The TR 148 diesel was a one-off 1.48 cc diesel constructed in 1958 by Gordon Cornell, who went on to become the chief engineer at Electronic Developments (E.D.) Ltd. before designing his fabulous series of .049 diesels for Dydesyne Ltd. The TR 148 was built to test Gordon's ideas about what would constitute an ideal engine for the ¹/₂A team race category in which Gordon was then very much interested.

The engine performed at a level which left its contemporary competitors in the shade, including the iconic Oliver Tiger Cub Mk. I whch then ruled the roost. Its Achilles Heel was its somewhat elevated fuel consumption, which forced it to make extra pit stops. It did see some competition action in the hands of Gordon ad his pilot Peter Fraser, but never actually won a contest.

The design was offered to International Model Aircraft (IMA), with whom Gordon was then working on the engine development side. However, IMA declined, since the design did not fit with their marketing strategy.  After Gordon moved over to E.D., that company did express some interest in having Gordon develop it into a high-performance production model, but financial constraints prevented this from becoming a reality. The engine was accordingly consigned to model engine history, leaving Gordon to pursue the development of his famous E.D. Super Fury model instead. 

A full analysis and test of this remarkable engine will be found in my TR 148 article elsewhere on this website.