Hi all,
I recently joined a flying club whose main fleet exists of various C172, all with the 135hp Centurion 2.0 diesel engine. Now I did most of my PPL training and the check ride on the C172M/N/Ps, but I have no clue what to expect of the centurion retro fits in terms of performance, reliability etc. The club states cruise speed of around 125/127kts – is that realistic? I wouldn’t complain. Also, the main base is EDDH with a 3km runway, so definitely no problems here, but what about smaller grass strips? Does anyone of you here have some experience with C172+centurion 2.0? Specially when it comes to touring and pax I’d be interested in your experiences.
I can give my feedback once I passed the clubs check ride :)
2.0 or 2.0s?
I doubt a Centurion powered 172 can do 127 KTAS unless full bore at FL140 or so…
Takeoff performance worse, cruise performance better, performance at altitude significantly better.
You will need SLC endorsement anyway before you are allowed to fly them so there will be an opportunity to compare with an instructor next to you.
Yes, its only the 2.0 unfortunately. I wonder if they manage with 2-3 pax at all when not taking off from a big airport and with fuel for 3 hours with reserve….
On the fun side, they have a 150hp C150. I first thought it was a writing error, but no, they put a ‘big’ lycoming in that one :)
Helgoland should definitely be possible with that one.
Andi wrote:
On the fun side, they have a 150hp C150. I first thought it was a writing error, but no, they put a ‘big’ lycoming in that one :)
Helgoland should definitely be possible with that one.
That’s often called a 150/150, and there are FAA STCs that do it Here’s some info. 
Local to me there are a couple of old 150s with 180 hp Lycomings, installed by what approval I don’t know… They are banner tow planes and flown as single seaters. They’d certainly be less costly to buy than a Supercub or the like to do the same job.
What’s a SLC endorsement?
SPLC is “single lever power controls”.
As we have already discussed here before, these “categories” are a bit daft. The SPLC thing in particular. Why would moving to something more simple and straightforward require additional training? Also: if it’s the other way round (moving from single lever to conventional mixture controls), one does not need the differences training. If one learned to fly in say, a P2002, and then moves to a C172, one might not have a clue about mixture controls, yet be legal to fly it. These categories have been attempt to bring some intermediate training in fir those whi move along within the SEP category, but the rules need to applied with some good sense. What’s legal may not be safe, what’s safe may not be legal.
Please report back your impressions once you’ve managed to get a few hours on it.
I wonder whether the propeller on that C172 is fixed or variable pitch. If fixed pitch, the cruise performance at high altitude would probably not meet my expectation above…
I have not heard of a FP Centurion, but you never know
So, what you basically learn in that “single lever” checkout is to forget the mixture lever. I heard it can be done in six weeks, or in an accelerated 4 weeks course ;-)
