VIJA Aircraft Engines

French aircraft engine manufacturer

VIJA Aircraft Engines

Company type| Limited liability company
Industry| Aerospace
Founded| 2004
Defunct| 2018
Fate| Out of business
Headquarters| Toulouse, France
Products| Aircraft engines

Number of employees

| 2
Website| http://www.vija-engines.com

VIJA Aircraft Engines was a French engineering company that designed and built engines for ultralight aircraft use.

By 2015 the company website had been taken down and the company seemed to have ceased business then.[1]

The company was reported in 2017 to be looking for a buyer, but was finally closed in 2018.[2][3]

## History

[edit]

The company was founded by two brothers, Vincent and Jacques Trincal, hence the company name, VI-JA. They were motorcycle enthusiasts and sought to apply motorcycle engine technology to ultralight aircraft. They decided to adapt the engine from the Suzuki Bandit 1200, formerly the Suzuki GSX-R1100, for aviation use. The brothers started the company as a family owned limited liability company. The first showed a prototype at the Salon de Blois airshow in 2004 and had a first almost fully functional engine at Blois in 2005. Their project did not attract investments or qualify for bank loans and it was entirely funded by the family to €100,000.[4]

The first engine flew in an Aero Synergie J300 Joker testbed and produced 90 hp (67 kW) at 5700 rpm. Initial climb was 900 ft/min (4.5 m/s) and a cruise speed of 90 mph (145 km/h), consuming 2 U.S. gallons (7.6 L; 1.7 imp gal) per hour.[4]

## Engines

[edit]

* VIJA J-10Si
* VIJA J-10Sbi
* VIJA AG-12Si
* VIJA AG-12Sbi
* VIJA J-16Ti

## References

[edit]

1. ^ VIJA Aircraft Engines. "VIJA Aircraft Engines". vija-engines.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
2. ^ "Vija Aircraft Engines à la recherche d'un repreneur – aeroVFR".
3. ^ Societe SAS (2022). "VIJA Aircraft Engines". societe.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
4. ^ a b "Moteur Vija J-12Si". ulmag.fr. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Company website archives on Archive.org