Continental IO-550


The Continental IO-550 engine is a large family of 9 liter fuel injected six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engines that were developed for use in light aircraft by Teledyne Continental Motors. The first IO-550 was delivered in 1983 and the type remains in production.
The IOF-550 is an Aerosance FADEC equipped version of the same basic engine, the TSIO-550 is a dual turbocharged version and the TSIOL-550 is a liquid-cooled variant.
There is no O-550 engine, which would be a carburetor-equipped variant, hence the base model is the IO-550.
This engine family competes with the Lycoming IO-580 series which are also six-cylinder engines with similar power output and weight.

Design and development

The IO-550 family of engines was developed from the IO-520 series, with the stroke increased from, increasing the displacement to 552 in³. The engine family covers a power range from to.
The engines were first developed in the early 1980s and first certified on a regulatory basis of FAR 33, 1 February 1965 amendment, 33-8, 2 May 1977. The first IO-550 model was certified on 13 October 1983.

Variants

;IO-550-A
;IO-550-B
;IO-550-C
;IO-550-D
;IO-550-E
;IO-550-F
;IO-550-G
;IO-550-L
;IO-550-N
;IO-550-P
;IO-550-R

FADEC models

;IOF-550-B
;IOF-550-C
;IOF-550-D
;IOF-550-E
;IOF-550-F
;IOF-550-L
;IOF-550-N
;IOF-550-P
;IOF-550-R

Turbocharged models

;TSIO-550-A
;TSIO-550-B
;TSIO-550-C
;TSIO-550-E
;TSIO-550-G
;TSIO-550-K

Turbocharged & FADEC models

;TSIOF-550-D
;TSIOF-550-J
;TSIOF-550-K

Liquid-cooled models

;TSIOL-550-A
;TSIOL-550-B
;TSIOL-550-C

Geared models

;GIO-550-A

Applications

;IO-550
  • Beechcraft Baron
  • Beechcraft Bonanza
  • Bellanca 17-30
  • Cessna 182
  • Cessna 206
  • Cessna 210
  • Cessna 350
  • Cirrus SR22
  • Cirrus VK-30
  • Freedom Aviation Phoenix
  • Lancair Barracuda
  • Lancair ES
  • Lancair Legacy
  • Mooney M20
  • Seawind 300C
  • Velocity XL-RG
  • Washington T-411 Wolverine
  • Yakovlev Yak-112
;TSIO-550
  • Adam A500
  • Cessna 400
  • Lancair IV
  • Mooney M20TN
  • Velocity TXL-RG
  • Cirrus SR22T
;TSIOF-550
  • Diamond DA50
  • Cobalt Co50 Valkyrie
  • KAI KC-100
;TSIOL-550
  • Extra EA-400
  • Viper Aircraft Viperfan
;GIO-550