High-tech at its best - Tim Markwald presents the jet drive.
Flashback: On 21 September 2009, M&D Flugzeugbau applies for the TC (Type Certificate) for the MDTJ-42 jet engine designed and manufactured in-house. It took six years to get the MDTJ-42 jet engine approved for use in gliders.
If you want to certify an engine with an EASA TC (Type Certificate) for aeroplanes today, there are many details to consider. The standards for safety, reliability and consistent performance are extremely high. The underlying documentation is extensive. The M&D team received active support from aerospace engineer Stefan Hilbenz from Kasaero GmbH in preparing the documentation.
A few figures: Around 50 engines were deliberately pushed to and beyond their limits during tests and on the test benches at M&D. During the prescribed endurance and cycle tests, the engines were run for over 100 hours in a simulation between take-off, idling, full throttle and back again and were subjected to a maximum load of 16 hours at full throttle (!).
A good 180 test flights were carried out by M&D test pilot Sören Pedersen and his colleagues, and the engines flew for around 300 hours in various aircraft types during field testing.
The cooperation between M&D Flugzeugbau and Jonker Sailplanes and the construction of 50 JS1s with jet engines provided further insights for development. Intensive testing, flying and refinement also took place in South Africa. The density altitude and temperatures in Africa also contributed important findings for development. Over 80 engines have now been delivered to non-EASA countries. But the MDTJ-42 has now also passed all tests in Europe and has the EASA-TC.
And: The engine has its own electric starter and is fuelled with simple diesel instead of special and therefore expensive aviation fuel.
What happens now: The MDTJ-42 will not only continue to be installed in the JS1. M&D is focussing on other aircraft types, and nothing stands in the way of a retrofit using an installation kit.
And of course the engine will be further developed and adapted to the profile of the aircraft type.
A flight report on the jet in the MD-JS 1 Revelation can be found in the Jet flight report.
The M&D website http://www.md-flugzeugbau.de will provide information on questions and answers about the engine and the options for installation in various aircraft types in the near future.
