Engine manufacture Lycoming Engines

by 1907, manufacture of sewing machines had become unprofitable demorest, , company sold , restructured lycoming foundry , machine company, shifting focus toward automobile engine manufacture. in 1910, company supplied first automobile engine velie, , during post-world-war-i era, company major supplier auburn (which produced auburn, cord, , duesenberg lines). 1920, lycoming producing 60,000 engines year, 2,000-strong workforce. handle capacity, new foundry complex built in williamsport year. lycoming became auburn s principal supplier, , in 1927 errett lobban cord bought company, placing under auburn manufacturing umbrella group. among engines lycoming produced cord l-head straight-eight engine of 298.5 cu. in. displacement produced 125 horsepower. used in cord l-29. lycoming produced double overhead cam straight 8 used in legendary duesenberg j series. powerplant produced 265 horsepower, 6 times power of contemporary model ford. supercharged version, generating 325 horsepower, installed in duesenberg sj , ssj models.

in 1929, lycoming produced first aviation engine, nine-cylinder r-680 radial. successful design, , used in light aircraft, including cord s travel air.

in 1930s, lycoming made number of attempts develop successful high-power aircraft engines. 1 200 hp (895 kw) o-1230 lycoming s attempt produce engine based on united states army air corps hyper engine concept, , used variety of features produce 1 hp/in (46 kw/l) of engine displacement. however, o-1230 s entry service, had been surpassed other designs , us$500 000 investment not recouped. attempt made rescue design stacking 2 o-1230s make 2 300 hp (1 700 kw) h engine h-2470 design use it, vultee xp-54, never entered production. curtiss xf14c intended powered h-2470, engine s poor performance led adoption of alternative radial engine on prototype. (the xf14c did not enter production.)

undeterred o-1230/h-2470 s failure, lycoming turned larger design, 36-cylinder xr-7755, largest aviation piston engine ever built. design experienced problems, , ready use @ end of world war ii, when aviation world turning turbojets , turboprop engines power future large aircraft. there apparently interest in using on convair b-36 peacemaker bomber, 28-cylinder pratt & whitney r-4360 wasp major four-bank radial used instead.

through 1920s , -30s, lycoming had still been supplying automotive manufacturers engines. however, these clients each went out of business or switched continental engines vehicles. 1931, company supplying automotive engines 3 companies: auburn, cord , duesenburg, still under control of cord. these companies closed doors in 1937, after lycoming switched exclusively designing , producing engines aviation.

in 1939 cord re-organized of aviation holdings avco group, @ point engine manufacturing company became avco lycoming . leased government-owned stratford army engine plant in stratford, connecticut , produced wright radials under license. after war, plant converted produce t53 turboshaft engine, 1 of more successful designs. point on piston , turbine engine lines remained separate, piston lines being built in original williamsport factories, , turbines in stratford.

by 1961, lycoming produced 600 700 engines per month. successful post-war products series of air-cooled flat-4 , flat-6 general aviation engines. famous among these o-235 , o-360 four-cylinder engines, , o-540 six-cylinder engine. many light aircraft powered versions of these engines, power ratings in 100–360 hp (75–270 kw) range. engines in series include o-320 four-, o-580 six- , o-720 eight-cylinder engines, , advanced turbocharged , fuel-injected 450 hp (340 kw) tigo-541 variant of venerable (carbureted) o-540.

in 1980s, general aviation market diminished , lycoming s piston engine business impacted. attempts made move of turbine production williamsport, led series of quality control problems , abandoned.

another attempt rescue williamsport made in introducing radical score engine, wankel engine developed in partnership between curtiss-wright , john deere. curtiss-wright lost interest in design maturing , sold deere, brought in lycoming sell aviation markets. guaranteed startup run cessna, owned textron. production ready start, cessna announced halting small-aircraft business indefinite period, , score cancelled. remains of deere licenses later purchased rotary power international, briefly produced 340 hp (254 kw) version.

textron purchased company in 1985. in 1994, textron sold lycoming turbine engine division, located in stratford, connecticut alliedsignal, merged garrett engine division of alliedsignal part of alliedsignal aerospace, later becoming part of honeywell aerospace in 1999. textron retained piston engine production in williamsport.