FAA Certification Progress
 

DeltaHawk is well on its way to type certification of the DH-180A4 engine (180 HP).  An FAA Designated Engineering Representative consulting group, The DERs Group, has been engaged to manage and direct the process.  Current estimates are to achieve Type Certification (TC) as early as the beginning of 2013.  The remaining engine model variants will be quickly certified afterward as amendments to the initial TC.

DeltaHawk’s Project Specific Certification Plan (PSCP) was signed by the FAA Chicago Aircraft Certification Office (ACO) and DeltaHawk on August 14, 2008.  The PSCP is the guiding document for achieving DeltaHawk’s initial Type Certificate (TC) for the DH-180A4 engine. We are in the conformity phase, which includes submitting the final drawings and specifications of the engine and manufacturing components for the FAA to examine and approve as conforming to those specifications. Maintenance, operating and service manuals are also being prepared for FAA review.  A 270-hour FAA engine acceptance test is projected to take
place in the fourth quarter of 2012.  

In addition to aiding with the TC process, the FAA’s Minneapolis Manufacturing Inspection District Office (MIDO) is working in coordination with the DERs Group to promptly obtain manufacturing authority (a Production Certificate) for the engine following award of the Type
Certificate.  An MRP (Materials and Resource Planning) system and the required FAA quality and process control procedures are being established and reviewed.  

The progress to date towards our Type Certificate and Production Certificate is a significant milestone in the history of DeltaHawk. Decisions made over 12 years ago have stood the test of time and will lead to an innovative new power plant for aviation worldwide. Among those innovations are:

• Lightweight construction using modern materials

• Two-stroke technology for high power density

• Liquid cooling for precise thermal management

• Ease of service with external components

• Multiple orientations and reverse rotation from one basic platform

• Multiple levels of redundancy in key systems

  • Dual independent air supply systems (turbo & supercharger)

  • Continued operation at reduced power with total loss of coolant

  • Four independent high-pressure fuel pumps

• A critical altitude in excess of 18,000 feet

• Mechanical fuel injection for proven, safe and reliable fuel management

  •  No electronics to fail

  •  No reliance on aircraft electrical power 
     

With fuels such as jet, diesel, and bio-diesel poised to become the worldwide fuels of choice, DeltaHawk customers can face the future confident they will be able to continue flying safely and economically.

Additionally, DeltaHawk is working with the US Navy to expand the current military Technical Readiness Level (TRL) via a formal testing program beginning fourth quarter 2012

Sorry it has taken so long to get updates on this page. Our only excuse is that lots of activity is going on here and we are very busy. We moved into a plant that had formerly been used to build road construction equipment. We have spent several months cleaning it up, getting new high quality, energy efficient lighting installed, hiring people to create a production line and upgrading our data processing equipment to handle full scale manufacturing. The facility looks empty right now but it is clean, bright and online. The engineers will begin installing the line and we should be well positioned for production well before our certification completes. We had been planning on finishing our certification earlier, and while we are making great progress, we are still not yet complete.

We are working on several issues that will require extensive testing to confirm their success. We will be able to set specific dates for shipment of experimental engines and completion of FAA certification when we complete that testing and the endurance testing required by the FAA for certification.

We appreciate the patience of all who are waiting on the DeltaHawk engines and assure you that we are progressing as quickly as we can.

We do not have finished installations we can talk about yet. We have a number of installations underway but the only ones we can talk about are the ones that have been announced by the companies. Otherwise, non-disclosure agreements are in place. You may have seen the Delta Helicopters or the Cirrus SR20 announcements.

There are several OEMs developing products that will use our engine. They are just waiting for us to get certified by the FAA to announce. A number of companies are looking at or actively developing STCs for existing aircraft and a couple companies planning experimental installation products.

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Old Status Reports are collected on the Archives Page