Lycoming

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Lycoming

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legal form Corporation
Seat Williamsport , Pennsylvania
Branch Aircraft engines
Website www.lycoming.com

Lycoming is an American manufacturer of aircraft engines and a former manufacturer of internal combustion engines for automobiles , commercial vehicles , tractors and boats . The company was part of the Cord Corporation and is now part of the Textron Group.

history

The company's roots go back well into the 19th century. However, the founding year 1845, mentioned by the manufacturer itself, cannot be proven, nor can the history of the origins of the Demorest Manufacturing Company by Ellen Curtis Demorest in Williamsport ( Pennsylvania ).

It is more likely that the company was later founded by William Demorest in New York City . In 1845 he married Margaret Willamina Poole , who died in 1857 at the age of 34. The widower remarried in 1858. His second wife became the aforementioned Ellen Curtis. In 1845 she was 20 years old and worked as a milliner .

Demorest sewing machines

Demorest sewing machine

The manufacture of a sewing machine called Madame Demorest's 5 dollar first premium running stitch sewing machine, Emporium of Fashions, 473 Broadway, New York can be laid in the 1860s. In addition, fashion magazines were published and a trade in patterns was operated under the brand name Madame Demorest . This line of business was sold in 1887. This resulted in the joint stock company Demorest Fashion and Sewing-Machine Company , in which the Demorests were no longer involved. The company kept its headquarters in New York, but moved into factories in Williamsport. Sewing machines, bicycles, typewriters, printing presses and other metal products have been manufactured here for many years.

Demorest bikes

A Demorest employee named SH Ellis constructed a bicycle that was sold as the New York Bicycle from 1891 . Its weight has been reduced from around 28.5 kg to just over 13 kg over the course of time; a racing version even weighed only 8.6 kg. Regular bicycles cost US $ 85, 100 or 125, depending on the version.

Demorest sewing machines and bicycles were in high demand among the Irish of New York and Philadelphia.

Engines for road vehicles

Lycoming eight-cylinder in-line engine in the Duesenberg Model J; Version without centrifugal compressor (265 bhp; designer: Fred Duesenberg)

In 1907 or 1908 (depending on the source) the company was sold because apparently no profitable production was possible. The name was changed to Lycoming Foundry and Machine Company . The new owners successfully switched to the construction of gasoline engines for automobiles and commercial vehicles . 1914 appeared the first four-cylinder engines and 1925 series - eight-cylinder . One of the first customers was Auburn. According to the manufacturer, 57 different engine types for over 250 series were produced in 25 years. In 1920 the name was changed to Lycoming Manufacturing Company .

In 1929 the company came into the possession of Errett Lobban Cords Cord Corporation , which also included the automobile brands Auburn , Cord and Duesenberg , which became buyers. The Duesenberg's 6.9 liter in-line eight-cylinder engine with two overhead camshafts with an output of 265 bhp (197 kW), 320 bhp (238 kW) with supercharger and 400 bhp (298 kW) in racing version is considered the most powerful production car engine of its time.

Lycoming engines in cars and trucks (selection)

Boat and tractor engines

Under the new owners, a boat engine department was set up in 1929. Eight-cylinder car engines adapted for this purpose were used. A four-cylinder followed in 1932, but a six-cylinder version did not follow until 1935. That year Lycoming also launched a newly developed four-cylinder engine for racing boats.

Lycoming engines for tractors appeared in 1932 .

Aircraft engines

In addition, the product range was expanded to include aircraft engines in 1929. The company built a new factory specifically for the production of the new 7- and 9-cylinder radial engines and invested US $ 500,000 for this. The first of these engines was the R-680 nine-cylinder with 215 bhp (160 kW) output that same year . The first aircraft with this engine was a Travel Air Manufacturing Company biplane owned by Walter Beech and Clyde Cessna ; the maiden flight took place on April 3, 1929.

The AVCO Corporation holding , in which Cord had held a 30% stake since 1932, bought the Cord Corporation in 1934, making Lycoming a subsidiary of AVCO and renaming it AVCO Lycoming in 1936 . During the Second World War , the company also produced tank engines, for example for the M22 Locust reconnaissance tank . In 1986 the company was bought by Textron and has been officially called Textron Lycoming since then . In addition to piston engines, Lycoming now also manufactures gas turbines for airplanes and helicopters . After 1945 engines of the GO-480 series were also manufactured under license in West Germany by BMW / MAN and in Italy by Piaggio .

construction

At AVCO Lycoming, Anselm Franz was given responsibility for the construction of the gas turbines from 1951 , who had already helped develop the Jumo 004 jet turbine in the 1930s . The first series-ready shaft turbine for helicopters, the LTC1B-1 , was developed under his leadership . It got the military designation T-53-L-1 .

Lycoming T53 (left output via reduction gear, older variant with two turbine stages)

From 1959 the Bell UH-1 Huey  - one of the most famous helicopters in the world - was equipped with it. Based on this, the T 55 shaft turbine came onto the market again in 1954 under the direction of Anselm Franz, a design that has also proven itself in the Chinook transport helicopter . Similar in concept to the Heinkel HeS 3B by Wilhelm Gundermann: an axial compressor is followed by a diagonal compressor and a reversing combustion chamber. The high pressure turbine stages drive the compressors, the low pressure stage supplies the shaft power.

Lycoming ALF 502 turbofan engine based on the helicopter T55 shaft engine

In 1969 came the Lycoming ALF 502R, a turbofan engine with a high bypass ratio, based on the T 55 helicopter engine and used in the four-engine Avro BAe 146. Instead of a shaft, the fourth turbine drives the large fan in the inlet area.

Lycoming piston engines are the most widely used engines for small aircraft today. They are air-cooled four- to eight-cylinder modular boxer engines with double magneto ignition . In most models, the propeller is driven directly by the crankshaft , but there are also motors with an integrated or flanged propeller gearbox . Engines with supercharging ( turbo and / or mechanical supercharger) and manifold injection are also available. The engines have the reputation of a very high reliability, which is achieved through the very conservative design (simple and stable construction, mostly without propeller gear, low speed and low liter capacity ). In addition, the engines have remained almost unchanged for decades. The disadvantage of this design, which is outdated in comparison to modern car engines, is the high consumption of aviation fuel, which is again considerably more expensive than car fuels . In other relevant categories (weight, reliability, price, maintenance costs) the advantage of more modern designs is less or not there.

Competitive situation

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

The direct competitor Teledyne Continental builds engines that are technically very similar. Porsche discontinued the aircraft engine commitment it had begun in the 1980s in 1990. The Thielert company builds modern turbo diesels and for a long time seemed to be the most promising competitor until bankruptcy. The engines built by Rotax are common in ultralight aircraft and are also suitable for light aircraft , but not for larger aircraft because of their low power. However, due to the increasingly poor availability of AvGas worldwide and the sharp rise in costs, fundamental new designs are inevitable in the near future. Tasks that were previously reserved for aircraft with Lycoming engines can now also be taken over by modern motorized VLA and TMG , such as the towing of gliders or pilot training.

Aircraft engine types

Labeling system

Lycoming uses its own labeling system for its piston engines. The engine designation consists of three identification groups:

  • Letter number alphanumerics

The letter closest to the hyphen of the number indicates the engine design:

  • O - boxer engine
  • X - X engine
  • R - radial engine (R = radial)

The designs can be combined with the various equipment variants:

  • I - fuel injection
  • G - reduction gear for propeller drive
  • T - turbocharging
  • S - supercharging
  • A - version for aerobatics with dry sump lubrication
  • AE - version for aerobatics with wet sump lubrication
  • H - version for use in helicopters (horizontal installation)
  • V - version for use in helicopters (vertical installation)
  • M - version for use in unmanned aircraft such as drones. Without approval for general aviation
  • L - drive rotates counterclockwise.

The number indicates the displacement in cubic inches . A 1 at the end means "integrated auxiliary drive block".

Models and variants

  • O-145
  • GO-145
  • O-235
  • O-320
  • IO-320
  • AIO-320
  • AEIO-320
  • LIO-320
  • O-340
  • O-360
  • IO-360
  • AIO-360
  • AEIO-360
  • LO-360
  • LIO-360
  • TO-360
  • TIO-360
  • VO-360
  • HO-360
  • HIO-360
  • LHIO-360
  • IVO-360
  • IO-390
  • O-435
  • VO-435
  • GO-435
  • O-480
  • GO-480
  • GSO-480
  • IGSO-480
  • O-540
  • VO-540
  • IO-540
  • IVO-540
  • LIO-540
  • TIO-540
  • TVO-540
  • TIVO-540
  • HIO-540
  • LTIO-540
  • AEIO-540
  • TIO-541
  • TIGO-541
  • IO-580
  • GSO-580
  • AEIO-580
  • R-680
  • IO-720

Engine types

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Our History ( Memento from November 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b c d Demorest Sewing Machine Company History ( Memento from July 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b Butler: Auburn Cord Duesenberg , p. 140
  4. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 60-61 (Arbenz).
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Butler: Auburn Cord Duesenberg. 1992, p. 263.
  6. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1985, pp. 66-72 (Auburn).
  7. ^ Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars. 1973, p. 166
  8. ^ Culshaw / Horrobin: Complete Catalog of British Cars (1997)
  9. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 279-282 (Checker).
  10. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 367-368 (Commonwealth).
  11. ↑ a b Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars. 1973, p. 336.
  12. ↑ Georgano, Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles (1979) 354
  13. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 775 (Kissel).
  14. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 852 + 859 (Locomobile).
  15. ^ Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars. 1973, p. 515.
  16. ^ Culshaw, Horrobin: Complete Catalog of British Cars (1997)
  17. ↑ Georgano, Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles (1979) 471
  18. ^ Butler: Auburn Cord Duesenberg. 1992, p. 306.
  19. ↑ a b Butler: Auburn Cord Duesenberg. 1992, p. 188.
  20. ^ Butler: Auburn Cord Duesenberg. 1992, p. 309.
  21. ↑ a b PDF archive from flightglobal: Flight (magazine), May 1956, p. 30.
  22. ↑ a b c d Lexicon of aircraft engines, Gunston Bill, Motorbuchverlag Stuttgart, 1991, ISBN 3-613-01422-X

literature

  • GN Georgano (Editor): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. 2nd Edition. Dutton Press, New York 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 . (English)
  • GN Georgano (Editor), G. Marshall Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles ; MBI Motor Books International, Osceola WI (1979); ISBN 0-87341-024-6 ; Hardcover
  • Beverly Rae Kimes, (Editor); Henry Austin Clark Jr.: The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 2nd Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1985, ISBN 0-87341-111-0 . (English)
  • Beverly Rae Kimes (Editor), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI (1996), ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9 ISBN 0-87341-428-4 (English)
  • Brooks T. Brierley: Auburn, Reo, Franklin and Pierce-Arrow versus Cadillac, Chrysler, Lincoln and Packard. 1st edition. Garrett & Stringer, Coconut Grove, Florida, ISBN 0-9615791-1-0 . (English)
  • Jon M. Bill: Duesenberg Racecars & Passenger Cars Photo Archive. Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum (Ed.): Iconografix, Hudson WI, ISBN 1-58388-145-X . (English) (Photo Archive Series)
  • Don Butler: Auburn Cord Duesenberg. Crestline Publishing Co., 1992, ISBN 0-87938-701-7 . (English) (Crestline Series)
  • ACD Museum (editor): 19th Annual Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival; Official Souvenir Book. Brochure for the opening of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana (USA) on Labor Day Weekend 1974. (English)
  • David Culshaw, Peter Horrobin: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895-1975. Veloce Publishing PLC, Dorchester 1997, ISBN 1-874105-93-6 . (English)

Web links

Commons : Lycoming  - collection of images, videos and audio files