ABSTRACT Developments in the field of microturbine technology and gas turbine driven aircraft has been progressing without much progress in light aircraft predominantly propelled by piston engines. Because of inhibitive maintenance and overhaul costs of such however, propulsion via a gas turbine engine has been proposed with the potential of eventually replacing current engine configurations. Subsequently, the objective was to conceptually design a replacement gas turbine engine in the 150 kW range. A selection of case studies was used to illustrate the changing technologies to illustrate the technological viability of micro-gas turbines for light aircraft. Advantages and disadvantages of both engine types were discussed and a concise description of gas turbine operations and its components was given. A brief overview of fundamentals as well as the transmission layout was also supplied. Three configurations were isolated, namely the single spool design, a twin spool design featuring a free power turbine and the effect of a fuel conserving recuperator. Calculations were performed using Microsoft Excel, which proved sufficient in effectively calculating complex formulae - even under the necessary iterative feed-back conditions the design process demanded. Eventually, variable-specific design criteria were derived regarding the three engine types. Because fuel consumption still proved inhibitive, the effect of recuperation was investigated which yielded a very competitive engine - should the possibility of recuperator technology exist on time. As a result, one particular recuperated, single spool gas turbine engine was successfully identified. Having met all the design criteria sufficiently, this preliminary prototype design was numerically described and put within context of principal, peripheral working components such as a compatible gearbox layout.