Aurora Model Aero Engines (India)

I’m writing an article which mentions the Mills replicas and other engines manufactured in Calcutta, India by the Aurora Model Manufacturing company  (Suresh Kumar). Does anyone out there know for certain when these engines first appeared? I know that it was in the 1970’s, but the exact year of their introduction would be helpful.

Thanks for looking!

7 thoughts on “Aurora Model Aero Engines (India)

  1. Thank you, Adrian, for the Aurora article. It brought back a lot of fond memories for me as my first engine was the Aurora K149 diesel that I bought from India’s Hobby Center in Calcutta. I don’t recall the engine having the Frog name on the crankcase. It came in a plain brown cardboard box, and as far as I remember, had K149 embossed on the crankcase. Rishi might know the details as I sold the engine back to him when I moved to British Columbia in 1990. I also recall newspaper advertisements in the early 70’s for the K100 and K150 diesel engines ( probably the A-M 10 and A-M 15 ) claiming to power models to distances of a couple of miles! My first kit was also from IHC, a Mercury Gnome glider. Good times, indeed!

  2. Adrian
    What a nostalgia trip for I to go through your Aurora Article. Though I knew many of the facts that you have recounted about Aurora, I was unaware about many.
    Late Mr Suresh Kumar was the grand daddy of aeromodelling in India, and through his efforts was responsible for popularizing the hobby.
    Thanks for your effort to document the history of Aurora Model Manufacturing.
    Best regards

  3. I don’t know of any source of spares for that engine, Ates. Sorry I can’t help – can anyone else?

    Cheers,

    Adrian

  4. Attachment

    Adrian, I went to your always informative site to see if I could learn a bit more about an odd duck of engine that I bought about 20 years ago but didn’t run until late 2022. An Aurora K200. When I checked your article on Aurora engines, I found no mention of this beast. It’s a 2.0 CC (so about .12 ci); it has a gold anodized head, and it has some sort of R/C carb grafted on top of a control line venturi and NVA. It looks a bit strange. The r/c carb functions only as an air intake limiter but it does work reasonably well. I posted a youtube video of the first runs of this engine. video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEPV1BhhlG8&t=308s

    1. Actually, Brian, it is mentioned, if only in passing. Look in the “Expansion” section beside the image of the early K250BB. It was the last integrally-finned model to be introduced (early 1980’s) before they went to the separate alloy screw-on cylinder jacket.

      Many thanks for your interest!

      Cheers,

      Adrian

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *