A report from CarNewsChina says Changan, via its Harbin Dongan Auto Engine subsidiary, has completed the first ignition of the R05E – China’s first high-power rotary engine prototype – on December 19.

It's the stuff of legend: goggles, leathercaps, and fluttering white scarves, brightly-colored canvas-and-wood aircraft clashing in battle, just barely past the fledgling stage of human flight. The ...

The rotorcraft engine business, like the helicopter industry it serves, has been notoriously slow to develop new models and refresh its products over the decades. But now, as new propulsion concepts ...