Rotary power,
built for flight.

Rotaero B.V. is a Dutch developer and manufacturer of advanced Wankel rotary engines, building on a heritage that began with cleaner, high-performance alternatives to two-stroke kart racing engines in the 1990s — expertise that now spans manned and unmanned aircraft, helicopters, boats, vehicles, and generators.

Prized for low vibration, compact packaging, and smooth, reduced-emission torque delivery, our engines carry a track record of thousands of units sold and hundreds of thousands of operating hours. Today we're modernizing that legacy for the fast-growing drone market, where performance, reliability, and efficiency matter most.

Request specifications Why rotary →

Company

Our Story

Rotaero was founded by six engineers, designers, and innovators united by one goal: transforming rotary propulsion for unmanned systems. Drawing on backgrounds spanning UAV airframe design, engine development, and aerospace systems engineering, we saw the potential to build something lighter, better, and more capable.

We combine decades of experience in drone propulsion, hybrid powertrains, and precision mechanical engineering to deliver systems that break through old limitations — setting new standards in endurance, reliability, and integration, and supporting our customers on their most critical missions.

Why rotary

Three moving parts, for the same power.

A Wankel-type rotary replaces the piston, connecting rod, valvetrain and crank of a reciprocating engine with a single triangular rotor turning inside an epitrochoid housing. Fewer parts in motion means a different set of trade-offs — mostly in the airframe's favor.

Characteristic

RotAero Rotary (Wankel)

Reciprocating piston

Power-to-weight

High — no reciprocating mass to counterbalance

Lower — crank, rods and counterweights add dead weight

Low vibration

Very low — pure rotary output, no valve or piston slap

Higher — reciprocating and rotating masses fight each other

Primary moving parts

3 — rotor, eccentric shaft, output gear

40+ — pistons, rods, valves, cams, timing gear

Frontal area / packaging

Compact and low-profile — simplifies nacelle fairing

Larger — cylinder banks and valve covers add bulk

Fuel tolerance

Broad — mogas, avgas and heavy-fuel variants share a platform, with EFI tuning each for reliable combustion

Narrower — compression ratios tune to a specific fuel

Torque delivery

Continuous, overlapping combustion events per shaft turn

Pulsed — torque peaks and valleys per cylinder firing

Engine platform

Specifications, by the family.

Indicative ranges across the RotAero rotary line, spanning single- and twin-rotor configurations from small UAV platforms through general-aviation applications. Exact figures depend on rotor count, induction, and cooling configuration — get in touch below for documentation specific to your platform and mission profile.

Shaft power output

30–60 kW

40–80 hp · continuous rated

Static thrust class

490–1,800 N

110–405 lbf · propeller/ducted-fan integration, mission-dependent

Wet weight

20–40 kg

44–88 lb · engine with fluids, excl. accessories

Displacement

294–654 cc / rotor

Single- and twin-rotor variants

Operating speed

4,000–9,500 RPM

Rotor speed · 3:1 eccentric shaft ratio

Fuel compatibility

Mogas · Avgas · Heavy fuel

Jet-A1 variants available on select platforms

Cooling

Liquid housing / air rotor

Configuration-dependent

Ignition

CDI · Magneto · Battery

Configuration-dependent

Torque

35–70 Nm

26–52 lb-ft · at rated shaft speed

Get in touch

Request engine specifications.

Talk to our engineers

Tell us about your platform and mission profile, whether for integration studies, technical documentation, or program inquiries. Contact us directly or submit the form below, and our engineering team will follow up with detailed documentation and integration support.

info@rotaero.com

The Netherlands

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