Continental Motors (aircraft engine manufacturer)

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Continental Motors, Inc.

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1905
Seat Mobile , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
management Rhett Ross (President)
Number of employees 440 (November 2008)
sales $ 46.2 million ( 2007 )
Branch Aero engine manufacturer for civil, military and business aircraft
Website continentalmotors.aero

Continental Motors, Inc. ( Continental Motors Corporation from 1929 to 1969 , Teledyne Continental Motors from 1969 to 2011) is a US-American manufacturer of aircraft engines based in Mobile, Alabama . Continental has been part of the Chinese state-owned company AVIC since 2011 .

history

The company was founded in 1905 as the Continental Motors Company .

From the 1920s to the 1960s, the Continental Motors Company (also) manufactured engines for various independent manufacturers of motor vehicles and tractors, and as stationary drives for pumps and power generators . Production took place at two larger locations, in Muskegon and Detroit .

In 1929 the aircraft engine division was outsourced. The Detroit factory closed in 1965. The aircraft engine division was taken over by Teledyne Technologies in 1969 . Teledyne Continental was known for its light aircraft engines .

In 2011 the company was taken over by the Chinese state-owned company AVIC .

Continental also supplied the engines for the modern hybrid airship Airlander 10 .

Aircraft engines

The engines of Continental motor are in addition to those of Lycoming today the most common piston aircraft engines of the general aviation aircraft in the performance class above 100 kW (136 hp). They have a reputation for being extremely reliable . On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the engines with a very large displacement - an IO-360 with 132 kW (179 PS) has 5.8 l displacement - with relatively low speed (approx. 2400 rpm when cruising and 2600 rpm when taking off ) to run. On the other hand, the engines are only being further developed very carefully. The engine mentioned consumes approx. 35–45 l AvGas (or 230 g / PSh) during cruise  . The Continental O-200 and Continental IO-240 engines are also widespread. The engines of the C-90, O-200, O-240, IO-360 series were also manufactured under license by Rolls-Royce in Great Britain .

Motor types and variants

The engine designations provide information about the technical properties:

The number, on the other hand, indicates the approximate displacement in cubic inches .

Surname Number of cylinders power particularities
A-40 (O-170 series) 4th 028-30 kW
A-50 (O-170 series) 4th 037 kW
A-65 (O-170 series) 4th 048 kW
A-75 (O-170 series) 4th 056 kW
A-80 (O-170 series) 4th 060 kW
C-75 (O-190 series) 4th 75 hp
C-85 (O-190 series) 4th 85 hp
C-90 (O-200 series) 4th 070.8 kW
C-115 (O-280 series) 6th 086 kW
C-125 (O-280 series) 6th 093 kW
C-140 (O-280 series) 6th 104 kW
C-145 (O-300 series) 6th 108 kW
O-200 4th 074.6 kW
O-300 6th 108 kW
GO-300 6th 130 kW
E-165 (O-470 series) 6th 123 kW
E-185 (O-470 series) 6th 153 kW
E-225 (O-470 series) 6th 168 kW
O-240 4th
O-470 6th 159-186 kW
FSO-470 6th with mechanical loader for helicopters
IO-240 4th 093 kW
IO-346 4th
IO-360 6th 134-157 kW
TSIO-360 6th
LTSIO-360 6th
IO-470 6th
LIO-470 6th
TSIO-470 6th
IO-520 6th
GIO-520 6th
TSIO-520 6th
LTSIO-520 6th
GTSIO-520 6th
IO-550 6th 209-231 kW
IOF-550 6th 209-231 kW
GIO-550 6th
TSIO-550 6th 231-268 kW
TSIOL-550 6th
TIARA series 4, 6 & 8
W-670 7th Radial engine

Airplanes with Continental engines (selection)

Important dates in the company's history

  • 1905: Foundation of Continental Motors, introduction of a 4-4-stroke in-line combustion engine with one camshaft.
  • 1906: The engine type "O" with 45 HP (34 kW) is developed as an aircraft engine.
  • 1929: The A-70, a 7-radial engine , is introduced.
  • 1930: four-cylinder A-40 engine.
  • 1938: The A-50 is added and which is Piper Cub and the Taylorcraft B used.
  • 1939: Continental produces R-670 7-radial engines for the Boeing-Stearman training aircraft and the M3 Stuart light tank . Under license from Curtiss-Wright , 9-radial engines R-975 are produced for the M4 Sherman tank built from 1942 .
  • 1945: Development of the 6-engine E-185 for the Beechcraft Bonanza .
  • 1950s: Based on the A-65 engine, the more powerful C-90 and finally the 100 PS (75 kW) O-200 are gradually developed. The latter served in the Cessna 150 .
  • 1960s: Turbocharger and manifold injection are introduced in the IO 520. The turbocharger enables higher altitudes in which the air pressure is lower. In comparison to the carburettor engine, the injection makes the engine insensitive to the effects of acceleration during hard flight maneuvers.
  • 1984: The more economical piston engine TSIO-520-BE is developed for the Piper PA-46 Malibu .
  • 1986: Powered by a water-cooled version of the IO-240 and an IOL-200, the Voyager is the first aircraft to fly around the world without refueling.
  • 1997: NASA commissions Continental to develop a piston engine that can run on Jet-A fuel. The 147 kW (200 PS) GAP engine for operation with petrol below 100 octane is created.
  • 1999: Continental develops and tests its first FADEC- equipped engine.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mark Phelps: Continental Motors Acquires Thielert Aircraft Engines. In: flyingmag.com. July 23, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013 .
  2. a b Teledyne lays off 60 employees (business news) ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.al.com
  3. ^ Andy Pasztor: FAA Seeks Checks on Small Aircraft. In: The Wall Street Journal online. August 11, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013 .
  4. a b E.101 (IM) Continental Motors C90 / O-200 series engines. (PDF) In: easa.europa.eu. EASA, July 5, 2013, p. 6 , accessed on April 17, 2014 (English).
  5. E.169 (IM) Continental Motors IO-240 series engines. (PDF) In: easa.europa.eu. EASA, July 5, 2013, p. 5 , accessed April 17, 2014 (English).
  6. E.005 (IM) Continental Motors Inc. IO-360 series engines. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: easa.europa.eu. EASA, July 5, 2013, p. 5 , archived from the original on April 19, 2014 ; accessed on April 17, 2014 (English).
  7. E. 100 (IM) Continental Motors Inc.IO-550 series engines. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: easa.europa.eu. EASA, July 5, 2013, p. 5 , archived from the original on April 19, 2014 ; accessed on April 17, 2014 (English).
  8. Data sheet for the type certificate of the FAA No. E3SO Rev. 11
  9. E.105 (IM) Continental Motors TSIO-550 series engines. (PDF) In: easa.europa.eu. EASA, July 5, 2013, p. 6 , accessed on April 17, 2013 (English).

Web links