Press Release

Millennium Logo - Small.jpg (103728 bytes)     Diesel Aero Engine A Millennium Winner

Wilksch Airmotive Limited, based in North Buckinghamshire, UK, has achieved Millennium Product status with a diesel engine which is set to revolutionise light aviation the world over. It has several crucial advantages over the petrol engines currently used as standard. Designed to run on diesel or jet kerosene fuels, this powerplant offers significant savings in running costs: Avgas, the aviation-grade fuel in general use currently costs approximately 80p per litre as against 20p per litre for kerosene. Benefits also extend to the environment, with the total elimination of lead emissions, coupled with substantial reductions in the output of hydro-carbons and carbon monoxide.

The engine is liquid-cooled, which holds enormous advantages in terms of engine safety and management. Quiet and smooth-running in the full range of revs, this engine reduces or eliminates many in-flight tasks. It is also compact enough to replace its petrol counterparts with minimum modification, making retrofit a viable proposition, and opening the market still wider. Over 250 hours of testing has been done on a fully instrumented test cell, but the flying tests carried out during 1997/8 proved the practicality of the project beyond doubt.

Wilksch Airmotive was founded by innovative engineer, Mark Wilksch - himself a pilot - following an impressive career which has included work with the Arrows Formula 1 Team, and Cosworth Engineering. Mark Wilksch formed his fledgling company in September 1994, and was joined by production engineer Martin Long, also from Cosworth, the following year. Wilksch has personally guided this project with tremendous flair and dogged persistence, achieving 2 prestigious DTI SMART ( Small Company Merit Award for Research and Technology) grants, and now winning the Design Council accolade of "Millennium Product". On winning Millennium Product status Wilksch said "Everyone at Wilksch Airmotive is proud to have their achievements recognised by the Design Council. Tony Blair's vision of Britain as the creative powerhouse of the world is one which we have always believed in".

Wilksch's mentor, and technical consultant, Mike Costin, (a founder of Cosworth and experienced pilot), regards this as an important project: "Mark is a modern, well versed engineer, with good practical understanding. His work combines technologies in a novel way, resulting in an engine which will be the way ahead for light aircraft. The best yet."

Development resources are now focused on the 120 hp version of the engine, suited for use in the burgeoning home-build sector of the aviation market. In a far-sighted move, Wilksch Airmotive has a marketing agreement with Europa Aviation, the Yorkshire-based home-build aircraft kit manufacturer. The "Europa", with sales in excess of 500 units, is by far the UK's most successful domestic kit-aircraft, and has itself been chosen as a Millennium Product. The combination of such a high-calibre engine and aircraft should further enhance sales in the years to come.

Already, however, Wilksch has moved on to the next stage of his marketing plan, by setting up a co-operative agreement with Atlantic Aeroengineering. They are working on the conversion of a Cessna 152 with a view to acquiring CAA certification for General Aviation use. Success in this endeavour will leave Wilksch Airmotive with the General Aviation market at its feet. Chief Engineer at Atlantic, Desmond Norman, is up-beat about the project: "The concept of the Wilksch engine and the way it is packaged make it one of the most promising General Aviation developments seen for many years. This new powerplant will change the face of Light Aviation in the new Millennium".

9 April 1999