Off to Africa

The SIM  SMA diesel 182Q is completed and is on it's way back to service in Niger, Africa. This is a 4 cylinder SMA designed diesel engine. The diesels cost $250/Hr. less than the av-gas engines and based on an 800 Hr. year of flight time it saves this program $200,000/yr. When traveling at normal high speed power this aircraft has a flight distance of 9 hours on a tank of fuel and when throttled back for optimum distance can reach 14 hours with the right conditions. This is a very valuable capability as they do many long flights over desert terrain. They can safely fly this plane to it's destination in Africa from the US. This is leading edge technology and will be the future of mission aviation. The cost of fuel for Jet-A is between $6-$8/ gallon as compared to Av Gas which runs around $22/ gallon.

We at MMS are always excited to see such technology and get to be a part of working on such an airplane. Although we had no part in working on the engine there was plenty of things that we had our hands on in working on this aircraft. We added wing extensions, doorpost/ wing strut modifications, HF radio installation, storm scope installation, ELT replacement, an inter cooler addition to the engine, new shoulder harnesses, a max gross weight increase, new floor matting, an upgraded starter system, and a new magnetic compass system. The betterment of this aircraft will give it years of service on the mission field.


The efficiency of this airplane allows SIM to have the ability to make individual runs if needed for anything  from ambulance to supplies when needed. To learn more about what SIM does you can visit their site at http://www.simusa.org/

All washed up and ready to go

We gathered the crew and gave it a proper send off bathed in prayer and it is now on it's way