The Engine

The Wilksch WAM 120 is a "clean sheet" design, created to meet the needs of General Aviation, rather than being an adapted auto design.

It was designed with simple dependability foremost in mind. It has no complex electronic engine management systems, as the auto-conversions do.

It has a Turbocharger and a supercharger, and a simple in-line mechanical fuel pump. The engine is a hybrid two-stroke 3 cylinder diesel. It is hybrid in the sense that the forced air induction is by piston timed transfer ports in the cylinder walls, but the exhaust is by a camshaft and valves. This gives the best of both worlds, - mechanical simplicity and the power pulse rate of a 6 cylinder 4-stroke engine.

The connecting rods/piston joint is by a hemispherical oil-fed joint, which does away with the high stress gudgeon pin attach found in automotive designs. This has the added benefit of giving more surface area to conduct heat away from the piston crown, thus aiding cooling. The turbocharger provides sea level power up to 18,000 ft, and is of great benefit when operating hot and high.