Toyota and Textron Lycoming to Develop Engines

Toyota Motor Corp. is looking to develop aircraft engines with Textron Lycoming, a unit of Textron Inc., according to reports in the Japanese media.

The daily Sankei Shimbun said recently Japan's largest automaker and Textron aimed to make small aircraft piston engines in the United States once plans for mass production were confirmed.

Toyota spokesman Taro Takada said the company had become more aggressive about looking at prospects for developing aircraft engines, but said no decisions had been made.

The automaker developed its first aircraft engine in 1993, based on the engine used in its luxury Lexus sedan. It received the go-ahead to build aircraft engines from the FAA in 1996 but abandoned production plans due to costs and the weight of the engine.

The Sankei Shimbun said the companies would look to combine Textron's small boxer engine technology with Toyota's electronic fuel injection and environment-friendly engine developments. This would automate much of the throttle control, simplify cockpit design and allow construction of more sophisticated warning devices, it said.