New Rotary engine from Austro (Diamond Aircraft)

No new aero engines for years and then two come along at once!

This thing is impressively light.

Obviously the weight quoted of 27kg is only representing the engine itself and not the installed weight. 

Even so this looks like a great little unit for a Twister (which was of course originally designed around a Rotary engine).

It also seems like they have solved one of the worst problems with a Rotary and that is oil consumption.

The granddaddy of this engine was built and developed by Norton for their motorcycles back in the 80's. It later became Mid-West and was then sold to Diamond Aircraft.

Text below From the Austro website.

Austro Engine successfully tested brand new rotary engine

On the 8th of January 2013 the engine AE80R which is in development since 2.5 years successfully performed on the Austro Engine test bench. As a final target it will have a weight of 27 kg with an output of 80 hp (58 kw). Compared to the AE50R (55 PS Austro Engine rotary engine) the new engine has no loss lubrication system anymore which results in an extremely low oil consumption. A dual FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) controlled fuel injection system will keep fuel consumption on the lowest possible level. The engine is designed to power small manned or unmanned aircraft. According to Christian Dries, Chairman and Owner Diamond Aircraft, the AE80R might has the potential to become one of the leader in the extremely weight sensitive market of LSA (Light Sport Aircraft) and ultra-light aircraft. “The engine has no vibration and therefore it is ideal to power UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) with highly sensitive equipment” he added.