Piper announced at Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany this week that it will offer a diesel version of its PA-44 called the Seminole DX. It is the second Piper trainer to receive jet-A-burning diesel power after the Archer DX model emerged in 2014.
The twin diesel Seminole DX will be powered by a new engine from Continental Motors, the 170 hp CD-170, a variant of Continental’s CD-100 series diesel engines.
The Archer DX flies with the 155 hp CD-155 Continental engine and is targeted primarily to flight schools in Europe and Asia where avgas is increasingly becoming harder to find.
Like other twin Piper trainers, the Seminole DX will be equipped with counter-rotating propellers to eliminate the need for critical-engine training. The Seminole DX has single-lever power controls and auto-feathering propellers. The panel is Garmin’s G1000 NXi system.
