Bladecutter
"Pursuit of Shape"
Touche'No they dont stand alone. Thielert (now Austro, a division of Diamond Aviation) makes water cooled Diesel piston engines that are FAA certificated since at least 2009 and are used in production Diamond aircraft. They are based on Mercedes V8 auto engines.
Continental markets them in the US.
Btw, no offense but you might want to dial back the attitude just a bit. You dont know how many "phukking hours" people have. Time as PIC or otherwise does not qualify one for knowledge about a person.
Hughes was known as a decent pilot but was a "bold pilot" and we all know the saying about bold pilots.
Best regards.