Lycoming O-540

O-540
AEIO-540
Type Piston Aircraft engine
National origin United States
Manufacturer Lycoming Engines
First run 1957
Major applications Piper PA-31 Navajo
Cessna 182
Socata TB-30 Epsilon
Robinson R44



The Lycoming O-540 is a family of six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engines of 541.5 cubic inch (8,874 cc) displacement, made by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming O-360.

Design and development

Generally these engines produce 230 to 350 horsepower.[1] They are installed on a large number of different aircraft types.[2] Their main competitive engine is the Continental IO-520 and IO-550 series.

The AEIO version was developed for high-performance competition aerobatics aircraft. Starting at 260 hp (190 kW), the power was then improved to 300 hp (220 kW). The AEIO-540 family has achieved tremendous results in competition aircraft such as the Extra 300, CAP 232, and Zivko Edge 540.

Variants

All engines have an additional prefix preceding the 540 to indicate the specific configuration of the engine.[1] There are also numerous engine suffixes, denoting different accessories such as different manufacturers' carburetors, or different magnetos.

O-540
Standard, direct-drive, normally aspirated Opposed engine, equipped with a carburetor.
IO-540
Normally aspirated engine with fuel Injection.
AEIO-540
Normally aspirated engine with fuel injection and inverted lubrication for Aerobatic use.
TIO-540
Turbocharged and fuel-injected.
Lycoming TEO-540
TEO-540
Turbocharged with independent Electronic sensors and fuel injection controls for each cylinder which manage detonation and exhaust gas temperature making the engine compatible with a range of fuel compositions producing up to 350 horsepower.[3]
An LTIO-540 mounted on the right wing of a Piper Chieftain. The turbocharger can be seen in the upper right of the image.
LTIO-540
Left-hand (opposite-direction) rotation, turbocharged, fuel-injected; used as the right-hand engine on Piper PA-31-325 Navajo C/Rs and Piper PA-31-350 Chieftains[4] to prevent critical engine control issues. Also used for the left hand side of the Aerostar 700P.
IGO-540
Gearbox at the front end of the crankshaft to drive the propeller fewer revolutions per minute than the engine, normally aspirated with fuel injection. Dry sump engine built specifically for the Aero Commander 560F.
TIGO-540
Turbo-charged, injected and geared
IGSO-540
Supercharger driven by the engine, gearbox to drive propeller, and fuel injection (up to 380hp).
VO-540
Vertically mounted engine for use in a helicopter, normally aspirated and equipped with a carburetor.
IVO-540
Normally aspirated engine with fuel injection, mounted vertically for use in a helicopter.
TVO-540
Turbocharged engine equipped with a carburetor, mounted vertically for use in a helicopter.
TIVO-540
Turbocharged engine with fuel injection, mounted vertically for use in a helicopter.
HIO-540
Helicopter engine mounted horizontally as in fixed-wing aircraft, normally aspirated with fuel injection; not used in any fixed-wing aircraft.[2]
TIO-541
Same as a TIO-540, except the "1" indicates an integral accessory drive.[5]
TIGO-541
Same as a TIGO-540, except the "1" indicates an integral accessory drive.[5]

Applications

Specifications (IO-540-K1A5)

Data from FAA Lycoming IO-540 Series Type Certificate. Retrieved: 1 September 2008.

General characteristics

Components

Performance

See also

Related development
Comparable engines
Related lists

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lycoming (2005). "540 Series" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Page listing all variants of the Lycoming O-540 series. Retrieved: 1 September 2008.
  3. ↑ Lycoming TEO-540-EXP press release
  4. ↑ FAA Piper PA-31-300/325/350 Type Certificate. Retrieved: 1 September 2008.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 John W.R. Taylor, ed. (1988). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89. London: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0 7106 0867 5.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lycoming O-540.