AR801 liquid-cooled single-rotor Wankel UAV engine

The AR801 is a liquid-cooled, single-rotor Wankel rotary engine from UAV Engines Ltd for propeller-driven unmanned aircraft. It is rated at 50 bhp and the maker designs it for small surveillance UAVs, in the same family of lightweight Wankel engines that the company builds from 20 to 120 bhp for surveillance UAVs, target drones and one-trip UAVs.

The engine has a single rotor with a swept chamber of 294 cc, and it runs on gasoline. The rotary layout produces power without reciprocating pistons, and Wankel engines of this kind give a power-to-weight ratio comparable to two-stroke piston engines with lower specific fuel consumption. For a UAV designer this means a compact power unit for a small airframe.

Quoted installation mass is 19.5 kg. This figure is the basis for aircraft weight and balance, and it should be read against the aircraft's cooling, exhaust, fuel and ignition hardware that is installed alongside the engine.

Cooling is by liquid, so the integrator plans a radiator, coolant lines and an air-duct path in the airframe. The engine is available in carburettor and fuel-injection configurations, so a programme can choose a simple mechanical fuel system or electronic injection linked to an engine control unit.

The engine is classed as a professional-grade defence-market product and is in production. Typical applications are fixed-wing tactical surveillance UAVs and similar propeller-driven unmanned aircraft in the 50 bhp class, with the propeller attached through the engine output.