Small wonder

A UK developer of innovative model aircraft engines looks set to cash in on an increasing global appetite for small, fuel-efficient motor scooters.

Dorset engineering firm RCV Engines has been supplying its Rotating Cylinder Valve (RCV) internal combustion engines to model plane enthusiasts since 1997, but now a larger and more advanced version of the system is expected to appear on scooters manufactured by Taiwanese company Motive Power Industry (MPI).

Brian Mason, RCV’s head of product development, claimed that the technology provides distinct potential benefits over conventional two and four-stroke engines in terms of increased performance and improved fuel consumption.

Well-suited

And with exhaust emissions regulations forcing manufacturers to abandon polluting two-stroke engines in favour of more expensive four-stroke units, Mason said that the technology is well-suited to a number of small engine applications.

While the engine shares the same induction, compression, power and exhaust strokes found in a conventional four-stroke engine, the big innovation lies in the way that the cylinder is configured.