The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

s of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

Type certificate data sheet no. E-252
'' Revision 34. (27 June 2013) Built by Continental Motors these engines are used in many light aircraft designs of the United States, including the early

Piper PA-18 Super Cub The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the PA-11 Cub Special, and traces its lineage back through the J-3 Cub to the Taylor E-2 Cub of the 1930s. In close ...

,''Aircraft specification no. 1A2.'' Revision 37. (Sep. 4, 1996.) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. the Champion 7EC,''Aircraft specification no. A-759.'' Revision 67. (Jun. 3, 2005.) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. the Alon Aircoupe,''Type certificate date sheet no. A-787.'' Revision 33. (Jul. 14, 2005.) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. and the

Cessna 150 The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...

.''Type certificate data sheet no. 3A19.'' Revision 44. (Mar. 31, 2003) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Though the C90 was superseded by the O-200, and many of the designs utilizing the O-200 had gone out of production by 1980, with the 2004 publication of the United States Federal Aviation Administration

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a fairly new category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictio ...

regulations''Federal Register.'' Vol. 69, No. 143 (Jul. 27, 2004), pp. 44772-44882. Federal Aviation Administration, 14 CFR Parts 1, 21, et al., "Certification of aircraft and airmen for the operation of light-sport aircraft;" Final rule. came a resurgence in demand for the O-200. The light-sport aircraft standard is for small, simple single- and two-seat aircraft for which the O-200 is well-suited.

Design and development

The C90 was introduced in 1947 as a follow-on to the A65, which had been in production since 1939. Many of the designs powered by the C90 are upgraded variants of earlier A65 powered designs, such as the

Piper J-3 Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is Pi ...

and PA-11 Cub Special,''Aircraft specification no. A-691.'' Revision 32. (Oct. 1, 1997.) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Aeronca 7AC, and

Luscombe 8 The Luscombe 8 is a series of high-wing, side-by-side-seating monoplanes with conventional landing gear, designed in 1937 and built by Luscombe Aircraft. Development Luscombe Aircraft closed in 1949, with its assets purchased by Temco Air ...

A.''Aircraft specification no. A-694.'' Revision 23. (Jul. 8, 1993.) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. The engine was developed from the earlier O-190 by increasing the stroke inch. This engine family is considered to be dependable, according to both industry publications and the FAA.''Special airworthiness information bulletin no. NE-03-45.'' (Jun. 27, 2003.) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Aircraft Certification Service. In a cooperative venture,

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

produced these same designs in England, under separate certification, with model designations beginning RR, e.g. the Rolls-Royce RR C90-12FH is the equivalent of the Continental C90-12FH; the Rolls-Royce versions are "directly interchangeable with the equivalent models manufactured by Continental."''Type certificate data sheet no. E3IN.'' Revision 3. (Jan. 16, 1968) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. The Rolls-Royce O-200-A powers the

Beagle Pup The Beagle B.121 Pup is a 1960s British 2–4 seat single-engined training and touring aircraft built by Beagle Aircraft Limited at Shoreham Airport and Rearsby Aerodrome. Design The Pup was designed as a single-engined all-metal two-seat ae ...

Series 1,''Type certificate data sheet no. A22EU.'' Revision 3. (Jun. 19, 1979) Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. the Rollason Condor, the Bölkow Bo 208 C Junior,''List 4: Propeller-driven aeroplanes not exceeding 8618 kg MTOM (including self-launching powered sailplanes.'' (Jun. 15, 2006) Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (Federal Office of Civil Aviation). Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs. Germany. the Avions Robin DR 220, the

Morane-Saulnier MS-880 The SOCATA Rallye ( en, Rally) is a light aircraft that was manufactured by French aviation company SOCATA. It was originally developed during the 1950s by French aircraft manufacturer Morane-Saulnier as the MS.880. On 10 June 1959, the prototype ...

, plus the

Victa Airtourer 100 The Victa Airtourer is an all-metal light low-wing monoplane touring aircraft that was developed in Australia, and was manufactured in both Australia and New Zealand. Design and development The Airtourer was the winning design, submitted by Henr ...

and the Reims F150 (a version of the Cessna 150 license-built in France by

Reims Aviation Reims Aviation Industries was a French aircraft manufacturer located in the city of Reims, most recently producing the F406 Caravan II. Reims Aviation was a wholly owned subsidiary of GECI Aviation. History Max Holste, the company founder ...

). All versions of the C90 and O-200 are

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

s and are all similar in size, displacement and weight. These engines are typically fitted with an

updraft carburetor An updraft carburetor is a type of carburetor (a component of engines that mixes air and fuel together) in which the air enters at the bottom and exits at the top to go to the engine. An updraft carburetor was the first type of carburetor in comm ...

, though the C90-8FJ, -12FJ, and -14FJ are equipped with

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

systems. They utilize a redundant

ignition system An ignition system generates a spark or heats an electrode to a high temperature to ignite a fuel-air mixture in spark ignition internal combustion engines, oil-fired and gas-fired boilers, rocket engines, etc. The widest application for spark ig ...

requiring no external power, driving two

magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

s, each of which fires one

spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...

per

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

. Each cylinder has one

intake An intake (also inlet) is an opening, structure or system through which a fluid is admitted to a space or machine as a consequence of a pressure differential between the outside and the inside. The pressure difference may be generated on the ins ...

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

and one

exhaust Exhaust, exhaustive, or exhaustion may refer to: Law *Exhaustion of intellectual property rights, limits to intellectual property rights in patent and copyright law **Exhaustion doctrine, in patent law ** Exhaustion doctrine under U.S. law, in p ...

valve, pushrod-activated. Continental's recommended

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 man ...

(TBO) for these engines is 1,800 hours of operation or 12 years in service, whichever is reached first. The standard certification for the C90 and O-200 specifies Avgas 80/87 as the minimum fuel grade. Both are eligible for operation on automobile gasoline on the basis of Supplemental Type Certificates. While the C90 is approved for takeoff power of 95 horsepower (71 kW) for five minutes, the designation is derived from its continuous power rating of 90 hp (67 kW). As noted above, certain models of the C90 replace the usual carburetor with a fuel injection system. In addition, there are models which provide for the installation of a controllable-pitch propeller and one, the C90-12FP, designed for a

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

installation. While having slightly less horsepower than the O-200, many floatplane operators prefer the performance of the C90 over the O-200, due to its higher torque at lower rpm. This is primarily due to the C90's camshaft design. The C90 is also known by its military designation of O-205. The O-200 is an updated and upgraded version of the engine, achieving increased power of 100 hp (75 kW) as a result of higher maximum rpm. The standard and most common model of the engine is the O-200-A; the -B model is designed for a pusher installation, the -C model provides for the installation of a controllable-pitch propeller, and the -D model is a lower-weight version designed for light-sport aircraft.

Operational history

An engine designated the IOL-200, an O-200 variant modified with

and

liquid cooling Liquid cooling refers to cooling by means of the convection or circulation of a liquid. Examples of liquid cooling technologies include: * Cooling by convection or circulation of coolant, including water cooling * Liquid cooling and ventilatio ...

, powered the 1986 nonstop, non-refueled global circumnavigation flight of the

Rutan Voyager The Rutan Model 76 Voyager was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's 15,000 foot (4,600 m) runway in the Mojav ...

. The 110-horsepower (82 kW) IOL-200, also referred to as the Voyager 200, was the rear engine and—unlike the forward engine, another modified engine, a

Continental O-240 The Continental O-240 engine is a four-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engine that was developed in the late 1960s for use in light aircraft by Continental Motors, Inc. The first O-240 was certified on 7 July 1971. Design ...

—ran throughout the entire nine-day flight save for a four-minute shutdown due to a fuel problem. Formula One racer

Sharp Nemesis The Sharp DR 90 Nemesis is a Formula One Air Racing, Formula One racing aircraft designed by Jon Sharp and built at the Mojave Airport by the Nemesis Air Racing Team. The aircraft is powered by a modified Continental O-200 piston engine. The Ne ...

, designed and flown by Jon Sharp, was powered by a 'stock' O-200. Between 1991 and 1999, the aircraft won 45 of the 48 events in which it was entered, as well as winning three Louis Blèriot medals, four Pulitzer Trophies, and setting 16 speed records in its class. In one of those records, ''Nemesis'' was clocked at more than 290 mph (467 km/h). By contrast, the O-200 powered Legend Cub cruises at 95 mph (152.9 km/h).

Variants

Certified versions

C90

;C90-8F:Lacks provisions for generator and starter drives, continuous, for take-off. ;C90-8FJ: continuous, for take-off. ;C90-12F:Has provisions for generator and starter drives, continuous, for take-off. ;C90-12FH:Has provisions for generator and starter drives, continuous, for take-off. ;C90-12FJ:Has provisions for generator and starter drives, continuous, for take-off. ;C90-12FP:Has provisions for generator and starter drives, continuous, for take-off. ;C90-14F: continuous, for take-off. ;C90-14FH: continuous, for take-off. ;C90-14FJ: continuous, for take-off. ;C90-16F:Has vacuum pump drive provisions, continuous, for take-off.

O-200

;O-200-A:Model for

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher c ...

, continuous ;O-200-B:Model with special crankshaft and crankcase for

, continuous ;O-200-C:Model with provisions for a controllable pitch propeller, continuous ;O-200-D:Similar to the "A" model, but with weight reductions, continuous ;O-200-X:Similar to the "D" model except for engine dataplate identification, continuous

Non-certified versions

;O-200-AF: UL91 and UL94 95 hp alternate fuel engine. ;IOL-200/Voyager 200:The aft engine of the round the world flight

Applications

Specifications (O-200-A)

''Data from'' Engine specifications: O-200-A & B.

References

External links

Teledyne Continental Motors
{{US military piston aeroengines Boxer engines 1940s aircraft piston engines O-200