Kawasaki Enters General Aviation - Gasoline, Hydrogen, Hybrid & a V12!

Kawasaki has announced that they will be entering the light aircraft market, and now they have revealed details about their plans. Let's go over the historical context, the engine specs, how it compares and my general thoughts on this announcement and the challenges Kawasaki will face when entering general aviation.

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ENGINE SPECS SOURCES:
https://www.global-kawasaki-motors.co...
https://www.flyrotax.com/products/914...
https://ulpower.com/en/engines/ul350/...
https://ulpower.com/en/engines/ul520/...
https://continental.aero/specsheets/C...
https://www.deltahawk.com/wp-content/...
https://continental.aero/specsheets/C...
https://www.lycoming.com/sites/defaul...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycomin...)

Thumbnail image attribution (partially)
Kawasaki supercharged motorcycle engine-author Morio (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) engine cut from photo, made head cover green

IMAGE ATTRIBUTION
Motore Alfa Romeo RA1000-author Alessandro Nassiri for Museo scienza e tecnologia Milano (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) overlaid text
Aichi Atsuta 31-author Kogo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Fre...) no changes
Kawasaki KAL-1 ‘JA3074’-author Alan Wilson from Peterborough, Cambs, UK (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) cropped+zoom
Lycoming T53-L-1 Turboshaft Engine-author Sanjay Acharya (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) cropped
Pratt & Whitney logo-author Franco Atirador (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
Kawasaki supercharged motorcycle engine-author Morio (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
Toyota hydrogen fuel cell-author Joseph Brent (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) cropped+zoom
liquid hydrogen being poured into a container-author Raphael Concorde (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
Hydrogen tanks for Toyota Mirai-author Whoisjohngalt (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
SUISO FRONTIER-author Hunini (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) crop+zoom
UL350iS-author Defjak (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) no changes
TSIOF-550-D-author FlugKerl2 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) background removed
Lycoming TEO540-author FlugKerl2 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) background removed, color temp changed
Beechcraft 220 Denali-author ZLEA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) cropped+zoom+overlaid text
Royal Saudi Air force King Air-author Meteb Ali (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) cropped+zoom
Cessna 182Q SMA-author Christophe Mathy (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) crop+zoom
Kawasaki Z1300-author Rikita (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) crop+zoom

VIDEO ATTRIBUTION
Awaken Your Supersport | The All-New 2023 Ninja ZX-4RR KRT Edition by Kawasaki USA (   • Awaken Your Supersport | The All-New 2023 ...  ), license CC-BY
The Only One for GoodTimes | Introducing the All-New 2023 Jet Ski Ultra 160 by Kawasaki USA (   • The Only One for GoodTimes | Introducing t...  ), license CC-BY
Kawasaki STRONG | Introducing the All-New 2024 MULE PRO 1000 Series by Kawasaki USA (   • Kawasaki STRONG | Introducing the All-New ...  ), license CC-BY
川崎重工：T-4 ブルーインパルスの整備業務とは － 技能職篇 by Kawasaki Group Channel (   • 川崎重工：T-4 ブルーインパルスの整備業務とは － 技能職篇  ) copyright Kawasaki Group Channel
2025 Kawasaki Ninja H2 HySE Hydrogen Launched by Moto ARIY (   • 2025 Kawasaki Ninja H2 HySE Hydrogen Launched  ), license CC-BY
Kawasaki H2 the FASTEST MOTORCYCLE in the world by TFV MotorCycles (   • Kawasaki H2 the FASTEST MOTORCYCLE in the ...  ), license CC-BY

Chapters:
0:00 Kawasaki Enters General Aviation!
0:27 Kawasaki's Aviation Legacy
2:38 Why Enter This Market?
4:15 Development Roadmap
5:14 Hydrogen Ambitions
7:26 Gasoline Engine Lineup
7:57 How Does it Compare?
9:48 Design Considerations & Concerns
12:56 Likely to Succeed?