Aircraft Engine Information:Pictures and history

The engine photo gallery

Lycoming

Lycoming at one time had a tremendously varied product line and aggressively developed new products. Where's that spirit now?

History and Pictures of the Textron Lycoming Piston Engine Division.
Lycoming marine V-12. 300 HP at 2400 RPM and 1,010 cubic inches. Circa 1930.
Lycoming inline 8 cylinder marine engine. 165 HP at 3200 RPM from 420 cubic inches. Circa 1930.
Lycoming straight 8 truck engine. 130 horsepower at 2800 RPM from 420 cubic inches.
TWO! Lycoming straight 8s installed in one truck Relay truck with two Lycomings. Either one could be operated independently of the other for economy or redundancy. Circa 1932.
BIG picture of Lycoming exhibit Lycoming presented at the century of progress in Chicago in 1933. The engines on the floor are a V-12, two straight-8s, and a four. The airplane is powered by a Lycoming radial R-680.
Lycoming V-12 auto engine Cutaway drawing of the Lycoming V-12 auto engine. Design details are substantially similar to the 8-cylinder V-8 engine below. 160 HP @ 3500 RPM from 392 cubic inches and a 5.75:1 compression ratio. No pushrods, but the camshaft remained within the block. Circa 1932.
Lycoming V-8 automobile engine (FB model) The production version of the initial FA engine. Tests disclosed camshaft scuffing in the FA so the FB used roller rockers. Originally designed and machined to use a full-flow filtration system. However, it was discovered that the filter location would interfere with the body of the Cord automobiles into which the engine was to go. A remote bypass oil filter was proposed but dropped for cost reasons. The engine, instead, was fitted with a floating oil pickup in the sump. The idea was that the oil at the top of the sump was cleaner than that at the bottom. Aluminum cylinder heads. Circa 1934.
Schematic diagram of the FB engine Note camshaft position, side valves, and rocker operating mechanism.
Supercharged Lycoming V-8 automobile engine Designated the FC engine it was the sucessor the the FB (which was always designed with supercharging in mind). 170-190 horsepower. Circa 1937.
Lycoming "All fuel" V-4 S-H piston engine. Shown here under test in a cold room (note the frost and the man's parka). Developed for the Army's "Gamma Goat" transport. Could run on gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, or jet fuel. Circa late 1960s. Lycoming lost the engine bid to Detroit Diesel.
Two views of a cut away Lycoming four cylinder aircraft engine. Courtesy of Textron Lycoming.
The Lycoming O-145.Lycoming's first opposed aircraft engine. Compare this to the Franklin four cylinder and note the similarities. Both plugs on the same side of the head and an access plate into the crankcase. The O-145 had the cylinders cast with the block though. 50 horsepower.
Lycoming O-540. Direct drive, six cylinder Lycoming powerplant. Still in production. 235-260 horsepower.
Lycoming TVO-435 Turbocharged vertical Lycoming helicopter engine. Note the location of the magnetos and the drainback ports on the rocker covers. 280 horsepower.
Lycoming IGSO-540 A big geared (planetary) Lycoming six of 540 cubic inches. Also mechanically supercharged - look at the rear of the engine. Bendix low tension ignition (one coil per plug). 380 horsepower.
Lycoming TIGO-541 Lycoming's last big piston adventure (circa 1966). This engine is a radical departure from earlier Lycoming opposed designs in that it uses barrel tappets, the pushrods are on the bottom, it uses a spur reduction gear, and it mounts the starter and generator at the front via a gear drive. Bendix semi-throttle body fuel injection (don't ask!). 450 horsepower. Used in only two production aircraft. Was this to be Lycoming's foray into liquid cooling? Perhaps, but a compromise was eventually made and it got an oil-cooled exhaust valve guide instead. Compare this design to a modern Continental geared engine.
Lycoming O-1230 A beautiful flat twelve designed by Lycoming to fit in the wings of aircraft. Supercharged (look at the rear), geared (planetary set in the front), liquid-cooled opposed twelve of 1,200 horsepower from 1230 cubic inches. Lycoming spent $500,000 of its own money (in 1936!) to develop this engine to compete with the Continental IV-1430. Development was aided by the fact that several Continental engineers, including Harold Morehouse, left Continental to join Lycoming at the time. Note that the carburetor feeds the supercharger. 1,325 lbs. Circa 1938.
Lycoming XH-2470 The SO-1230 wasn't large enough for the military's needs so Lycoming put two of them together (in an "H" configuration) and turned the engine 90 degrees. This is a picture of the engine under test at Lycoming. 2300 HP at 3300RPM (2200 RPM at the prop) - it went into the Vultee/Convair XP-54 but was never built in quantity. Circa 1940. Photo courtesy Robert Ribando. LARGE PICTURE (400K).
Lycoming XR-7755 This behemoth is the largest piston aircraft engine ever built in the free world. From 7,755 cubic inches (bore of 6.375", stroke of 6.75") and 7,050 lbs it gave 5,000 horsepower under test in 1944; 7,000 horsepower was the development target. Nine liquid cooled inline four cylinder engines about a common crankshaft. Two contra-rotating prop shafts. The camshafts each consisted of two sets of lobes. One set of lobes for takeoff, the other for economy cruise. The camshafts were shifted axially to switch lobe sets. 580 gallons of fuel per hour at takeoff power, BSFC of 0.43 at cruise. Paul McBride of Lycoming says it was for the B-36 but political pressures caused the B-36 to be fitted with the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 instead. Awesome. A survivor still exists at the Smithsonian's Garber facility. See it if you can. Circa 1944.
Experimental Engineers with the XR-7755 Here is the XR-7755 in the test cell at Lycoming along with the team of experimental engineers responsible for its testing and qualification. Photo courtesy Robert Ribando. William Ribando can be seen in the white shirt and tie just to the left of the engine. LARGE PICTURE (400K).
The XR-7755 on its wheeled stand Here is the XR-7755 in some state of preparation/modification. Note the HUGE mobile stand on which it's mounted. Photo courtesy Robert Ribando. LARGE PICTURE (400K).

Franklin
A four-cylinder Franklin. Notice the access cover on the top of the crankcase and the starter mounting. Also notice that both spark plugs are on the same side of the head!
A six-cylinder Franklin. Note the ribbed oil sump. Where are the other sparkplugs?
A twelve-cylinder air-cooled opposed Franklin William Sweetman sent this in. Apparently it resides at the Polar Aviation museum in Anoka, MN. Designated the 12AC-596, 300 HP from 596 cubic inches. Appears to have a planetary gear reduction at the front. If you know anything about the history of this engine, please write!

Continental
Continental Plant at Muskegon, MI Using Government funds, as Lycoming had done with their Stratford, CT plant, Continental built this plant in 1941 to license-build Pratt & Whitney and Wright radial engines. They also built air-cooled diesel tank engines at the facility. Later, they built their air-cooled opposed piston engines here as well.
In the foreground and on the right are tank-testing areas. The photo is taken with a south-westerly view. The administrative offices are at the far end (south, facing the water) of the facility. The dark objects in the center of the facility (right side of the building) are the engine test cells.
In 1968 Continental motors moved lightplane piston engine production to a new facility in Mobile, AL. The Muskegon facility, however, remained and continues to produce tank engines and tank equipment as Continental Motors (later Teledyne Vehicle Systems).
In 1996 the facility was purchased from Teledyne by General Dynamics Land Systems.
Continental TSIO-520-BE A very modern Continental aircraft engine for the Piper Malibu. 325 horsepower, twin turbochargers and intercoolers. BSFC of 0.38. Circa 1984.
Continental TSIOL-550 An even more modern Conntinental. Liquid cooled 550 cubic inch engine with a single turbocharger. Approx 350HP. Circa 1985. The future of the lightplane engine?
Continental eight-cylinder Tiara What might have been the future of the piston aircraft engine. As different for Continental as the TIGO-541 was for Lycoming. Pushrods above the cylinders and a belt driven alternator at the front. Also note the eight cylinder Bendix dual magneto at the back. The only Continentals to use the Bendix dual mags were the Tiara line. Spur geared with a quill shaft to control torsional vibration. Port fuel injection. Circa 1970.

Ranger
A Ranger inverted V-12 aircraft engine
A Ranger inverted inline-6 aircraft engine

Curtiss-Wright
Curtiss-Wright Wankle Development Diagram Eventually developed into the John Deere/Lycoming SCORE engine, CW licensed Wankle rotary engine technology from NSU. This is a mid-1960s engineering schematic.
Curtiss-Wright rotary rotors Holy Cow, look at the size of the big one. 8.6, 60, and 1920 cubic inch rotors.

Nordberg
Generator room full of Nordberg Radials HUGE Nordberg radial engines used in electric generating plant. These engines could burn either diesel fuel, using compression ignition, or gasoline using spark ignition. Cylinders had 14-inch bore and a 16-inch stoke.

Sulzer
The Wartsila NSD (Sulzer) RTA96-C two-stroke diesel engine The most powerful and most efficient piston prime-mover in the world today. Bore of just under 3'2", stroke of just over 8'2". Available in 6 through 12 cylinder versions (all inline). Maximum continuous power of 89,640 HP is obtained at 100RPM with the 12 cylinder version. Maximum economy power of 53,244 HP is obtained at 90 RPM. The engine exceeded 100,000 horsepower during overspeed testing (all of 101.5 RPM!) while under test at Japan's Diesel Union works (who also built the first engines and from who these pictures are taken).
Fuel consumption at maximum power is 0.278 lbs/HP/hour (BSFC). Fuel consumption at maximum economy is 0.260 lbs/HP/hour. The latter figure exceeds 50% thermal efficiency (i.e. more than 50% of the fuel going into the engine is converted to power). Compare with automotive and small aircraft spark-ignition engines with BSFCs in the 0.40-0.60 range and 25-30% thermal efficiency. Engine weight exceeds 2000 tons in the 12 cylinder version (the crankshaft alone exceeds 300 tons).
Note that, even at its most efficient power setting, the 12 cylinder version will consume nearly 1,660 gallons of heavy fuel oil an hour!
Fitting the "thin shell" bearings to the RTA96C during construction
A piston and fixed-rod assembly for the RTA96C
The RTA96C crankshaft assembly fitted in the bottom end of the engine Note that there are steps down to the lower parts of the crankcase.
The "top end" of a ten-cylinder RTA96C Note the cylinder head studs and the size of the bore (relative to the man in the picture)

Various Schematics
AIO inverted oil system Lycoming dry-sump inverted oil system.
Aviat AEIO inverted oil system Lycoming wet-sump inverted oil system. Courtesy AVIAT industries
Acraline AEIO inverted oil system Lycoming wet-sump inverted oil system. Courtesy AcraLine aircraft products

Automotive Engine Conversions

The Old Men's Airplane Building Project

The OMABP are building an RV-6a powered by a Chevy Vortec 262 V-6. Here are some photos of the engine installation.
Looking in from the right side
Another view looking in from the right side
Side view of the RV-6 at Copperstate
Jess Meyers at Copperstate
"It lasts 4,000 hours and costs $15.75 to rebuild!" :-) Tom Jones at Copperstate
Tom Jones and Jess Meyers at Copperstate
The aircraft in the "Tree House"
Left side view of the installation. That's Bill Harold, Chief Project Engineer, hiding behind the prop
Another View of Bill Harold in front of the RV-6
Frontal view
Lower view of the PSRU
Another view of the PSRU "Hey, I dropped my Snickers bar back here."
Top view of the installation sans prop6
View of the reduction unit on a Buick Rover Engine. The human head is actually part of the mechanism
Bill Phillips in front of his C-P210 Does this decked-out baby really sport a Subaru EA-81 under the cowl?

Misc.
A planetery gear set
A spur gear set
A nice two-cylinder cutaway. Notice the roller bearings on the crankshaft and the roller rocker tips! Circa 1934!
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The engine photo gallery

Lycoming

Lycoming at one time had a tremendously varied product line and aggressively developed new products. Where's that spirit now?

Franklin

Continental

Ranger

Curtiss-Wright

Nordberg

Sulzer

Various Schematics

Automotive Engine Conversions

The Old Men's Airplane Building Project

Misc.