A diesel upgrade for older model Cessna 172s is now available through Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Premier Aircraft Sales, which includes a Centurion 2.0 diesel engine and Garmin 500 glass.
Art Spengler, vice president for operations at Premier, said that the upgrade will improve efficiency, value, and safety of the nearly ubiquitous airplane.
Included in the package is a zero-time Centurion 2.0 turbo diesel engine with FADEC controls and a three-blade Hartzell constant speed prop. Spengler said that the diesel engine will burn about 5.2 gph of Jet-A per hour, compared to about 9.2 gph of 100LL consumed by the legacy Lycoming engine. With Jet-A generally costing less than 100LL avgas, Spengler says the upgrade can result in significant savings in operating costs.
The upgrade also includes Garmin GDL88 ADS-B receiver with weather and traffic, a fresh annual inspection, full-airframe anti-corrosion application, a two-year factory warranty from Centurion/Continental and Garmin, and other features.
Premier can either convert a 172 owned by a private individual, or locate an airframe for a customer and make the upgrades. If Premier locates the airframe, Spengler said that the cost would be about half that of a new 172. The demonstrator that is currently in production would cost about $289,500, he said.
Premier has already received inquiries from 13 countries about the conversion. The company is also planning a conversion program for Piper Warrior II and Warrior III airplanes once the Cessna demonstrator is completed. An STC is already available for the Warrior conversion, and the goal is to have two of each airplane being manufactured at any given time.
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