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 categorize ...

, 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, w ...

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. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

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 and is made gas- ...

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 ma ...

s. Engines in the O-360 series produce between 145 and 225 horsepower (109 to 168 kW), with the basic O-360 producing 180 horsepower. 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, Monoplane#High, 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 ...

(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. In early aviation history the term ''airboat ...

s, most notably in the Hurricane Aircats used by the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. 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 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. * O-360

carbureted A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...

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 (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

series * LTO-360 turbocharged left-hand rotation series * IO-360 fuel-injected 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 "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glider ...

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

* Piper PA-34 Seneca I *

Diamond DA42 The Diamond DA42 Twin Star is a four seat, twin engine, propeller-driven airplane developed and manufactured by the Chinese-owned, Austria-based company Diamond Aircraft Industries. It was Diamond's first twin engine design, as well as the fi ...

;AIO-360 * Stephens Akro ;AEIO-360 *

Aero-Cam Slick 360 The Slick Aircraft Slick 360 is a South African aerobatics aircraft produced by the Slick Aircraft Company of Pretoria, South Africa. It is designed exclusively as an aerobatic competition aircraft, to compete in events such as the Advanced World ...

* 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 w ...

FFA AS-202 Bravo The AS/SA 202 Bravo is a two to three-seat civil light aircraft jointly designed and manufactured by the Swiss company Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein (FFA) and the Italian company Savoia-Marchetti. The aircraft was designated the AS 202 in S ...

* 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 Aér ...

* Peña Capeña *

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

Tech Aero TR 200 The Tech Aero TR 200 is a French homebuilt aerobatic aircraft that was designed and produced by Tech Aero of Glisolles, first flown in August 1988. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ' ...

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 The Enstrom F-28 and 280 are a family of small, light piston engine powered helicopters produced by the Enstrom Helicopter Corporation.Apostolo, Giorgio: ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters'', pages 64-65. Bonanza Books, New York, 1984 ...

OH-23 Raven The Hiller OH-23 Raven is a three-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),Donald, David. ''The Complete Encyclopedia of ...

Schweizer 300 The Schweizer S300 series (formerly Hughes 300, Schweizer 300, and Sikorsky S-300) family of light utility helicopters was originally produced by Hughes Helicopters, as a development of the Hughes 269. Later manufactured by Schweizer Aircraft, ...

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

Specifications (O-360-A1A)

References

External links