SMA (Societe de Motorisations Aeronautiques) has a solution to the effect of higher fuel prices if you operate a Cessna 182. Its answer? The SMA SR 305-230-1 diesel engine, designed and developed from scratch as an aircraft engine. The engine, STCed for most Cessna 182Qs and 182Rs, is a horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, turbocharged, air/oil-cooled, diesel engine with a wet sump-oil system, rated at 227 bhp for both takeoff and continuous power at 2200 rpm.
On a hot summer day, Francois Vrana, owner of C-FJTA, one of the first 182/SMA conversions, flew the airplane down to Columbia County, New York, from Montreal, Canada. The conversion was performed by Montreal-based NuTech Associates (nutechassociates.com) and the modified “smile” cowl with openings for the oil and the air coolers makes the mid-1970s 182 look more contemporary than its age.
