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The front engine on a skymaster was a test bed for Continental. You may have read that Continental was sold to the Chinese. One of thing that was the impetus was additional funding for their diesel engine development.

Thule River/Super Skyrockets, looked at the SMA Diesel for the Skymaster. It was intended to increase their market for modifications. I had the good fortune to be at Osh when Marianne ( Mary Ann ?? ) the owner of Super Skyrockets spoke to the Skymaster group. It was a meeting put together by Kevin McKenzie. In any event, the SMA engine conversion was intended for the normally aspirated Skymasters. That's because the certified ceiling for the engine was 10.5K. The project never got off the ground for several reasons. First, SMA was slow to produce and respond. The Skymaster conversion was not tops on their list. Second, SMA never produced an engine designed for pusher engine installations. I spoke at length with the folks at Super Skyrocket, about the time I needed a new rear engine, and that was their response. Interestingly enough, Continental does not differentiate between tractor engine and pusher engines. Third, Super Skyrockets was looking for additional markets for their business (the Riley Conversions were not selling real well), additional conversions they could do. They did a considerable amount of work with a variety of "New Engine Technology" companies, and I think they simply got worn out trying to come up with something that was certified, or certifiable. They have since closed their doors, and it's not likely that anyone else will take up the mantle to install SMA engines in a Skymaster.

Delta Hawk, on their website, had a date for certification. That date has come and gone. Super Skyrockets looked at the Delta Hawk engine, and in fact commissioned a study for engine mounts. There was a really cool solid model of the front engine mount for the Delta Hawk engine, on the Super Skyrocket site, for a while. It had the NASTRAN load analysis associated with it. Really cool looking.