,000 feet, plus the ability to use Jet A as well as biodiesel fuels.
LoPresti’s racy-looking new carbon fiber/fiberglass cowling brings a 30-percent reduction in cooling drag to the mix, said LoPresti’s Rj Siegel. The cowling features integrated LoPresti “Boom Beam” landing light installations and gill-shaped vents the company is calling cruise-aligned ventiports that take the place of cowl flaps.
The performance claims for the engine/cowl arrangement are impressive. The SR20’s typical max cruise speed of 170 knots should go to 220 knots, LoPresti says, and at 12,000 feet fuel flows should drop to as low as 9 gph.
The supplemental type certificate kit should be available by the end of 2012, Siegel said, and installations for the Cirrus SR22 will follow. The price of the SR20 retrofit is $43,000 for the engine, $15,900 for the cowling and propeller spinner, $25,000 for the engine mounts and fuel delivery system, plus an undisclosed amount for the Hartzell three-blade propeller.
