Lycoming Engines: Piston Aircraft Engines from Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Lycoming Engines builds piston aircraft engines for general aviation. The company works from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and operates as a division of Avco Corporation, a Textron subsidiary. Lycoming has produced more than 325,000 piston aircraft engines since 1929, the year its first aviation powerplant, the nine-cylinder R-680 radial, left the line. Today Lycoming engines power more than half of the world’s general aviation fleet, across fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft.

Products and Engine Lines

Lycoming designs horizontally opposed, air-cooled engines in four, six, and eight-cylinder configurations. The four-cylinder O-320 and O-360 and the six-cylinder O-540 rank among the most widely flown piston engines in light aviation. Power ratings across the range run from roughly 100 to 400 horsepower. Fuel-injected and turbocharged variants extend the lineup for higher-performance airframes. Lycoming also supplies engines for the U.S. Experimental and Amateur-Built category, where its powerplants outsell the next five brands combined.

• Horizontally opposed piston aircraft engines in four, six, and eight-cylinder layouts
• Fuel-injected engine models for higher-performance aircraft
• Turbocharged engine variants
• Engines for the Experimental and Amateur-Built category
• Factory-new and factory-rebuilt engine options
• Genuine replacement parts and overhaul support for the installed fleet

Manufacturing Heritage and Expertise

Lycoming traces its origins to 1845 and reorganized as the Lycoming Foundry and Machine Company in 1907, building automobile engines before turning fully to aviation. The first aviation engine, the R-680 radial, reached the market in 1929. Textron acquired the company in 1985, and piston engine production has stayed in the original Williamsport factories. Decades of continuous manufacturing give Lycoming deep institutional knowledge of air-cooled piston design, testing, and overhaul support. You work with a builder whose engineering record in this field runs back to the early days of light aviation.

Aircraft Applications and Partners

Lycoming engines power new aircraft from aircraft manufacturers such as Cessna, Piper, Cirrus, and Diamond, alongside a large installed base of legacy airframes. Pilots, flight schools, and maintenance shops across North America and beyond rely on these engines for training fleets and private operations. The breadth of certified and experimental models gives airframe builders a wide selection for new designs and for retrofits.