For over a decade, the Africair Group of Companies, including Africair, Inc. (the Cessna distributor for most of Africa), Tropical Aviation Distributors (the Cessna distributor for the Caribbean and parts
Converting the 172 Skyhawk
Break free from Avgas and switch to readily available Jet-A Fuel
Conduct your flight training in a Skyhawk 172 retrofitted with a Continental Diesel Engine and significantly reduce your operating costs. With over 60 retrofits to date, Africair, Inc. specializes in converting the Avgas powered 172 Skyhawk to the Jet-A burning Continental Diesel engine.
Benefits of the Continental Diesel Engine Conversion
Continental Motors CD-135 Engine
Jet Fuel Piston Engine with 135 HP
Continental Motors Group offers with CD-135 a jet fuel piston engine for general aviation with a take off power of 99 kW (135 hp). The CD-135 is a turbo charged 4-cylinder in-line engine which is EASA certified since August 2006 and FAA certified since October 2006.
The CD-135 is certified for the use of both jet fuel and diesel (DIN EN590) and is running with the two fuels in any mixture ratio. The engine has a time between replacement (TBR) of 1,500 hrs.
Continental Motors CD-135 Engine
Jet Fuel Piston Engine with 135 HP
Continental Motors Group offers with CD-155 a jet fuel piston engine for general aviation with a take off power of 114 kW (155 hp). The CD-155 is a turbo charged 4-cylinder in-line engine which is EASA and. The CD-155 is certified for the use of both jet fuel and diesel (DIN EN590) and is running with the two fuels in any mixture ratio.
The engine has a time between replacement (TBR) of 1,200 hr. Despite of improved performance CD-155 weighs as much as the CD-135.
Africair Diesel Engine Conversions
Our History & Overview

Continental Diesel is, in every respect, the industry leading brand for certified diesel or Jet A-1 powered piston aircraft engines in general aviation. Continent Diesel has the longest production history, the largest fleet of engines in operation, the most diesel flight hours fleet wide, and the largest service network for diesel aircraft engines around the globe.
The Continental Diesel engines are certified in accordance with the requirements of the FAA, EASA and 60 additional countries. They are technically advanced diesel engines which can operate on auto-diesel (DIN 590) and especially with the standard aviation kerosene fuel (Jet Fuel, Jet-A). Continental Diesel engines can be installed both as a retrofit and for factory new aircraft and offer the following benefits:
As far back as 2001, the manufacturer of Continental Diesel engines, formerly known as Thielert Aircraft Engines and now Technify Motors GmbH as member of the Continental Motors Group, became the first company in the world to receive type certification for its kerosene (Jet Fuel, Jet-A) piston aircraft engines. Continental Diesel pilots have a global network of more than 350 authorized service centers at their disposal. Altogether, there are over 3,500 Diesel engines operated in General Aviation which have successfully completed more than 3.5 million flight hours.
Recent Press
Diesel Aircraft

Our subsidiary, Propel Aviation Sales & Services, continues to perform Cessna 172 Centurion Diesel Engine Retrofit Conversions again in 2014 for its ninth year straight. This year has started out very

For over a decade, the Africair Group of Companies, including Africair, Inc. (the Cessna distributor for most of Africa), Tropical Aviation Distributors (the Cessna distributor for the Caribbean and parts