Flyer

January 1998

 

"New diesel engine on the horizon?"

"A UK company, working in apparent secrecy, have flown what is believed to be the first example of an advanced 2-stroke diesel aero engine for over 50 years. Wilksch Airmotive Limited were reluctant to give any details – apart from pointing out that they’d beaten Renault to it! – but the pilot for the 20 minute flight (in an unspecified aircraft) apparently commented that the noise levels and vibration levels were low and that there was good response to power changes. Over 200 hours of bench testing has reportedly been carried out on the engine. We hope to be able to bring you more on this soon – when we’ve persuaded the company to go public!"