From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Family of aircraft engines
The
Continental Tiara series
are a family of air-cooled,
horizontally opposed
aircraft engines
. Designed and built by
Continental Motors/TCM
, the Tiara series were commercially unsuccessful, costing the company millions of dollars.
[1]
Design and development
[
edit
]
Continental began development of the Tiara series in 1965.
[2]
At the time,
CAE
, Continental Motor's turbine engine subsidiary, had developed the
T65
, a small
turboshaft
engine which was being considered by
Bell
for its new
Model 206
helicopter. Faced with having to fund the production tooling for the T65 in order to keep the price reasonable, or funding the Tiara series, Continental's corporate management chose to invest in the Tiaras.
[2]
While the Tiara series were basically traditional
boxer engines
, they did have some unique features.
[1]
The engines had high rotational speeds,
0.5:1 gearing
was used to reduce propeller speed, with the
camshaft
forming an extension of the propeller shaft.
[1]
[3]
The propeller shaft featured the Hydra-Torque drive to reduce the shaft's vibrations.
[1]
The engines were available with four, six- and eight-cylinders. All were fuel-injected, with turbocharging being optional.
The engines' fuel consumption was high, which became a disadvantage during the
1973 oil crisis
era.
[2]
In addition, the Tiaras' performance was not significantly improved over existing engines, making it difficult for aircraft manufacturers to justify the costs of certificating their products for the engines.
[2]
These problems led Continental to finally discontinue the engines in 1980.
[1]
Series
[
edit
]
Reference: Continental, Teledyne Continental Motors, TCM (US); Rolls-Royce (UK) Part 1: Introduction and O-110 through OL-300
[3]
Four-cylinder
[
edit
]
- Tiara 4-180 (O-270)
- 180 hp, 271 cu in capacity
Six-cylinder
[
edit
]
- Tiara 6-260 (O-405)
- 260 hp, 406 cu in capacity
- Tiara 6-260A
- Tiara 6-285 (O-405)
- 285 hp, 406 cu in capacity
- Tiara 6-285A
- Tiara 6-320 (O-405)
- 300 hp, 406 cu in capacity
- Tiara T6-260 (O-405)
- 260 hp, 406 cu in capacity, turbocharged
- Tiara T6-285 (O-405)
- 285 hp, 406 cu in capacity, turbocharged
- Tiara T6-320 (O-405)
- 300 hp, 406 cu in capacity, turbocharged
Eight-cylinder
[
edit
]
- Tiara 8-380 (O-540)
- 380 hp, 541 cu in
- Tiara T8-450 (O-540)
- 450 hp, 541 cu in, turbocharged
Applications
[
edit
]
Tiara 6
[
edit
]
Specifications (Tiara 6-285-A)
[
edit
]
Data from
FAA TDC
[4]
General characteristics
- Type:
6-cylinder, horizontally opposed piston engine
- Bore
:
4.875 in (124 mm)
- Stroke
:
3.625 in (92 mm)
- Displacement
:
406 in³ (6.65 L)
- Dry weight
:
375 lb (170 kg) dry
Components
- Fuel system:
Fuel Injected
- Fuel type:
100/100LL
avgas
- Oil system:
5 US quarts (4.7 L),
wet sump
- Cooling system:
Air-cooled
Performance
See also
[
edit
]
Related lists
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Gunston, p.191
- ^
a
b
c
d
Leyes, p.119
- ^
a
b
Continental, Teledyne Continental Motors, TCM (US); Rolls-Royce (UK) Part 1: Introduction and O-110 through OL-300
Archived
December 2, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Federal Aviation Administration, Type Certificate Data Sheet No. E12CE, Revision 8, May 31, 1977
External links
[
edit
]