First diesel engine to power a heavier–than–air machine

On 19 September 1928, a Stinson SM-1DX “Detroiter” aircraft – registration number X7654 – flown by L M Woolson and and Walter E Lees, Chief Test pilot for the Packard Motor Car Company, made the first flight of a heavier than air aircraft using a diesel engine as its power source. The flight took place at the Packard proving grounds in Utica, Michigan, USA, and the engine was the Packard Diesel Model DR-980 – a compression-ignition engine developing 225 horsepower at 1,950 rpm. It was designed by a team of Packard engineers in Detroit, Michigan, USA under the direction of L. M. Woolson, working together with the German engineer, Hermann I. A. Dorner. In 1931, a production version of the same engine was used in a Bellanca aircraft to create duration record of 84 hours and 33 minutes.