Jet Turbine Engines have been around forever.  Finally someone has designed a nice setup for Experimental

Aircraft.  Able to burn Jet A fuel, Kerosene or Diesel allows these engines to run well in most all climates.

The power to weight ratio is quite high in that they typically weigh half that of a combustion engine of the same

power output. 

  I saw these Innodyn Turbine Engines at Sun-N-Fun and found them to be quite interesting.  These folks make them

for all RVs made today.  The also offer Firewall Forward Packages.  There are Pros and Cons from every approach.

As you can see from below, from my point of view, the Pros outweigh the Cons.

Here's where I'm coming from...you decide.

PROS

Only one moving part.

Only 1.75 quarts of oil changed every 500 hours Spark plugs every 2 years.

TBO @ 5000 hours.

Easy startup in any climate.

Faster climb.  Est. 3000fpm on RV-7 w/ 205TE

Smooth as glass.

Less cabin noise.

Higher power at altitude.

Already fuel injected.

No Electronic Ignition upgrade needed.

No Turbo needed.

No inverted oil system needed.

Baffling? Where?

No dripping oil.

Much lighter than Lycoming.  Weighing in at 188lbs = higher cargo/passenger/fuel capacity.

Computer controlled prop rpm and fuel needed at various pitch settings.

Less Engine Management Instruments means less pilot workload and simpler roomier panel.

Simple firewall penetration for fuel, wiring and controls.

The sound is too sweet!

Extremely high cool factor.

CONS

-Higher initial cost.

-Higher Insurance. (Probably the deal killer for me)

-Higher fuel consumption. Almost 2 times = 1/2 the range.

-Constant Speed Prop required.

-New up and coming company.

-Fear of the unknown.

Check out the video of an RV-4 fitted with a Innodyn Turbine Engine.

http://www.innodyn.com/aviation/action.html

Check out the RV-6 video here. Scroll down to July 2004 near the bottom of that page.

http://www.innodyn.com/aviation/news.html