Ramon Lopez/WILLIAMSPORT
The resurgence of piston-engined general-aviation (GA) aircraft production in the USA has prompted Textron Lycoming to improve existing powerplants and develop new advanced engine models.
Officials admit that research and development has remained "stagnant" during the past decade as the GA industry went into a tailspin. "We were trying to keep people employed . Research and development [R&D] wasn't a priority then," says director of engineering services Richard Moffett.
The business turnaround now allows Textron Lycoming to spend $25 million on engine R&D over the next five years, double the amount previously planned.
Driving the work are environmental issues, including noise and engine emissions. Meanwhile, the octane rating for gasoline-consuming GA piston engines is dropping, and leaded aviation-gasoline may eventually be banned.
Textron Lycoming believes that the time is right to upgrade company products with electronic controls. In collaboration with Uni- son, a magneto manufacturer in Florida, the Limited Authority Spark Advance Regulation (LASER) electronic-ignition system has been certificated on Lycoming engines.
The LASER electronically advances the timing when the engine reaches cruise mode. Now available for the after-market, the LASER may eventually be incorporated in new aircraft being rolled off production lines.
At the same time, Lycoming and Hamilton Standard have teamed to develop a low-cost full-authority digital engine-control (FADEC) system for piston-engined aircraft as part of NASA's Advanced General Aviation Transportation Experiments programme. A prototype FADEC has been installed on a company IO-540 engine which will be flight tested in a Cessna Model 182.
Lycoming is also working with Unison and Precision Airmotive to develop single-lever power control through electronic fuel and ignition control based on the LASER.
"There is no doubt in my mind that electronic-engine-control research is probably the most important thing we need to do over the next five years," says Moffett.
Lycoming unsuccessfully offered a new-design four-cyclediesel engine in NASA's General Aviation Propulsion (GAP) research programme, aimed at developing powerplants for next- generation turbine and piston-engined light aircraft.
David Assard, the firm's president, says: "We were certainly disappointed in losing GAP. It would have been beneficial, but it won't stop our efforts."
Lycoming sees a future for gasoline-consuming and heavy-fuel engines and, accordingly, it has formed partnerships with other unnamed engine-makers to determine which of the advanced engine concepts will become part of the firm's future product line.
Source: Flight International
