Air-Tech, supplier of the Aero 1000 HO 4-stroke ultralight engine, is here at Sun ‘n Fun to remind builders that they have engines ready for immediate delivery. Air-Tech, which is a full-service, authorized dealer for the popular Quicksilver aircraft, introduced this 39-hp electronically fuel injected thumper a few years back. The company was responding to light aircraft pilot requests for four-stroke reliability. “The two-stroke engine will be a thing of the past for aviation sooner or later,” contends Air-Tech production manager Ken Borne. The problem, Borne says, has been the availability of 4-strokes to replace these engines.” But now we have several of these Helvenco Swiss-made engines ready to go at all times,” he said. The engine has been in use for more than a decade in Europe’s highly competitive carting world,” details Borne. “The cart racers run them for 24 hours at up to 15,000 RPM. With us flying this high altitude version to only 9200 RPM you can bet there’s lots of reliability left over.”
The big bore, short stroke design is supposed to have a 500 hour inspection and a 1000 hour TBO, but Borne says they’re very sure the engine can go a long time without issues given the engine’s track record. The engine comes as a complete unit with a mount. Bolt it on, add a prop and fuel it up to fly using only 1.2 gallons per hour. Packages sell for about $10,000.
