Wilksch WAM series
| Wilksch WAM series | |
|---|---|
| Type | Diesel piston aero engine |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Wilksch Airmotive |
The Wilksch WAM series is a family of
Wilksch engines are
Design and development
The WAM unit is a direct-drive two-stroke inverted inline triple with wet-sump, liquid cooling, supercharger, turbocharger and intercooler. Compression boost at startup comes via a supercharger, but once the engine is running, a turbocharger provides additional boost.[2] Being inverted, the engine has its crankshaft at the top directly driving the propeller, and a camshaft at the bottom, immersed in sump oil. Charged air for combustion is introduced under pressure through a gallery of small ports, and exhaust gases are later expelled through poppet valves in the cylinder head.
The intake ports are narrow enough to ensure that piston rings do not need to be pegged. Instead of using a
Fuel is filtered, and then supplied by a high pressure feed, surplus fuel being returned to the tank. The combustion system is IDI (indirect injection), whereby fuel is injected into a prechamber. A system that could be considered old-fashioned, IDI was adopted for its simplicity and robustness. A heavily revised IDI system has been retained for the Gen-2 version.
Initial development was assisted with a UK government (DTI) grant. The prototype was a two-cylinder model capable of 80 hp (60 kW). The three-cylinder WAM120 produced 100–120 hp (75–89 kW), and the factory intended to produce a follow-up four-cylinder 160 hp (119 kW) motor to compete with engines such as the Lycoming O-360. However, funding proved problematic, and it became expedient to extend the product range by developing a larger capacity version of the three-cylinder motor, this has been developed to the point of being production-ready, bettering the previous version's fuel consumption by some 10% and improving all other aspects of performance; this Gen-2 version also promises 50 bhp per cylinder after further durability development, but really needs a production partner to take it forward. The company has also now built and tested a proof-of-concept 4-cylinder Gen-2 engine, which performed as expected, but is also awaiting a development partner.[citation needed]
The
This cooperative effort bodes well for the future of Wilksch Automotive, and is expected to lead to the WAM engine becoming a specified option for the Liberty XL2.Variants
Applications
- Europa XS
- Liberty XL2
- Thorp T211
- Rutan Long-EZ
- Murphy Rebel
- Jodel
- Vans RV-9
- Cozy
- Gaz'aile
- Conquest
- Impulse
Specifications (WAM120)
General characteristics
- Type: two-stroke inverted inline triple
Components
- Valvetrain: ohc (exhaust) & peripheral ports (inlet)
- Supercharger: yes
- Turbocharger: yes
- Fuel system: IDI Fuel Injection
- Fuel type: AVTUR or DERV
- Oil system: wet sump
- Cooling system: Liquid-cooled
Performance
- Power output: 120 hp (89 kW) at 2,700 RPM
- Fuel consumption: xx litres/h at 75% power
- Power-to-weight ratio: xx kW/kg
See also
Comparable engines
Related lists
References
- ^ "Diesel Powered Aircraft Engines Low Fuel Consumption".
- ^ a b "Home". wilksch.net.
- ^ a b "LOOP.aero".
- ^ "Liberty unveils XL2 powered by Wilksch turbo-diesel engine — General Aviation News". generalaviationnews.com.
- ^ "Liberty XL2 to get diesel power".
- ^ Liberty Aircraft [1]
- ^ "Liberty Aerospace enters into agreement with Wilksch Airmotive for testing and certification of the WAM Turbo Diesel engine | Airframer".
- ^ "WAM 3 Cylinder Diesel Aero Engines". appletreeinnov.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
- ^ "WAM 4 Cylinder Diesel Aero Engine". appletreeinnov.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-11-16.