ULPower Aero Engines is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

company which manufactures engines specifically designed for light aircraft/rotorcraft use.

History

In 2001 the founding partners of ULPower were asked to fix an issue with a

Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has been reported as far north as Mississippi. ...

engine fitted into a helicopter. By examining the setup they decided to build a new engine from scratch instead, because the particular Jabiru engine simply was too small for the application. The new engine should have the following aims and objectives: FADEC, simple, robust, easy to maintain, low parts count, high power to weight ratio and low cost of ownership. The founding partners had years of experience in the professional automotive rally industry. This included engine design, development and production for the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

and a proprietary ECU Based on the years of engine experience from Rally, the prototype helicopter engine and the proprietary ECU, they decided to form a company producing aero engines. A couple of more objectives were added: The engine should be direct drive, air cooled and be able to run on both AVGAS and MOGAS with ethanol. Three of the four funding partners are Nicolas Josson of ROPA.BE and Lionel and Pascal D’Hondt who owns DR Tuning in Belgium. ROPA.BE is a metal turning and milling company making engine parts, while DR Tuning works in the motor racing arena. After a few years of development and testing of several prototypes the first UL260i 72 kW (97 hp) engine was installed in an aircraft (a Lambert Mission 106). First flight tests were performed in December 2005. After proving the engine reliability on the ground and in the air, the project was merged into an official company structure. ULPower Aero Engines was officially formed in March 2006 to concentrate on the further design and manufacture of engines where light weight, power and reliability are important to the client. Series production commenced by the end of that year. Over the first years, the UL260i has equipped several popular light aircraft, e.g. Fly Synthesis Storch, Zenair Zodiac CH601,

Just Escapade The Just Escapade is a single-engine, high-wing light aircraft, seating two in side-by-side configuration. It was jointly developed in the United States and the United Kingdom in the early 2000s and by 2010 some 145 Escapades and its "bush plane" ...

, Dyn'Aéro MCR01, Hannuman X-Air. In 2017

Sonex Aircraft Sonex Aircraft, LLC is an American kit aircraft manufacturer located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, producing kits for four all-metal homebuilt monoplanes. The company was founded in 1998 by John Monnett, who has designed the Monnett Sonerai sport ai ...

introduced their "B" models with slightly larger fuselage giving room for more engine options. Along that introduction the 4 cylinder ULPower engines became a standard factory supported alternative. In 2009, ULPower launched new engine types: the UL260iS 80 kW (107 hp) and the UL350i/iS 93 kW (125 hp) where the stroke was increased from 74 mm to 100 mm. About the same time the Twister Aerobatics Team, flying the Silence Twister, was looking for a more powerful engine that also could run inverted, as a replacement for the original 80 hp

Jabiru 2200 The Jabiru 2200 is a lightweight naturally aspirated, pushrod four-stroke, flat four, air-cooled aircraft engine produced by Jabiru Aircraft. Design and development The conventional direct-drive engine is fitted with an alternator, silencers, ...

. They already knew about the UL260i/iS and in cooperation the UL260iSA was developed. It has 80 kW (107 hp) and a fully inverted oil system. For the French market specifically, two adapted versions were available: the UL260iF 74 kW (100 hp) based on the UL260iS and the UL350iF 90 kW (120 hp) based on the UL350iS, specifically for gyrocopter application. The UL350iF is no longer available. The product line was expanded again in 2013, with a line of 6-cylinder engines in both 3900 cc and 5200 cc variants, each with an option for higher or lower compression requiring different minimum fuel grades. The 6 cylinder engines can power larger experimental and kit-planes (non-certified planes) that are typically powered by Lycoming and Lycoming clones in the O320-O360 range. The ULPower engines are modular. They all have the same bore of 105.6 mm. The stroke is either 74 or 100 mm, which makes the 260 and 350 series of engines. Adding one extra set of cylinders makes the 390/520 family.

Engines

ULPower produces a range of direct drive

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

horizontally-opposed A flat engine is a piston engine where the cylinders are located on either side of a central crankshaft. Flat engines are also known as horizontally opposed engines, however this is distinct from the less common opposed-piston engine design, wh ...

engines with multiport

fuel-injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All compr ...

and FADEC. All engines can run on avgas (100LL or UL91). All engines can run on automotive gasoline with up to 15% ethanol and with octane ratings as specified.

References

External links

ULPower Company
{{ULPower Aero Engines Aircraft engine manufacturers of Belgium Belgian companies established in 2006 Belgian brands ULPower aircraft engines Manufacturing companies established in 2006