Continental O-520
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The Continental O-520 is a six-cylinder, horizontally-opposed aircraft engine produced by Continental Motors. First run in 1963 as a development of the O-346, it has been produced in versions incorporating fuel injection (IO-520), turbo-charging (TSIO-520), and gearing (GTSIO-520).
The IO-520 series of engines normally produced 285-310 HP and were used in numerous aircraft such as certain models of the Beech Bonanza and Baron, the Cessna 210, 310 and 400 series of aircraft. It has largely been superseded by Continental's newer IO-550 engine. The IO-520 series of engine is considered to be a reliable engine, but some of the early versions of this engine had a weaker crankcase than subsequent versions. Versions featuring more substantial crankcases are often referred to as having "heavy crankcases."
The GTSIO-520 was not as common and in its most common application (the Cessna 404 and Cessna 421 twin-engine aircraft) it produces 375 horsepower. The engine has a reputation of being expensive to maintain and is intolerant of improper pilot technique. When operated properly, most pilots consider the engine to be reliable. Gearing reduces the RPM of the propeller making the engine quieter running than many other engines, although the gearboxes on early versions of this engine were notoriously unreliable. The gearing also adds measurably to the overhauling costs of these engines.
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