Since the military are interested in this design, and Achates has partnered with Cummins and Fairbanks-Morse, it doesn't sound so unlikely to succeed. Well, even though Cummins has traditionally refrained from releasing any 2-stroke design after the failure of a prototype, the involvement of Fairbanks-Morse which is well experienced with this engine layout might be a sign of the viability of the project. Getting in touch with the right investors and persuade them to buy the license to make the engine is a whole different matter, but I'm sure the interest of the military is likely to attract some. I wouldn't doubt AM General to get involved...
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Originally Posted by acparker
There is a patent, US2809614, assigned to Continental Motors (now owned by the Chinese government) that addressed stress issues with the rocker-arm (the term, rocker-lever, seemed a bit off, may have been a google translate thing) designs. They were looking at it for aviation use. Obviously, nothing came of it.
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I'm aware of at least one opposed-piston Diesel aviation engine project, but it's not from Continental and resorts to a two-crankshaft design.
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I think the rocker-arm designs may have made a more compact engine than the two-crankshaft designs -- or not. It may have had less friction than gear towers.
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I'm not so sure about the extent of an eventual compactness that could be inherent to the rocker-arm design with a single crankshaft, but maybe it would lead to an easier packaging for general aviation as a drop-in replacement to the old opposed-cylinder gassers that are still mainstream.