Lycoming O-540 Explained

The Lycoming O-540 is a family of air-cooled six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engines of 541.5cuin displacement, manufactured by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming O-360.

Design and development

Producing between 230hp350hp^[1] these engines are installed in a large variety of aircraft. The main competitors are the Continental IO-520 and IO-550 series.

An AEIO version was developed for high-performance competition aerobatics aircraft. Starting at 260hp the power was eventually increased to 300hp. The AEIO-540 family has achieved considerable success in 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. The numerous engine suffixes denote 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

AEIO-540

Normally aspirated engine with fuel injection and inverted lubrication for Aerobatic use

TIO-540

Turbocharged and fuel-injected

TEO-540

Turbocharged with a FADEC control system using Lycoming's iE2 system, offering independent Electronic sensors and fuel injection controls for each cylinder, which manage detonation and exhaust gas temperature, make the engine compatible with a range of fuel compositions, producing up to .^[2] ^[3] ^[4]

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 Chieftain|Piper Mojaves^[5] to prevent critical engine control issues, and used for the left side of the Aerostar 700P

IGO-540

Gearbox at the front end of the crankshaft to drive the propeller at 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)

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^[6]

TIO-541

Same as a TIO-540, except the "1" indicates an integral accessory drive^[7]

TIGO-541

Same as a TIGO-540, except the "1" indicates an integral accessory drive^[7]

External links

Lycoming homepage

Notes and References

Web site: 540 Series. 2009-01-10. Lycoming . 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20101216211332/https://www.lycoming.com/engines/series/pdfs/540ci%20Engine%20Insert.pdf. 2010-12-16.
http://www.lycoming.textron.com/news-and-events/press-releases/release-07-26-10a.html Lycoming TEO-540-EXP press release
Tecnam P2012 TEO-540-C1A produces 375HP @ 2,575 RPM per FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet No. A00076CE
Web site: iE2 Engine . 2023-06-28 . Lycoming . en.
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/a232db9090bf1f928625720a00551549/$FILE/A20SO.pdf FAA Piper PA-31-300/325/350 Type Certificate.
https://archive.today/20121220014221/http://home.comcast.net/~aeroengine/Lycoming2.html Page listing all variants of the Lycoming O-540 series.
Book: Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89 . 1988 . Jane's Information Group . London . 0-7106-0867-5 . John W.R. Taylor.