Soloy, SMA Unveil Jet-A Powered Cessna Skylane
The conversion will improve fuel economy for the long-serving aircraft.
This Jet-A burning Cessna 182 made its debut at this year's EAA AirVenture. Equipped with a compression ignition engine from Snecma-subsidiary SMA, the aircraft made its nearly 1,500 nm flight to Oshkosh using only 80 gallons of fuel.

Washington-state aircraft modification specialist Soloy Aviation Solutions and French engine maker Safran’s subsidiary SMA are debuting a jet-A burning Cessna 182 at this year’s EAA AirVenture. According to Soloy, the new, more powerful SMA SR305-230E compression ignition engine package is being tested at its Olympia, Washington facility under EASA regulations. The aircraft flew from there to the show site in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a 1,485 nm flight, and burned only 80 gallons of fuel. That total includes circling the airport in a holding pattern for more than an hour before being given clearance to land. Post-flight inspection revealed that the engine had consumed less than one-quarter of a quart (eight ounces) of oil during the nine-plus hour trip.


“The Cessna Skylane airframe is the perfect match for the French SMA engine,” said Soloy CEO James Cowan. “In areas of the world where 100LL avgas is becoming hard to source, the performance, reliability and hyper efficiency of the compression ignition engine is the answer.”


The conversion kit is expected to receive EASA certification by the end of the year. The companies are accepting deposits this week at show, offering special pricing on the program’s first 15 positions, expected to begin deliveries  in the first quarter of 2018.