From 'A History of Aircraft Piston Engines' by Herschel Smith:
At the end of World War II, the American aircraft industry was in an excellent position to gain a lasting worldwide dominance of the lightplane powerplant business. We had suffered no war damage, our designs were up to date, and our production facilities were efficient. U.S. engine builders were ready to go, and the customers had the money. Equally significant for the long run was the fact that the large American market would justify mass-production tooling on a scale hardly economical elsewhere. Two of the three significant American builders of horizontally opposed engines exploited these advantages to the fullest. As a result, Continental and Lycoming do in fact dominate the general aviation piston engine market today.

 

OVERVIEW
On April 3, 1929, a Beech-designed TravelAir biplane was the first aircraft to feature a Lycoming motor (the nine-cylinder, 215 horsepower R-680 radial engine) on successful trial flights. It was christened “The Lycoming” because the Lycoming Manufacturing Company, now known as Lycoming Engines, built the motor. The successful trial came just two years after Charles Lindbergh flew his “Spirit of St. Louis” nonstop from New York to Paris marking the “golden age of aviation” and introduced Lycoming as the world’s foremost piston aircraft engine manufacturer. Over the next twenty years, Lycoming built over 25,000 R-680 radial engines and established a worldwide reputation for excellence that has thrived ever since.
Headquartered in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, today Lycoming is a global operating division of Textron’s Avco Corporation subsidiary, and an operating unit of Textron Systems, specializing in the engineering, manufacturing, assembly, test and support of piston aircraft engines. Lycoming’s factory produces the most complete line of horizontally opposed, air-cooled, four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines available including the only FAA-certified aerobatic and helicopter piston engines on the market. The company has built more than 325,000 piston aircraft engines and powers more than half the world's general aviation fleet, both rotary and fixed wing.
Lycoming engines power a wide range of aircraft, are consistently reliable and are backed by a worldwide network of sales, service and technical support. As the industry leader, Lycoming continues to improve the performance and value delivered to its customers through research and development with enhanced valve train systems, alternative fuels and materials advancement.
Textron Inc. is a $10 billion multi-industry company with more than 44,000 employees in 40 countries. The company leverages its global network of businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services in industries such as aircraft, fastening systems, industrial products, industrial components and finance. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO and Greenlee, among others.

MILESTONES
• 1907: Creation of Lycoming Foundry and Machine Company

• 1910: Produced first automobile engine for Velie Motor Corporation. Produced Cord, Auburn, Duesenberg, Locomobile, Paige, Graham, McFarlan, and Checker models

• 1929: The Lycoming factory developed its first aircraft engine: a nine-cylinder radial, the R-680. More than 25,000 R-680s were built.

• 1933: Lycoming becomes part of Aviation Corporation, later AVCO

• 1938: Lycoming develops the O-145 opposed cylinder engine. Igor Sikorsky flew the first successful helicopter powered by a 65-horsepower GO-145

• 1945: A Lycoming-powered Stinson “Sentinel” liaison plane becomes the first allied plane to land on Iwo Jima

• 1967: Lycoming developed the first and only FAA-certified aerobatic engine

• 1987: Textron purchase AVCO which includes AVCO Lycoming

• 1994: Lycoming selected to power the Cessna Single Engine Restart Program

• 1996: Lycoming piston engines power all United States aircraft competing the World Aerobatic Championships

• 1997: Lycoming engines power more than 85% of the new general aviation aircraft produced worldwide

• 2002: Textron Lycoming announces name change to “Lycoming Engines” eliminating Textron from it previously co-branded logo

• 2003: Lycoming announces the debut of its racing program with the sponsorship of two teams appearing at the 40th anniversary National Champion Air Races and Air Show at Reno, Nevada

• 2004: Lycoming opens engine museum at company HQ in honor of the 75th anniversary

• 2005: January 18, Lycoming powered Robinson helicopter lands on South Pole after departing Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 29, 2004

http://www.lycoming.textron.com/
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1) Aero piston engines were built for decades as inlines, Vs, radials and opposed types. Why did only the opposed type survive into modern times?

2) Make clear what makes an opposed piston engine different from a V design?

3) Consider the manufacturing of the opposed and the inline engine.

4) What car manufacturer does still produce opposed piston engines?

5) The engine in the picture is a Lycoming AEI0-540-L1B5. Find some technical data in the internet.

6) '540' in the engine designation refers to the engine's displacement in cubic inches. Please transform it to cubic centimeters.

7) Aero piston engines rev roughly between 2000 and 2700 rpm. Engines that rev higher are geared down. Do you know why?

8) Have we ever built aero engines in Switzerland? If yes, who?

9) What engines does Pilatus use in its PC models?

10) Although, we highly esteem our education system and skilled trades we lost the lorry business, the railway business, the large diesel engines, the gas and steam turbines, the powerplant business .... it all happened in the past two or three decades.
What's going on in Switzerland? Where does it end?