Turbotech‘s TP-R150 turboprop is crossing a threshold that has long eluded small turbine engines: manufacturers are now committing to it as a production powerplant rather than an experimental installation. Six programmes, the Elixir Turbine trainer, the CubCrafters Carbon Cub ULT, the Wasatch Aero SD3T, the JMB VL3 Turbine, the Gogetair G750TP and a new Bristell turbine model, are each building a commercial case around the French regenerative turboprop.
The progression matters for the market. For the past five years the engine has accumulated flight time on European demonstrators, but none of those programmes had progressed to certificated, commercially offered aircraft. That is now changing, with manufacturers in the United States and Europe moving to series production timelines and, in at least one case, already accepting customer deposits.
Elixir and CubCrafters lead the Turbotech TP-R150 certification push
The most recent commitment came at EAA AirVenture 2026, where Elixir Aircraft signed a memorandum of understanding with Turbotech on 22 July to begin industrial development of the Elixir Turbine. The MoU follows a year of flight testing that began with the aircraft’s first engine start in February 2025 and its maiden flight four months later. Elixir and Turbotech will now pursue joint EASA and FAA certification, with entry into service targeted for 2030. Elixir is positioning the aircraft primarily at professional flight schools, citing single-lever operation, longer overhaul intervals and multi-fuel capability, including compatibility with sustainable aviation fuels, as the commercial proposition. No production price or detailed performance figures have been announced.
CubCrafters is operating on a tighter schedule. The Carbon Cub ULT, a turbine derivative of the Carbon Cub UL unveiled earlier in July, is already accepting $75,000 deposits against a base price of $690,000, with initial deliveries expected in 2027. The Yakima, Washington-based manufacturer pairs the Turbotech engine with a constant-speed DUC propeller and dual full-authority digital engine controls (FADEC), with the FADEC managing fuel, ignition, engine temperatures and propeller operation. CubCrafters lists an estimated empty weight of 880 pounds, a maximum gross weight of 1,865 pounds and a useful load of 985 pounds. Preliminary cruise speed is cited above 130 mph, with a range of 682 miles and endurance of around 5.2 hours. The aircraft will be offered as both a factory-built light-sport aircraft and through an experimental amateur-built completion programme, and CubCrafters describes it as the first US-manufactured turboprop designed to be eligible under the FAA’s expanded MOSAIC rules for sport-pilot operation.
A third entrant, the Wasatch Aero SD3T, is aimed at training and personal-aircraft buyers. The Utah startup describes the SD3T as a turbine version of its two-seat composite SD3, with the Turbotech engine FADEC-controlled and output listed at 148 horsepower. The programme remains in development: Wasatch is accepting refundable reservations, has not published a final price, and acknowledges that performance data and production timing could change. Its website has referenced expected availability in 2026, while also stating that production timing is still being finalised.
Regenerative cycle and the road from Safran to series production
The technical premise behind the Turbotech TP-R150 turboprop is a regenerative, or recuperated, thermodynamic cycle. A compact heat exchanger sits between the exhaust and the compressor discharge air, capturing waste heat and using it to pre-warm compressed air before combustion. Because that air arrives at a higher temperature, less fuel is needed to reach the required turbine firing temperature. Turbotech says the arrangement delivers fuel consumption comparable with modern piston engines while retaining turbine-typical smoothness and mechanical simplicity. The key hardware enabling the approach is a lightweight microtube heat exchanger developed in partnership with French manufacturer Le Guellec Tubes and Profilés. The published time between overhaul for the TP-R150 is 3,000 hours, and the engine is rated at 104 kW (around 141 horsepower), burning multiple fuel types including sustainable aviation fuels.
Turbotech was founded in 2017 by four former Safran employees and is based at Toussus-le-Noble Airport near Paris. Co-founder and chief executive Damien Fauvet has said the underlying research began earlier: the team won a French government research prize in 2010 and ran a turbogenerator demonstrator on a test bench in 2015 before forming the company. Safran Corporate Ventures and French investment firm GO Capital participated in a €3 million funding round in 2018, alongside a technical partnership agreement that gave Safran engineering access and evaluation rights over the technology. The company has since tested a turbogenerator variant, the TG-R90, with hybrid-electric aircraft developer Ascendance Flight Technologies, and participated in the BeautHyFuel programme testing a light-aircraft turbine on hydrogen.
Flight hours on earlier airframes have built a degree of in-service confidence ahead of the current production wave. A Helyxis CHOPPAIR helicopter flew with the Turbotech engine in 2021, followed by the JMB Aircraft VL3 turbine demonstrator in 2022 and a Bristell XL8 installation in 2023. Gogetair subsequently flew and delivered a turbine-powered G750TP. Those demonstrator hours, and the manufacturer commitments now following them, represent the clearest signal yet that a recuperated turbine rated around 150 horsepower can be viable in certificated light aircraft, a combination the market has sought for decades without a commercially successful answer. The CubCrafters order book opening, with deposits already flowing, will give the industry its first hard read on buyer appetite for the proposition.
