Jabiru J400
Jabiru J160
Jabiru Calypso

Jabiru engines

Jabiru aircraft are Australian type certified production composite aircraft used by flying schools, bush pilots and recreational flyers throughout the UK, Australia and Worldwide. They have proven to be strong and reliable operating in some harsh operating conditions.

Careful use of modern composite techniques has resulted in a strong, sleek and curvaceous structure that is clean and light. The aircraft are designed around the pilot and passengers, being spacious and comfortable for touring, yet with a small footprint and frontal profile. All controls fall easily to hand and include a centrally mounted control column, brake and trim lever. Jabiru have designed and certified their own aero engines for use in other aircraft types as well as Jabirus.

Being aircraft designers, they have had the unique opportunity to design engines ideally matched to modern light aircraft requirements. Jabiru engines have a high power to weight ratio, air cooling, direct drive, quiet (62db), compact, horizontally opposed, simple installation and economical. The success of the production Jabiru, prompted requests for a homebuilt kit version from around the world. As a result, production and kit aircraft components are built alongside each other, there is no discrimination between them - making the Jabiru kit unique as it is manufactured under stringent quality procedures and inspection regimes.

The original Jabiru demonstrator G-OJAB made its first flight in the hands of Kevin Pearce back in October 1996. The aircraft performed very well and Kevin reported that he felt very much at ease in the Jabiru even though first flights tend to be a tense affair, as the aircraft climbed through 300 feet he retracted the flaps and could not help but be impressed by the quiet and smooth operation of the aircraft. The J400 continues in this tradition, being benign in the stall and easy to fly.

Everyone who has flown in the Jabiru have expressed great delight in their performance. When trimmed out they will fly hands and feet off for miles, making the Jabiru ideal for touring. Another interesting characteristic is the Jabiru's ability to hold itself in a balanced turn unassisted. Kevin reports that you use rudder to roll into a 35 degree bank and trim to level flight then let go of everything and the aircraft will continue a balanced turn in either direction with no change in height.

The glassfibre composite construction lends itself to several key benefits. There are no worries from long term corrosion or fatigue issues in metal aircraft and the 'skins' do not have to be replaced periodically as with 'rag and tube' types. Lastly, the composite construction makes the aircraft slippery so that it can achieve higher cruise speeds than other types. Since the construction is thicker and more rigid than carbonfibre constructed aircraft, you don't get the drumming associated with these types, and so together with the smooth and quiet running engine, the Jabiru has to be one of the quietest aircraft about, both for the occupants and people on the ground. In the long run, this lends the aircraft well to relaxed touring.

The Jabiru kits comes complete with everything except paint, upholstery and radio - they include engine, exhaust system, radio aerial, seat belts, propeller, disk brakes, all fastenings, spats, basic VFR & engine instruments, spats, winglets (where fitted) plus battery. Unlike other microlight aircraft, all key fastenings are aircraft grade, giving an idea of the standards at which Jabiru are aiming to achieve. Being simple and proven and using standard automotive consumables under the PFA's guidelines, the engine is very cheap to maintain and spares are reasonably priced.

Jabiru produce their own range of lightweight 4 stroke horizontally opposed aircooled engines, specifically designed and engineered for use in aircraft. All engines are direct drive and are fitted with alternators, silencers, vacuum pump drives and dual ignition systems as standard. Over 2000 4 cylinder engines and over 750 of the 6 cylinder engines have been produced. The basic design is now so mature that only minor design changes have been made in the last 1000 engines or so.
Engines available are:
2200cc 4 cylinder 85Bhp (64Kw) @ 3300RPM weighing 60Kg
3300cc 6 cylinder 120Bhp (89Kw) @ 3300RPM weighing 81Kg
5100cc 8 cylinder 180Bhp (134Kw) @ 3000Rpm weighing 120Kg

Currently the most popular is the 2200cc Aircraft Engine which has been recently uprated to 85 Bhp in line with constant enhancements to the performance and longevity of the engine. The power increase is due to the continual evolution of the engine design and steady enhancements in manufacturing techniques. Improved machining of the head allowed an increase in the compression ratio, while improvements to the crankcase has reduced “pumping” losses from the movement of air around the engine’s bottom end.
Overall dimensions are small. The 596mm (23.5") width allows tractor applications with very small frontal areas, and the engines can be installed in either tractor or pusher installation.