We assemble the highest performing engines for aerobatic and high speed aircraft.

We produce a limited number of Lycoming-based engines for aircraft that perform at the highest level of competition. Whether you are looking for a lightweight, Unlimited Aerobatics-capable assembly or your goal is to break speed records with a high-HP turbocharged engine, our custom engine assemblies are designed to exceed your expectations.

We specialize in Lycoming IO-, EO-, AEIO-, and TIO- engine assemblies that offer extreme performance. Our experience designing, manufacturing, and testing high-performance engine components gives us the ability to produce performance engines that maintain a high level of durability. We know that there is more to a performance engine than simply bolting on a few of our high-performance components to an otherwise standard engine. Each component that is included in the assembly - from the crankshaft out to the hardware - is scrutinized to maximize it's contribution to the entire combination. We have the manufacturing and testing capability to not only improve existing parts, but with our 3D printing, CNC, and casting capabilities, we can efficiently create new/improved components to suit a specific goal.

Please call or email us to discuss your goals and we will gladly spend the time to offer advice or work up a full quotation. We only assemble truly customized, ultra-high performance experimental engines, therefore we limit the amount of engine projects that we take on each year. If you are looking for a more standardized engine, we are happy to suggest one of our partner companies who could produce the engine for you.

Below are a few examples of our past engine assemblies:

Rob Holland Ultimate Airshows - MXS-RH

3-time Unlimited World Freestyle Champion, 5-time Unlimited US Freestyle Champion

AEIO-540-EXP: We knew that this engine would be worked hard as Rob performs more than 30 airshows per year and competes at the US and World Aerobatic Championships. Rob is constantly developing new maneuvers that place significant loads on the engine, so durability was the main priority from the beginning. Once that was established, we could focus on increasing power and reducing weight.

We are able to significantly increase engine durability through a few methods. The most important is increasing the rigidity of the engine assembly. Our top cylinder girdles add strength to the outboard end of the cylinders, and this does more than keep the ends of the cylinders from moving around. The strength at the end of the cylinder greatly reduces the crankcase flexing from cylinder movement. This then reduces the variability in bearing bores through the cycle and maintains a constant oil film on the crankshaft bearing surfaces during high transitional loads.

Maintaining a constant clearance between the critical rotating surfaces is important, but that leads to the next important tactic we use to increase durability - improved oil flow throughout the engine. The oil itself plays a significant role in the cooling of specific areas of the engine, so maximizing it's usefulness greatly increases longevity. We perform specific machining practices to the rear accessory case, crankcase half assemblies, cylinders, and other components to improve the flow of oil and also add new paths of direct oiling to various components that benefit from it.

You can get more info on the plane and Rob's airshow schedule at:  www.UltimateAirshows.com

 Anequim Project - Fastest 4 cylinder aircraft in the world.

FAI C1A World Records: Speed over 3km distance: 324.23 MPH / 15km distance: 317.64 MPH / 100km distance: 304.56 MPH / 500km distance: 306.80 MPH / Time to climb - 3km altitude: 2 minutes, 26 seconds

AEIO-360-EXP: The goal for this engine was simple - 250 HP at 3300 RPM, naturally aspirated. This took us a long time to achieve, we had the engine on and off the dyno a few times while we tried different combinations. After more than 5 months, we finally achieved our goal and recorded 250 HP at 3236 RPM. As this engine would be subject to significant ram air boost, we also tested the engine with additional MP supplied by a centifugal blower that is driven by an accessory shaft on the dyno absorption unit. Testing the engine at the anticipated ram air boost of 4.4 inHg, we recorded 268 HP.

The Anequim Project can be viewed in more detail by visiting their Facebook site: facebook.com/AnequimProject

Slick Aircraft Company - Unlimited Aerobatic Aircraft - AEEO-370-EXP

This engine is unique because the goal of this Slick 360 was to compete with 6 cylinder equipped aircraft at the Unlimited level. That meant we had to both maximize usable power and take full advantage of the 4 cylinder's weight difference. This engine is also fitted with our electronic engine management system which makes the engine behave well in all situations.

We ended up with an engine that weighs just 249 pounds (dry) and produced 233.5 HP at 2847 RPM and a peak torque of 432.9 ft-lbs at 2761 RPM. That gives us a weight to HP ratio of 0.94. This compares very favorably to a typical 300 HP AEIO-540 which weighs approximately 410 pounds (0.73 HP per pound). Like all of our engines though, we could not sacrifice engine durability to reduce weight. So like many other projects, we replaced various components of the engine with high strength, alternate-material options. While these options do tend to be more expensive, the reduction in engine weight without giving up durability is worthwhile.

Bully Aero - Pitts S-1S - AEEO-360-EXP

For this engine, the goal was to be competitive power-wise in the Gold Class of Reno Bi-Planes while also being fully capable of handling unlimited-level aerobatics the other 51 weeks of the year and being easy enough to jump in for a $50 hamburger on the weekend. The first part, making power, tends to be the easiest. Making it work long-term without additional maintenance headaches or increased pilot effort is where our experience and testing capacity comes in. There is really only one way to make all this possible and it's with our electronic engine management system (EMS) handling the engine's power output and safety margins. Our UltraSky EMS is constantly polling data from a variety of sensors to safely control the engine at any requested power setting.

After assembly, calibration, and testing, we pulled the engine off the test stand making >450 ft-lbs and >270 HP at 3200 RPM (see dyno chart below). These big numbers are only possible in the real world because of the inherent safety factors built-in to our electronic engine management system.

Carter Aviation Technologies - TIO-540-EXP

For this series of engines, the customer asked for 400+ HP at 2700 RPM in order to quickly spool the large top rotor. The tricky part was that their configuration forced the engine to be placed under a full load at a very low RPM when the rotor was beginning to spool. This meant testing the engine at full load down to as low as 1200 RPM. Running an engine at full throttle and loaded down to 1200 RPM was not something we had ever done because it is such a strange combination. We were holding our breath on the first run, but the engine performed flawlessly and we achieved full boost pressure at 1449 RPM and accelerated smoothly up to the RPM limit. 800+ ft-lbs of torque is available from 1700 RPM through 2800 RPM, with a peak output of 866 ft-lbs and 452 HP.

There were a few key components that made these engines work well. The one that needs to be highlighted is the Light Speed Engineering ignition system. The strong spark output was important to igniting the mixture at elevated cylinder pressures, but more important was the ability to alter the timing curve to safely dial in the proper timing settings throughout a very broad RPM range. LSE also made our lives easier by integrating their RPM limiter feature into the systems.