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When will a diesel be available for my aircraft? |
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News, facts, and comments on the coming revolution for piston-engine aircraft.News of December 25, 2005UK: Wilksch Airmotive Ltd. is gearing up to produce twenty 2-stroke aero diesels per month by 2007.These are the highlights of a phone interview with Martin Long, Head of Sales & Marketing, who has been working with Mark Wilksch since the origins of this small innovative firm (contact him at martin.long@wilksch.com), and with David Lambourne, Managing Director, a more recent recruit. Mark Wilksch and Martin Long were previously design engineers with the famous Cosworth Engineering firm, designer and manufacturer of race car engines. David has been with Wilksch for 18 months, was for 14 years a Design Liaison Surveyor with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, and for 11 years as a development engineer with Rolls-Royce Aero Engines before that. Wilksch (http://www.wilksch.com/) originated as a development company in 1994, and is now becoming a production site capable of significant production volumes. The firm has now 15 employees, will break even from a cash flow point of view when selling 10 engines per month at some time in 2006 and plan for 20 engines/month by 2007. He feels confident they will make it because the response of the UK market to diesel is very strong: Jet fuel price is 1/3rd of Avgas here. Worldwide interest is growing fast and Wilksch Airmotive have already sold to customers in 10 countries. The Wilksch WAM family of 2-stroke, inverted, liquid cooled engines consist of two 3-cylinders: WAM 100 and WAM 120 (for 100 and 120 HP) and one 4-cylinders of 160 HP. A 5-cyinder is also being considered for the future. They run at around 2,750 rpm max. The propeller is driven direct (no gearbox). Wilksch claims a very light weight for its engines: typically 2.3 lbs/HP for 120 HP and 2.2 for 160 HP including mount, propeller, silencer, heat exchanger, oil and coolant. Including all ancillaries, the weight goes up by 60 lbs. Martin expects he can demonstrate, when comparing identical aircraft equipped with either the DeltaHawk 160 HP or theirs, that they have an advantage of around 50-55 Lbs. In the case of a Thorp, they can already make the comparison with an O-200 since they own and operate two Thorps, one with 120 HP diesel and one with a 100 HP conventional engine: The weight is almost the same. With diesel, the Thorp burns 15 litres (3.5 US gallons) per hour. 3 Wilksch engines are flying today on Thorp T211, Pietenpol Aircamper and Europa aircraft. Several more aircraft are in the final stages of build and should be flying early next year. These include 2 more Thorp,s 2 Europa aircraft, a Long EZ and several RV9s. There should be 9-10 aircraft flying with a Wilksch by mid 2006. The prototype, 2 cylinder engine flew in 1997. Wilksch Airmotive is currently working on PFA approval for several installations and EASA certification. Funding: The company has been funded by private investors and was awarded DTI Smart award, and will be self supporting within 6 months. The company has just refinanced to enable certification and WAM 160 to go ahead. A significant proportion of the additional finance has been provided by the same small group of private investors, faithful to the project. It is planning to sell 8-10 units/month by the middle of next year. Current order book is over 30 WAM 120s and 11 WAM 160. Sales in the US: Wilksch has two orders from EAA members and is about to ship their first engine to the U.S. The firm is actively looking for distributors in the U.S. A/P training is simple and will take one week in Gloucester (there are definitely much worse places in the world) and must be done in the UK for the time being. Wilksch is also looking at maintenance support requirements for the future and is talking to a Part 145 organization about possible co-operation. Also Indus Aviation has delivered its first Thorpedo two-seater in June, after receiving US special light-sport aircraft certification. The all-metal aircraft, an updated version of the 1960s-vintage Thorp T211, is assembled in Dallas, Texas using components manufactured in India by Taneja Aerospace & Aviation. A version of the T211 powered by the 120hp WAM-120 is expected to be available by 2007. posted at 1:40 PM |
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