Lycoming O-540

O-540
	AEIO-540
Type	Certified Piston aircraft engine
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Lycoming Engines
First run	1957 ; 1963 (injected version)
Major applications	Britten-Norman Islander; Cessna 182; Cessna 206; Grob G 120; HAL HPT-32 Deepak; Piper PA-46; Robinson R44; Piper PA-31 Navajo; 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 (8.9 L) displacement, manufactured by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming O-360.

Design and development

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

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

Lycoming TEO-540

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]

An LTIO-540 mounted on the right wing of a Piper Chieftain: The turbocharger can be seen in the upper right of the image.

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

Specifications (IO-540-K1A5)

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 (220 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)

References

^ ^a ^b Lycoming (2005). "540 Series" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
^ ^a ^b Page listing all variants of the Lycoming O-540 series. Retrieved: 1 September 2008.
^ Lycoming TEO-540-EXP press release
^ Tecnam P2012 TEO-540-C1A produces 375HP @ 2,575 RPM per FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet No. A00076CE
^ "iE2 Engine". Lycoming. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
^ FAA Piper PA-31-300/325/350 Type Certificate. Retrieved: 1 September 2008.
^ ^a ^b John W.R. Taylor, ed. (1988). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89. London: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.

External links

Lycoming homepage

[Lycoming540SpecSheet-1] Lycoming (2005). "540 Series" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2009-01-10.

[L2-2] Page listing all variants of the Lycoming O-540 series. Retrieved: 1 September 2008.

[3] Lycoming TEO-540-EXP press release

[4] Tecnam P2012 TEO-540-C1A produces 375HP @ 2,575 RPM per FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet No. A00076CE

[5] "iE2 Engine". Lycoming. Retrieved 2023-06-28.

[6] FAA Piper PA-31-300/325/350 Type Certificate. Retrieved: 1 September 2008.

[JAWA88-89-7] John W.R. Taylor, ed. (1988). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89. London: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.

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