D-Motor is a
Belgian aircraft engine manufacturer based in
Deerlijk. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of
aircraft engine
An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...
s for
homebuilt
Homebuilt machines are machines built outside of specialised workshops or factories. This can include different things such as kit cars or homebuilt computers, but normally it pertains to homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or ...
and
ultralight aircraft
Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and Aircraft flight control system, conventional three-a ...
.
[Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', pages 238-239. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ][Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 256-257. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ]
The company was formed in about 2009 to develop an engine to replace the
Rotax 582
The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-ce ...
and
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, ...
in the Belgian
Masquito M80 helicopter project. The resulting engine was first shown in 2010 in Brussels, Belgium and at the 2010
AERO Friedrichshafen
AERO Friedrichshafen is a trade show dedicated to European general aviation. It is held yearly in April on the shores of Lake Constance at the exhibition center of Friedrichshafen, Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Ger ...
show in Germany. The company raised funds from their Chinese distributor, who became an investor in the company.
The company developed the four-cylinder
D-Motor LF26 in 2010 and then the derivative six-cylinder
D-Motor LF39.
Both of these Belgian
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, ...
engines are
liquid-cooled,
fuel-injected
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in Reciprocating engine, reciprocating piston and Wankel eng ...
, and ultra-compact, having
side-valves and extremely
oversquare
Stroke ratio, today universally defined as bore/stroke ratio, is a term to describe the ratio between cylinder bore diameter and piston stroke length in a reciprocating piston engine. This can be used for either an internal combustion engine ...
cylinder dimensions.
The engines have found applications in
gyroplane
An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), gyroscope, gyrocopter or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. A gyroplane "means a rotorcraft whose rotors are not engine-dr ...
s like the
Niki Lightning as well as fixed wing aircraft, such as the
BOT SC07 Speed Cruiser and the
Peak Aerospace Me 109R.
Aircraft engines
Summary of aircraft engines built by D-Motor:
*
D-Motor LF26 - four-cylinder
*
D-Motor LF39 - six-cylinder
References
External links
*{{Official website, http://www.d-motor.eu/
Aircraft engine manufacturers of Belgium
Manufacturing companies established in 2009
Belgian brands
D-Motor aircraft engines
2010s aircraft piston engines