Engineered Propulsion Systems (EPS), an engine development firm based in New Richmond WI, was awarded a two-year $2.99M contract from the US Air Force on May 18th, 2017. The award was part of the Air Force Rapid Innovation Fund Aircraft Engine Sustainment Technologies Solicitation, which has the objective of developing technologies that match Air Force goals through fuel burn reduction. EPS will accomplish this by developing a proof of concept scaled down version of their Graflight Flat 8 engine. The new platform, which will be an aero specific lightweight 4-cylinder heavy fuel engine engine, will leverage innovative technology from the novel Graflight platform. This new scaled down high efficiency innovative aviation engine will offer the Air Force the potential of large energy savings with improvement in the reliability of Air Force systems, including improved mission capability for unmanned systems and the conversion of aircraft to logistically supportable fuels.
EPS has developed and successfully demonstrated, as part of multiple prior Air Force projects, a novel propeller-friendly engine architecture that offers unprecedented performance, fuel consumption, user-friendliness, noise reduction and “designed-in” reliability. This revolutionary technology, previously realized and USAF tested in the Graflight Flat 8, will be incorporated into the scalable 4-cylinder engine developed as part of this new effort. Like the Graflight Flat 8, the innovative Scaled engine will leverage modern COTS diesel injection technology, coupled with advances in electronics, materials and reliable and efficient thermodynamic cycles, to yield an efficient light weight power-plant capable of delivering substantial fuel savings. This in turn will dramatically enhance loiter, radius and payload capabilities for aircraft.
