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Lycoming O-540

Family of flat-six piston aircraft engines

O-540
AEIO-540
Type	Certified Piston aircraft engine
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Lycoming Engines
First run	1957 1963 (injected version)
Major applications	Cessna 182 Cessna 206 Grob G 120 HAL HPT-32 Deepak Piper PA-46 Robinson R44 Piper PA-31 Navajo Tecnam P2012 Traveller Embraer EMB 202 Ipanema
Produced	1957–present
Developed from	Lycoming O-360

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

Design and development[edit]

Producing between 230 and 350 horsepower (170 and 260 kW)^[1] these engines are installed in a large variety of aircraft.^[2] 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 260 hp (190 kW) the power was eventually increased to 300 hp (220 kW). The AEIO-540 family has achieved considerable success in aircraft such as the Extra 300, CAP 232, and Zivko Edge 540.

Variants[edit]

All engines have an additional prefix preceding the 540 to indicate the specific configuration of the engine.^[1] 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

Normally aspirated engine with continuous fuel Injection

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 375 hp (280 kW).^[3][4][5]

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^[6] 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 380 hp (280 kW))

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^[7]

TIGO-541

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

Applications[edit]

Specifications (IO-540-K1A5)[edit]

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

General characteristics

• Type: Six-cylinder air-cooled horizontally opposed engine
• Bore: 5.125 in (130.2 mm)
• Stroke: 4.375 in (111.1 mm)
• Displacement: 541.5 in³ (8.9 L)
• Dry weight: 438 lb (199 kg)

Components

• Valvetrain: Two overhead valves per cylinder
• Fuel system: Fuel injection
• Fuel type: 100 octane rating gasoline
• Cooling system: Air-cooled

Performance

• Power output: 300 hp (223 kW) at 2,700 rpm at sea level
• Specific power: 0.55 hp/in³ (25.14 kW/L)
• Compression ratio: 8.7:1
• Power-to-weight ratio: 0.68 hp/lb (1.12 kW/kg)

See also[edit]

Related development

• Lycoming IO-580

Comparable engines

• Continental O-520
• Continental IO-550

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lycoming O-540.

• Lycoming homepage