“We want to be the premier aviation engine company,” Lycoming’s new CEO, Ian Walsh, told a gathering at the company’s Oshkosh display July 26.
Walsh announced an advanced research and development program with its own, dedicated space, which is working on a number of long-range projects. Closer to fruition are 11 models in a kit engine program, new cylinder technology and FADEC, the latter not quite ready for an announcement.
Walsh noted the company is continuing to study the market for aviation diesels, in an effort to determine what customers really want, along with automobile gasoline as another alternative fuel.
Lycoming also is looking at the Light Sport Aircraft market and the possibility of producing new engines for it.
Roller tappets, announced last year at Oshkosh, now are standard on production engines and on engines the company overhauls or rebuilds.
