The Lycoming O-360 is a family of

four-cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categoriz ...

, direct-drive,

horizontally opposed A flat engine is a piston engine where the cylinders are located on either side of a central crankshaft. Flat engines are also known as horizontally opposed engines, however this is distinct from the less common opposed-piston engine design, ...

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. Air-cooled designs are far simpler than their liquid-cooled ...

piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder (engine), cylinder a ...

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

s. Engines in the O-360 series produce between , with the basic O-360 producing . The engine family has been installed in thousands of aircraft, including the

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.Piper Cherokee The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

/Archer, Grumman Tiger, and many home-built types. It has a factory rated

time between overhaul Time between overhauls (abbreviated as TBO or TBOH) is the manufacturer's recommended number of running hours or calendar time before an aircraft engine or other component requires overhaul. On rotorcraft, many components have recommended or ma ...

(TBO) of 2000 hours or twelve years. O-360 family engines are also widely used in

airboat An airboat (also known as a planeboat, swamp boat, bayou boat, or fanboat) is a flat-bottomed watercraft propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine. It is commonly used for fishing, hunting, r ...

s, most notably in the

Hurricane Aircat The Hurricane Aircat was an airboat used as a riverine patrol boat by the US Army and South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. It was used to conduct various counterinsurgency (COIN) and patrol missions in riverine and marshy areas w ...

s used by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The first O-360 certified was the A1A model, certified on 20 July 1955 to United States CAR 13 effective March 5, 1952 as amended by 13-1 and 13-2. The

Lycoming IO-390 The Lycoming IO-390 engine is a Flat engine, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder aircraft engine, manufactured by Lycoming Engines. There is no carburetor, carburetted version of the engine, which would have been designated O-390 and therefore ...

is an O-360 which has had its cylinder bore increased by , developing .

Series

The O-360 family of engines comprises 167 different models with 12 different prefixes. All have a displacement and bore and

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. * O-360 carbureted series * HO-360 horizontally mounted series for helicopter installation * LO-360 same as O-360, but with left-hand rotating crankshaft, for use in pairs on twin-engined aircraft * TO-360

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

series * LTO-360 turbocharged left-hand rotation series * IO-360

fuel-injected Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in Reciprocating engine, reciprocating piston and Wankel eng ...

series * LIO-360 same as IO-360, but with left-hand rotating crankshaft * AIO-360 inverted mount (dry sump aerobatic) fuel-injected series * AEIO-360

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

fuel-injected series * HIO-360 horizontally mounted fuel-injected series for helicopters * LHIO-360 left-hand rotation, fuel-injected, horizontally mounted for helicopters * TIO-360 turbocharged and fuel-injected series

Variants

Applications

;O-360 ;LO-360 *

Beechcraft Duchess The Beechcraft Model 76 Duchess is an American twin-engined monoplane built by Beechcraft intended partly as a low cost introduction to twin-engine aircraft. Development Developed as Model PD289 (Preliminary Design 289), the prototype was u ...

* Piper PA-44-180 Seminole ;IO-360 ;LIO-360 LIO360engine

* Piper PA-34 Seneca I * Diamond DA42 ;AIO-360 * Stephens Akro ;AEIO-360 * Aero-Cam Slick 360 * Aviat Eagle II * American Champion Super Decathlon *

Extra EA-200 The Extra 200 (Type EA-200) is a two-seat, tandem arrangement, low-wing aerobatic monoplane with conventional ( taildragger) landing gear fully capable of Unlimited category competition, built by Extra Flugzeugbau. Designed by Walter Extra, it ...

* FFA AS-202 Bravo * Great Lakes Sport Trainer * Grob G 115E *

Mudry CAP 10 The Mudry CAP 10 is a two-seat training aerobatic aircraft first built in 1970 and still in production in 2007. The plane was developed from the Piel Super Emeraude and was born as the CP100. The name changed to CAP 10, CAP for 'Constructions Aé ...

* Peña Capeña *

Pitts Special The Pitts Special (company designations S-1 and S-2) is a series of light aerobatics, aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes domina ...

* Tech Aero TR 200 *

Valmet L-70 Vinka The Valmet L-70 ''Vinka'' is a Finnish-designed piston-powered military basic trainer aircraft of the 1970s. A production run of 30 aircraft were built for the Finnish Air Force in the early 1980s, and although the type was not exported, it formed ...

* Zlín Z 242 ;HIO-360 * Enstrom F-28 *

OH-23 Raven The Hiller OH-23 Raven is a two, three, or four-place, military light observation helicopter based on the Hiller Model 360. The Model 360 was designated by the company as the UH-12 ("UH" for United Helicopters), which was first flown in 1948. I ...

Schweizer 300 The SchweizerS300 series (formerly the Hughes300, Schweizer300, and SikorskyS-300 series) is a family of light utility helicopters originally produced by Hughes Helicopters, as a development of the Hughes TH-55 Osage, Hughes 269. Later manufactu ...

;LHIO-360 * Silvercraft SH-3 * Silvercraft SH-4

Specifications (O-360-A1A)

References

External links