Conceived in the mid-90's by Mark Wilksch, engineer Phil Franklin and designer Martin Long, the Wilksch Airmotive (WAM) CITEC (Compression Ignition Turbo Exhaust Charged) diesel engine first flew as a two cylinder version in in 1997, followed by the prototype three-cylinder engine in 1999 in a Europa.
Here is a webpage from Kruger 2 Canyon News about two Frenchmen, Philippe and his son Mathieu Berjaud undertook a flight from France to Zandspruit during November and December 2013. The flight took 82 hours to complete and spanned several countries along the West coast of Africa.
Building an aeroplane and learning to fly at the same time is an ambitious project, all the more so in their case, given that they went for the flat-pack rather than quick-build version of the RV-9A. To add to the challenge, during the build they decided to fit a Wilksch diesel...
The Wilksch WAM-120 engine is, for many, one of the most promising compression-ignition engines. We get hands-on with the first installation in the U.S.
And then there's this: The WAM-120 simply works. Works great in fact. That's something to shout about.
EAA Sport Aviation, Sept 08
The WAM diesel is new news and the Thorpedo is not-so-new news, so let's start at the front of the airplane and gradually work our way around to the newest old FAA-certificated-but-now-light-sport-aircraft aiframe around.
Flyer 2003...
Engines are something we take for granted, whether they be in cars or aeroplanes. This is because they utilise whatever technology and meet whichever legislation prevails at the time and that’s what we expect.
An article from Popular Flying, January / February 2002...
With the cost of fuel getting higher and higher, anything that will bring the cost of aircraft operation down is welcome and the Wilksch WAM-120 Diesel aero engine will do just that in dramatic fashion.
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