About us

Aerosport Engineering A/S was established by Ole Ringstad and Cecilie B. Bjørnebye in 2015 as a result of a life long passion for engines, gears and equipment for vehicle propulsion. Due to the fact that aeronautical activities have been an important part of our lives, the idea to develop engine, gear and lubrication systems designated for aircraft, was near at hand. The only thing missing, was a little nudge to set it off. This nudge came in the form of a half way finished Stewart S51D Mustang, and the Stewart was purchased by the company as a building project.

Along with the building project, the idea of constructing a small V12 engine for propulsion developed. We knew from the start that this is a difficult and tedious task to take on, and just as importantly, the liability that follows with constructing engines to be used in aircraft.

These engines are manufactured for the experimental market only, and the project is a substantial one, with years of planning and construction efforts. With the help of modern techniques and the use of consultation from external engineers to oversee ideas and systems, the path toward a final result has been interesting, but also demanding.

 

 

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The right people

Some of the painstaking work you have to do when launching a project like this is to find the right people, with the right skills, a lot of knowledge and a great deal of enthusiasm. I have always taken great pleasure in building a large network of both friends and professional capacities, where both eventually have a tendency to end up in the friend category. Further down on these pages, you will find a presentation of all the friends and contributors to this project. Please feel free to get to know them a little better.

One of the main contributors to our project, is our friend and mentor Jack Kane at EPI inc. As all aerosport enthusiasts may know, Mr.Kane is a highly skilled engineer, certainly one of the the best we have ever come across in our search for adequate information. He has been working with complex engineering in this field for almost his entire professional life. Be our guests and read more about Mr. Kane and his company in our presentation of our contributors.

Øystein Lie

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Øystein Lie is a farmer’s son like me, and with such a substantial background, he also inherited the Norwegian farmer’s way of thinking. That’s about where the similarities end between him and the CEO of Aerosport Engineering. Mr. Lie has a proper education! He is working full time as a mechanical engineer for Dynatec-SMW A/S, which also is conveniently located in the vicinity of our company. Dynatec-SMW A/S was an easy choice as a business partner for us. Not only because the know-how and technology were so near at hand, but also because of its good reputation.

One of Øystein’s many good qualities is that he understands how a farmer’s son's head is working. The main reason why Øystein was introduced to me, was his knowledge of CAD drawing. I would bring hand drawings and ideas on different topics scribbled down on pieces of paper, and Øystein would do his magic with his fabulous knowledge of Solid Works. We have spent considerable time together since the beginning of 2015, solving many small and great challenges that arise with a complex project like this. I admire Øystein’s ability to never give up. I sometimes work myself into a corner, but he always manages to find a good way out! I really have to thank Øystein for being so patient with me during all our long night sessions. We have also become very good friends through our work together. What a bonus!

Jan Robin Wilhelmsen

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Jan Robin Wilhelmsen is young, already an extremely clever machinist, and also very ambitious with his work as a CNC operator for Dynatec-SMV A/S. Give him the right equipment, and he can make you anything. He is also a good designer and drawer in Solid Works. I am asking myself, how can a young man be so dedicated and skilled at his work? When I was at his age, I used to spill my time, rather than use it purposefully. I think I know why some people like Jan Robin Wilhelmsen stand out amongst others. The recipe is as short as it is brutal: #1. I think this young gentleman inherited some good genes from his ancestors. (read parents). #2. He is a hard worker. That is a good and much appreciated combination if you want to be part of the cutting edge of technology, considering the high speed development we experience today. Mr. Wilhelmsen has been involved in our project all the way from start to finish, and has done a lot of complex machining for us during the development period. In this picture he is showing one of the intercooler top lids, machined out from a solid block of 7075 alloy. Thank you so much for your excellent work, Jan Robin! It could not have been done better!    

Anders Ringstad

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Anders Ringstad is the CEO of ARP, and no, he is not the one producing bolts and nuts. Mr. Ringstad is heavily into engines and the abbreviation ARP in this case, stands for Anders Ringstad Produkter, which was established in 1993. Besides beeing my brother, he has been involved with cars, and especially engines, since he started walking. Literally! First of all, my brother is a handful! Every one who has a little brother knows that, right? When that is said I will be the first to admit that this particular brother, is one of the most helpful persons I have ever known! When it comes to engines, he is a real Connaisseur! I don't know many, if any, with the the same broad experience with regards to almost any type of engine. His interest for engines ignited at a very early stage in his life. I am five years older that Anders, so I have followed his creative way with motor driven vehicles starting off as a very young boy, and he is still enthusiastically perfoming wonders with his engines. It started with carts made of wood, and of course, shortly after, those where in need of an engine! Anders and his one year yonger cousin tried out any engine they could find, mostly two-stroke motorcycle engines. I also clearly remember our father pronounced quite loudly and also quite often, that this or that would not work! At all! Period! The very next morning, often on Sundays, I recall, these two young boys were test driving their veichles around the barn, much to my and all our friend's amusement, but maybe not so much to our mom's! Going fast forward, Anders grew up, got a formal education, and continued to cultivate his interst for engines. He has, for most of his grown up life, been self employed, and he decided quite early in his professional career that he would like to work with race cars, and especially race engines, as a living. He has managed to do so, even in the sparsley populated country that Norway is. He is known for bringing troubled engines into life. It does not matter, size or brand, whether it is a small four cylinder engine for the "dailydriver", or a blown top alcohol Big Block Chevrolet made for drag racing. His motto is: let's get those problems sorted! I believe it is obvious to all that I have been very fortunate to have my brother so close. I have always had the opportunity to ask him for his opinion or his help, and as you probably have realized, he has always given his professional opinion and a helping hand. In this picture, you can see Anders and Marius Løberg in the control room next to his dyno test cell. Here they are working together in the final stages with the engine managment, fine-tuning the map for our V12.          

Aaron Burhoe

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This is Aaron Burhoe! Mr. Burhoe is the CEO and owner of Burhoe Machine Works LLC. www.burhoemachineworks.com  Aaron was born in San Anselmo in 1977, but raised in Stockton, California. He is a typical outdoor person, and has spent a lot of his time climbing mountains and riding bicycles. Aaron and one of his friends actually bicycled from the west coast to the east coast back in 1999! He has also a strong interest for motorcycle road racing, and one of his heros in life is the deceased New Zealander John Britten.

After primary school and junior high school, he joined the college in San Luis Obispo, also located in California. He started studying English and philosophy, but had a hard time getting the topic under his skin, so to speak. A little embarrassed, he explains to ME that he dropped out of class after a few months. At the same time he was working as a henchman in a local Auto Repair Shop. Mechanically related topics seemed to be a lot easier to digest for this young man and he therefore continued to put more hours into this trade. Aaron found out that he would like to join a technical school to see if this would trigger his curiosity. A gentleman named Bob Leeds, was a teacher in the machining class which Aaron attended. Mr. Leeds was a good teacher, and managed to capture Aarons attention! Aaron enjoyed milling machines and lathes. As a matter of fact, he was so enthusiastic about this new topic that he took out some of his savings to by an old broken Bridgeport milling machine. In his spare time he managed to fix the old machine, and suddenly he could make parts on his own.

As time moved on, Aaron started to understand that machining was somthing that was ment for him. An acquaintance of Aaron, Ian Lany, had a machine shop where Aaron was given the opportunity to rent some space for him and his Bridgeport so that he could start to machine parts on a more regular basis. At the same time, Aaron's father started to see some results of his son's work, and suggested that he should consider buying some more equipment to be more competitive in a tough market. Aaron thought that it was a great idea, except for the fact that he was broke like a church rat. Obviously, his father knew about the young man's finacial situation, which in turn made him take his long earned bonus out of the bank and pay for a brand new and real CNC machine! Burhoe Machine Works Llc was officially founded, and the year was 2000.

As many other new entreprenurs, Aaron also fought for his first customers, but finally he managed to sell his services to a company called Westland Technologies. Aaron had learned a little about making molds, an that was excactly what his new customer wanted. Still there was too much spare time in Aarons life, so he put in an add in a magazine to try to find new customers. Another company, KDL Presicion Molding also took a chance on this forward thinking young man, and they are still making business together. Today, Burhoe Machine Works Llc is offering custom machined components for applications demanding the highest quality. Burhoe Machine Works produces products ranging from large aerospace and submarine components, to minuscule medical components used in constructions of devices that will be inspected under a microscope and implanted in human bodies.

So what has Mr. Burhoe and his fantastic machine shop to do with Aerosport Engineering AS? We were introduced to him and his company through Jack Kane, the founder of EPI Inc. Mr. Kane had made some drawings for a Propeller Speed Reduction Unit, for Mr. Burhoe, which Mr. Kane thought would fit our needs. I decided to take contact with Mr. Burhoe, to find out some more about this person, and to see if there actually was a product that we could use. Of course there was a product, maybe not quite ready, but close. After many interesting phone calls and emails we started to know each other better. We had many of the same interests in life, and we where both passionate about engines and propultion systems. For those of you who do not know Mr. Burhoe, he is first and formost a very kind person! That is only one of the reasons why he is so likable, and easy to be around. After a while, Aaron suggested that we should try out one of his Mark 15 PSRU's. The Mark 15 unit is a deviation from the Mark 9 PSRU, which has been in the the market for many years already, and been used and flown in several different types of experimental aircraft with very good results. The Mark 15 PSRU includes all the same safety features as the smaller Mark 9 unit, but is designed for engines ranging up towards 2000 Hp. The Mark 15 gear box is new to the experimental aircraft market, and in need of being documented and tested. We have had the pleasure to be deeply involved with the finishing touch on this unit, all the way from machining internal parts, to final assembly and testing. We really appreciate the trust we have gained from Mr. Burhoe and we are looking forward to more collaboration in the years to come. And for the reader who has red all the way down to this point, there will be revealed some secrets later on! So, stay tuned. And to you Aaron, thank you for trusting a son of a Norwegian farmer, and thank you for your help and friendship! It really warms a cold northern hart.  

Rolfs Kuggservice AB

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There are not many companies like Rolfs Kuggservice AB! www.rolfskuggservice.se This family owned business was founded by Rolf Bergh the first of September 1995. They were first located in a small Swedish town called Fagerstrand, but two years later they moved to a more convenient location called Smedjebacken, located in Dalarna County. First of all, let's explain their company name! Rolfs Kuggservice is a Swedish name, where Rolf is the first name of the first owner, and Kuggservice means gear service! This is the key to why they are introduced as part of our team. They are manufacturing the gears for the PSRU, Propeller Speed Reduction Unit, that we are producing. In the picture from left to right, you find Cecilie B. Bjørnebye, Stefan Bergh, and Oddbjørn Hallenstvedt. Stefan Bergh, in the middle, is the leader from the next generation of Rolfs Kuggservice, and the current CEO of this family operation. Stefan Bergh started to work in the company in 1996, just a year after his father had established it. As his father Rolf, Stefan also had to adapt to heavy and complicated machinery and learn this highly specialized line of work.

They have the equipent and skill to solve almost any kind of gear related challenge, from very small gears, and up to 1200 mm / 47 Inch in diameter. Rolfs Kuggservice AB is a typical prototype company, but they also do smaller production series. They can cut or grind almost any type of gears, including, spur gears, helical cut gears, conical gear sets, bevel gears, screw gears, spiral bevel gears, rack and pinion gears. In addition, they cut internal and external splines in any dimention. They also have two new 5 axis DMG Mori CNC milling machines to be able to grind the most advanced gear profiles up to 750 mm / 29,5 Inch in diameter. In 2002 they decided to invest in more work and machine space and added a strcuture to the existing building.

On our first visit to Rolf and Stefan, we were met with friendly hospitality and spent more than half a day at their facility. We were invited for a roundtrip to look at all the specialized equipment that they have in order to make all kinds of gears and spilnes. After an introduction to their working staff and beginning to understand some of the complexity of making gears, and also what they have to know about their machinery, gave us a distinct feeling of being at the right place with the right people. This understanding intensified even more after knowing some of the companies that they have in their customer portfolio. Companies like Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB, Voith Turbo Safset AB, Volvo Powertrain Sweden AB, Bosch, Siemens, and Hegglund Drives AB, to mention a few, makes us believe that Rolfs Kuggservice AB, does a very good job! They also got an ISO 9001 certification in 2010. So, needles to say, we are very pleased to have had the possibility to work with all the people at Rolfs Kuggservice AB, and to have their especially designed gears in our PSRU's. Thank you to all of you!                      

Auto Verdi AB

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Auto Verdi AB www.autoverdi.com is a Swedish manufacturer of connecting rods and dry sump pump systems. They are located in the beautiful area of Dalarna in Sweden. The Gentleman you see in this picture is Steen Skodborg. He is one of the two owners and in charge of the dry sump pump division. Stefan Verdi is the other partner in the company, and as the name suggests, he founded Auto Verdi AB, back in 1988. From the start, Mr. Verdi's goal was to fabricate the best connecting rods possible. And so he did, until he met Mr. Skodborg in 1994. They quickly became more than acquaintances, and found out that it could not hurt the company to have another product in their portfolio. They started to look into oil pumps, and soon after, actually the same year, they had found a pump model that suited their production capabilities at that time. 

Steen Skodborg is born in the scenic village of Djurås in 1965. He is actually from Danish heritage, and his parents moved from Denmark to Dalarna, Sweden, at the end of the fifties. Steen has always been passionate about mechanics, and after primary and high school, he studied for four years to become a mechanical engineer. During the years in school, he was lucky to find out that this was excactly what he wanted to do in his life. After his graduation, twenty years young, he started to work as an apprentice for SSAB, Swedish Steel Inc. He worked as a service technichian in the company, and learned how to use a lathe and other intersting tools. He also learned that it was the high level assembly line production that was the most appealing to him. So with this knowledge about himself, he attended a course in CAD and CAM in 1994, just before he started his work on the first pump for the company.

Two years later, in 1996, Steen joined the compay as a co-owner and head engineer. At the same time, the company expanded their production line to include dry sump oil pumps. Auto Verdi is making pumps for almost any type of motor sport, and in 1998 they won their first major championship with one of their pumps in the Trans-Am series. Two years later, they had their first pump in the NASCAR series, and in 2002, Joe Gibbs Racing won the championship with an Auto Verdi pump. Hendricks Motorsport NASCAR Chevrolet team has used their pumps for many years, and so has Rouch Yates NASCAR Ford team, and Penske Racing NASCAR team! Auto Verdi has their pumps all over the world, in almost any form of racing. In addition to what we have already learned, they have their especially designed pumps in top level drag racing, Super V8 Austrailia, Rally, and Rally Cross, to mention a few more. After many years of development, they have got a huge variety of pump elements. This applies both to the pressure stages, and to the scavenge stages, and in addition, they have four different pump diameter size categories as well!

We have been very fortunate to meet Steen, Stefan and their highly specialized and sofisticated company. We have asked a lot of questions during the design period of our powerplant, and they have always found time to answer all of them, several times! We have had the opportunity to visit Steen several times at their facility in Djurås to discuss the design of our system. It has been very interesting and educating. To be honest, we don't know of any other company that know more about oil pumps and related systems on this planet! We are extremely impressed with the quality of their parts, the knowledge they shear, and the service they give! We don't know any other dry sump pump system that compares to their standard. Not even close! And if you for any reason are still scheptic, visit their web pages and take a look your self! Steen, thank you for your friendship and for all the help and special treatment you have given to us. You and Stefan are really standing out, and should be very proud of your company and your achivements!

 

Jack Kane

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As mentioned previously, Mr. Kane has become one of our main contributors. During our initial search for a reduction gear box for our V12 engine project, we discovered EPI Inc. It doesn't take a whole lot of reading through EPI's web pages, www.epi-eng.com before one understands that the founder and CEO of the company, Jack Kane is worth further investigation. If you are a petrol head, or just harbour more than an average interest in engines, or for the anatomy of the combustion engine, those pages are aimed at you. You can learn a lot about gears, gearboxes and propellers, too! You can actually learn a lot about anything with regard to propultion sytems! You are basically on the doorstep to engine heaven! So, dive in, get entertained, enlightend and educated! But first, here is a review of what Mr. Kane has achieved.

Mr. Kane founded EPI, Inc. in 1994, for the purpose of developing and producing high-performance vehicle propultion systems. Since the founding of EPI, Inc. he has been responsible for the design and development of liquid cooled aircraft engines, gearboxes, and accessory drive units for various fixed-wing and helicopter applications. His technical articles published in Race Engine Technology magazine have recieved acclaim from knowledgeable experts at the highest levels of motorsport.

Jack was a dean's list student in the Electrical Engineering program at the US Air Force Academy. Later, he earned Bachelor of mecanical Engineering, and Master of Sience degrees from civilian universities. He began his engineering career at Unitied Aircraft Corporation, where he designed hydromechanical control system components for turbine engine controls. He went on to significant design and research work on the first generation of Full Authority Digital Engine Controllers (FADEC). He also taught night classes at a small college in New England.

As a systems engineer with various companies including Litton Industries, Scan-Optics and Transaction Technology Inc, he designed and developed several complex real-time computer operating systems, control systems, and data communication networking systems, including subsystems for one of the first on-line banking networks in the world.

As an independant consultant, he worked under contract to various aerospace and technology companies including TRW Space Systems, Garret AiResearch, SDC/Burroghs, Rockwell International, Magnavox Research Labs and Augusta Aerospace Systems. he was responsible for the design and development of sections of complex computer-based systems (mostly classified) including GPS, Nuclear Systems, Missile Flight Control Systems, Data Acquisition Systems, and Satelite communication Networking Systems. he was a pioneer in the use of multi-level finite state automata in the implementation of bulletproof real-time control software systems.

Mr. Kane also holds a commercial pilot rating in multi-engine, single engine, and glider aircraft, and a private helicopert rating. He has previously been a certified flight instructor for single and multi engine aircraft, and has worked as a Part 135 Charter pilot, comercial pilot, glider-tow pilot, ferry pilot test-pilot, and instructor in very-high-performance, tailwheel and aerobatic aircraft.

As you may understand, we are honoured to have Mr. Kane on our team as a consultant and engineer, and grateful to be able to call him our friend. 

Henning Finstad

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Henning Finstad is one of the owners of Dynatec-SMV A/S. He is known for his very high energy! Also, he does not know what the word “problem” means! When you first get to him, make sure you can take a brisk walk, and talk at the same time, because this guy is in a hurry. Within the blink of an eye, he has disappeared to the next guy in line for him. Henning Finstad is a good designer, a clever machinist and CNC operator. He knows how a mechanical device should be designed to operate correctly. He manages his working staff on a daily basis, but also takes care of his customers. I have known Henning for many years, and I can thank him for the introduction into this great company and knowledge center.  

Simon Lambert

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Sir Simon Lambert, the CEO of Si-Leck Motorsport Wiring www.sileck.co.uk has helped us to make a complete wiring harness for our engine. Simon has a formal education as a Motor Veichle Electrician, and started his career as an apprentice at British Leyland Llc in 1981. He is today a Grade 4 Auto Electrician and also holds a Raychem System 25 Techician classification certificate. We were first intodused to Simon through Edge Performance AS, who had already benefited form his services. The CEO of the company, Thomas Hauklien was loud and clear regarding Simons capabilities, work ethics, his quality systems and parts. Mr. Hauklien gave Simon the best recommendations, so we hired him for this monumental wiring project. It took Simon three trips to Norway, half a mile of wire, a bucket of high quality MIL spec connectors and three months of engineering, measuring, crimping, sweating and swearing to finish our high redundancy wiring harness. We have been working hard to achieve a high level of security and safety within this system. With good engineering and planning one can build a redundant wiring harness that will keep you safe and flying, even if parts of the elecrical system fail for some reason or other. This system consists of two independant ignition and fuel systems, which includes two ECUs, two PDMs 12 injectors, 12 ignition drivers, 12 lamda sensores, 12 EGT sensors and a varieties of more than 20 other different sensors, and probes, you understand right away that this is not a job for the faint hearted! Can-Bus also plays a major role in this system. Another trait I admire about Simon, is his ability to cooperate with others. During the process, he had the pleasure of working together with Marius Løberg. Mr. Løberg is an electrical engineer, and has been in charge of the engine's electronic control systems. This cooperation seemed to be absolutely unproblematic! So, Simon, thank you very much for what you have done for us so far!  

Marius Løberg

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Marius Løberg has been involved in our project for several years. He is the CEO of Løberg Tuning, www.loberg-tuning.no as his copany name suggests, he is specialized in computer software and tuning. As a young man back in 2000, he started his carrier as a electrician after finnishing his graduation. He worked in this field for a period of three years, before he got involved with alarm systems. Marius is also working as a proffesional fire fighter! In addition, Marius has always been passionate about computers and computer software. Tuning software for combustion engines has attracted him the most. Over the years, he has become a real professional in his field, and has offered his services to many people who needed help tuning their engines. In 2013 Marius started his own business, Løberg Tuning. He had already devoted much of his life to engines and software, so it felt natural for him to continue down this path. Tuning or "mapping" has rapidly become a very important part of a properly functioning combustion engine, and finding a professional and committed tuning engineer isn't always easy. To further emphasize his capabilities, I'd like to mention that he has been headhunted from outside of the Norwegian borders for his expertise, to support professional race teams with complex tuning tasks. Over the last three years, Marius has sporadically helped us with the Motec 150 software, all the way up to final tuning and completion of test stage one and two. When looking over Mr. Løberg's shoulder while he is working, one understands right away that this is not some task you jump right into without any sort of education! A whole new "universe" is opening up in front of you! This is a whole new profession, and I wonder what we should have done without his expertise! Needless to say, we are very pleased to have such a capasity on bord!    

Oddbjørn Hallenstvedt

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Oddbjørn Hallenstvedt is a typical Norwegian. He is also a farmer's son, born and raised in Andebu, an agricultural municipal in Vestfold, Norway. His carrier has led him to live most of his adult life in Sweden! Oddbjørn is born in 1939 and is a very enthusiastic human being! He is also smarter that most of us. As a young boy, he did very well in school. Especially mathematics was a subject that suited him very well. Oddbjørn once told me, that as a young man, he was worried about his future because he could not keep up with his much stronger father during the forrest and logging work they did together. His wise father then promptly replied, don't you worry my son, your strenght is in your head. He started out as a third machinist on a whailing ship only sixteen years young. At that point in life he had learned to use a lathe and some other specialized machinery. Working on a whale ship in the early sixtes was probably not the most promising carrier one could have.

Oddbjørn soon realized that whale hunting was coming to an end. He understood that something else was ment for his life and future. By accident, he found an advertisement in a Swedish newspaper, where a company was hiring young people to work as machinists at daytime, but in addition, that an applicant was expected to attend engineering school after work hours. Oddbjørn applied for what he thought was a very interesting offer for him at the time. He was interviewed, and guess what, he got the job and the possibility to get an education at the same time. Oddbjørn worked as he was promised, as a machinist on daytime, and attended mechanical engineering studies in the evenings for four years. He graduated with excellent results! While Oddbjørn must have been at his final stages during education and examination, someone must have keept an eye on him, because he got offered a job as an engineer in the same company right after graduation. As a recently educated young man, he was of course flattered and happy to be offered this opportunity, and it was an easy decision for Oddbjørn to accepted this offer.

Oddbjørn started to solve propultion challenges in the same company, and he was especially interested in gears and propellers. Rolf Bergh at Rolf's Kuggservice AB was the one that introduced us to Mr. Hallenstvedt in the first place. Rolf Bergh had a feeling that we would need a proper gear engineer to help us out with some calculations before we started any tooth grinding, which of course he was right about. To meet Oddbjørn and getting to know him as I have had the pleasure to do, has been some of the more interesting moments in my grown up life. As you might have understood by now, Oddbjørn is an excellent engineer and mathematician. Quite often during our conversations, there have been topics that the uneducated Norwegian farmer's son needed to understand. Oddbjørn does not hesitate to share from his visdom and knowledge, and he does it with pure enthusiasm and joy. Also there is a big bonus in meeting people like Oddbjørn, in the wake of our conversations, a true friendship has been growing between us. Thank you for your help, Oddbjørn! We could not possibly have done it without you!       

Thomas Hauklien 

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Thomas is first of all a very good and dear friend, which makes me very humble and happy! When that is said, Thomas Hauklien is also the owner and CEO of Edge Performance AS. www.edgeperformance.no     I dare say, if one has a Rotax engine or a Yamaha APEX engine, or to some degree has interest in engines and aircrafts, one must have heard about this gentleman! His name is known world wide for his Rotax engine convertions.

Thomas was born in 1985, which immediately tells us that he has already achived a lot in his life! After primary school, he chose to study Electro Mecanical and Automation Technology, which makes him an Industrial Mechanic. Soon after, he apprenticed as a toolmaker at ABB Kraft, where he learned how to use modern milling machines and lathes. He started to work for Aker Kværner in 2005 with Sub-Sea installations and also with especially designed pumps to be used on fire boats. He then continued on to work as a store manager for several years at Mekonomen in Drammen. In 2011 he was hired as an Offsite Supervicer by Trelleborg Offshore, and continued as QC Inspector, then a QC manager and finally a HSEQ manager.

Anyone who has been around Thomas for some time knows that he is a very productive and hard working man. He does not wear out his family sofa! So, therefore, in 2006, In between his regular work, he managed to start his own little company, Edge Performance AS. He started out by selling High Performance parts to car enthusiasts and petrol heads. He helped the unqualified car guys solving different engine and car related problems. He also managed to make several highly modified cars during this period. When the different projects were completed, he sold them and invested the money back into Edge Performance AS. During the period between 2015 and 2017 Trelleborg Offshore started downsizing because of a general lack of work. Thomas could have continued his work as a HSEQ Manager, but since Edge Performance had been growing steadily over the last years, he realized that this was his opportunity to get involved full time in his own company.

As a twentytwo year young man, he was offered a ride in an Ultralight for the first time. By the time the flying event was over, he was literally hooked! Thomas explains that he couldn't get to rest that night, and that the very next morning was used to search for an Ultralight club to join. That same afternoon he flew as an Ultralight student for the first time in his life. This really describes his DNA. When he finds something interesting to fill his life with, he makes sure that it is done, and done well. He is an LSA A&P, and regarding his ratings, check this out. After he got his Ultralight certificate, he moved on to flying gliders, and suddenly he got his LAPL-A, PPL-A, FI, FI-E, Acro, night, ski, and a CRI rating! He is checked out in 46 different aircraft models, and as if that were not enough, he became National Aerobatic Champion in 2020!

Mr. Hauklien has been involved in our project from the start in 2015. His main contribution at Aerosport Engineering AS has been as a supervisor on several topics regarding the many aspects of an aircraft powerplant. He has also been overseeing many of the final products that have been innstalled into the powerplant to make sure that it is done in a safe manner. Mr. Hauklien has also helped us to find third party machining professionals. Thomas has also supplied us with some of his own especially designed parts. We feel very lucky to have met with Thomas and become his friends, and that we share a common interest in propulsion designs and aviation.