Editing Lycoming Engines (section)

==History==

===Sewing machines, bicycles and fashion===
[[File:Demorest Machine.jpg|thumb|left|Demorest Manufacturing Company Machine]]

Lycoming dates its founding to 1845 by "[[Ellen Louise Demorest|Madame Ellen Curtis Demorest]]".<ref name="Lycoming1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lycoming.com/history|title=History|year=2017|publisher=Lycoming Engines|access-date=2017-08-16}}</ref> However, the early history of the company (especially prior to 1860) is unclear;<ref name="Kelly1">{{cite web |url=http://www.kelsew.info/Demorest/DemorestHistory.html |title=Demorest Sewing Machine Company History |access-date=2008-12-30 |work=kelsew.info |author=Kelly |date=November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614053511/http://www.kelsew.info/Demorest/DemorestHistory.html |archive-date=2009-06-14 }}</ref> biographer Ishbel Ross notes that the marriage of Ellen Louise Curtis to [[William Jennings Demorest]] took place in 1858, somewhat later than the purported date of establishment of the company.<ref name="Kelly1"/> A few years later in [[New York, New York|New York]], between c. 1860 and 1887, the Demorests published fashion magazines and operated the '''Demorest Fashion and Sewing-Machine Company''' (sometimes known as the '''Demorest Manufacturing Company'''). They produced "Madame Demorest" and "Bartlett & Demorest" sewing machines and sold Ellen Demorest's innovative paper patterns for dressmaking.<ref name="Kelly1"/> During this period, Ellen Demorest patented several fashion accessories,<ref name = "US87648">{{cite patent
 | inventor1-last = Demorest
 | inventor1-first = E. L.
 | inventorlink1 = Ellen Louise Demorest
 | inventor2-last = Cook
 | inventor2-first = W. G.
 | url = http://www.google.com/patents?id=VPBBAAAAEBAJ
 | publication-date = 1869-03-05
 | title = Brace and Suspender Combined
 | country-code = US
 | patent-number = 87648
}}</ref><ref name = "US264935">{{cite patent
 | inventor1-last = Demorest
 | inventor1-first = E. L.
 | inventorlink1 = Ellen Louise Demorest
 | url = http://www.google.com/patents?id=z91rAAAAEBAJ
 | publication-date = 1882-03-09
 | title = Puff for Head-Dresses
 | country-code = US
 | patent-number = 264935
}}</ref> while her husband patented improvements to sewing machines<ref name="Kelly1"/> and an apparatus for the [[vulcanization]] of rubber.<ref name = "US23948">{{cite patent
 | inventor1-last = Roberts
 | inventor1-first = Edward A. L.
 | inventor2-last = Demorest
 | inventor2-first = William J.
 | inventorlink2 = William Jennings Demorest
 | url = http://www.google.com/patents?id=aOdfAAAAEBAJ
 | pubdate = 1859-05-10
 | title = Apparatus for Vulcanizing Rubber
 | country-code = US
 | patent-number = 23948
}}</ref><ref name = "USRE1444">{{cite patent
 | inventor1-last = Roberts
 | inventor1-first = Edward A. L.
 | inventor2-last = Demorest
 | inventor2-first = William J.
 | inventorlink2 = William Jennings Demorest
 | url = http://www.google.com/patents?id=aOdfAAAAEBAJ
 | pubdate = 1863-03-31
 | title = Improvement in Apparatus for Vulcanizing Rubber, &c.
 | country-code = US
 | description = RE
 | patent-number = 1444
}}</ref>
[[File:Demorest-Ad.jpg|right|thumb|A Demorest print advertisement]]

Around 1883, Gerrit S. Scofield & Frank M. Scofield (advertising agents from New York) bought the Demorest brand and the sewing machine business (the Demorests retained the magazine business), and constructed a factory in [[Williamsport, Pennsylvania]] (in [[Lycoming County, Pennsylvania|Lycoming County]]).<ref name="Kelly1"/><ref name = "NYTimes1">{{Cite news
 | date = 1888-11-04
 | title = Names Obtained by Fraud.
 | periodical = New York Times
 | pages = 9
 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D04E6D7173AEF33A25757C0A9679D94699FD7CF
 | issn = 0362-4331
 | access-date = 2008-12-30
}}</ref> At the urging of the newly established Williamsport Board of Trade, citizens invested {{nowrap|[[United States dollar|US$]]100,&thinsp;000}} in the new manufacturing facility, which employed 250 people.<ref name="Kelly1"/> The factory produced 50 to 60 sewing machines per day.<ref name="McQuown1">{{cite web |url=http://www.wasd.org/cms/lib7/PA06000060/Centricity/Domain/1/dgr/ie/olddays.html |title=Lycoming County's Old Days |access-date=2008-12-30 |publisher=Williamsport Area School District |work=Williamsport Area High School Website |author=Kevin McQuown |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709091711/http://www.wasd.org/cms/lib7/PA06000060/Centricity/Domain/1/dgr/ie/olddays.html |archive-date=2015-07-09 }}</ref>
With the development of the "New York Bicycle" in 1891 (designed by employee S. H. Ellis), the company diversified its product offerings.<ref name="Kelly1"/><ref name="McQuown1"/> Until the early 1900s, the factory produced [[sewing machine]]s, [[bicycle]]s, [[typewriter]]s, opera chairs and other products.<ref name="Lycoming1"/><ref name="Kelly1"/><ref name="McQuown1"/>

===Engine manufacture===
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2008}}

By 1907, the manufacture of sewing machines had become unprofitable for Demorest, and the company was sold and restructured as the '''Lycoming Foundry and Machine Company''', shifting its focus toward [[automobile]] engine manufacture.<ref name="Lycoming1"/><ref name="Kelly1"/> In 1910, the company supplied its first automobile engine to [[Velie]],<ref name="Lycoming2">{{cite web |title=The Lycoming Museum |url=http://www.lycoming.textron.com/company/pdfs/Lycoming-Museum-Brochure.pdf |website=Lycoming |access-date=25 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213104940/http://www.lycoming.textron.com/company/pdfs/Lycoming-Museum-Brochure.pdf |archive-date=13 February 2012}}</ref> and during the early post-[[World War I|World-War-I]] era, the company was a major supplier to Auburn (which produced the [[Auburn Automobile|Auburn]], [[Cord (automobile)|Cord]], and [[Duesenberg]] lines).

By 1920, Lycoming was producing 60,000 engines a year, with a 2,000-strong workforce. To handle the capacity, a new foundry complex was built in [[Williamsport, Pennsylvania|Williamsport]] that year.<ref name=":0"/> Eventually Lycoming became Auburn's principal supplier, and in 1927 [[Errett Lobban Cord]] bought the company,<ref name="Lycoming2"/> placing it under his Auburn Manufacturing umbrella group.

Among the engines Lycoming produced for Cord was an L-head [[straight-eight engine]] of 298.5 cu. in. displacement that produced 125 horsepower. This was used in the Cord L-29.  Lycoming also produced a double overhead cam straight 8 used in the legendary Duesenberg J series. This powerplant produced 265 horsepower, six times the power of a contemporary Model A Ford.  A supercharged version, generating 325 horsepower, was installed in the Duesenberg SJ and SSJ models.

In 1929, Lycoming produced its first aviation engine, the nine-cylinder [[Lycoming R-680|R-680]] [[radial engine|radial]].<ref name="Lycoming1" /> This was a fairly successful design, and was used widely in light [[aircraft]], including Cord's [[Travel Air]].

In the 1930s, Lycoming made a number of attempts to develop successful high-power aircraft engines. The {{nowrap|1&thinsp;200 [[Horsepower|hp]] (895 kW)}} [[Lycoming O-1230|O-1230]] was Lycoming's attempt to produce an engine based on the [[United States Army Air Corps]] [[hyper engine]] concept, and used a variety of features to produce nearly {{nowrap|1 hp/[[cubic inch|in<sup>3</sup>]] (46 kW/L)}} of [[engine displacement]]. However, by the O-1230's entry into service, it had been surpassed by other designs and the {{nowrap|US$500&thinsp;000}} investment was not recouped.

Another attempt was made to rescue the design by stacking two O-1230s to make the {{nowrap|2&thinsp;300 hp (1&thinsp;700 kW)}} [[H engine]] [[Lycoming H-2470|H-2470]] but the only design to use it, the [[Vultee XP-54]], never entered production. The [[Curtiss XF14C]] was originally intended to be powered by the H-2470, but the engine's poor performance led to the adoption of an alternative radial engine on the prototype. (The XF14C did not enter production.)

Undeterred by the O-1230/H-2470's failure, Lycoming turned to an even larger design, the 36-cylinder [[Lycoming XR-7755|XR-7755]], the largest aviation [[Reciprocating engine|piston engine]] ever built. This design also experienced problems, and was only ready for use at the very end of [[World War II]], when the aviation world was turning to [[turbojet]]s and [[turboprop]] engines to power future large aircraft.<ref name="Richard Bach">{{cite journal|journal=Flying Magazine|date=December 1961|title=Lycomings Piston Engines|author=Richard Bach}}</ref> There was apparently some interest in using it on the [[Convair B-36 Peacemaker]] [[bomber]], but the 28-cylinder [[Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major|Pratt & Whitney R-4360 ''Wasp Major'']] four-bank radial was used instead.

Through the 1920s and -30s, Lycoming had still been supplying automotive manufacturers with engines. However, these clients each slowly went out of business or switched to [[Continental Motors, Inc.|Continental]] engines for their vehicles. By 1931, the company was supplying automotive engines to only three companies: [[Auburn Automobile|Auburn]], [[Cord (automobile)|Cord]] and [[Duesenberg|Duesenburg]], still all under the control of [[Errett Lobban Cord|Cord]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2009/11/Sewing-Machines-to-Straight-Eights/2262391.html|title=Sewing Machines to Straight-Eights {{!}} Hemmings Motor News|last=Hemmings.com|website=www.hemmings.com|access-date=2016-08-12}}</ref> These companies closed their doors in 1937,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.acdfactory.com/acd-co-story.html|title=ACD Co. Story|website=AUBURN-CORD-DUESENBERG CO.|access-date=2016-08-12|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817172341/http://www.acdfactory.com/acd-co-story.html|archive-date=2016-08-17}}</ref> after which Lycoming switched to exclusively designing and producing engines for aviation.<ref name=":0" /> In the meantime, the Smith Engineering Corporation, an early manufacturer of controllable pitch propellers had been purchased by Cord and moved to Williamsport.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cord Buys Smith Company |magazine=Aero Digest |date=October 1933 |volume=23 |issue=4 |page=56 |url=https://archive.org/details/aerodigest2319unse/page/n303 |accessdate=30 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Lycoming to Manufacture Props |magazine=Aero Digest |date=October 1933 |volume=23 |issue=4 |page=54 |url=https://archive.org/details/aerodigest2319unse/page/n301 |accessdate=30 July 2021}}</ref>

In 1939 Cord re-organized all of his aviation holdings into the AVCO group, at which point the engine manufacturing company became "AVCO Lycoming". It also leased the government-owned [[Stratford Army Engine Plant]] in [[Stratford, Connecticut]], and produced [[Curtiss-Wright|Wright]] radials under license. After the war, this plant was converted to produce the [[Lycoming T53|T53]] [[turboshaft]] engine, one of its more successful designs. From this point on the piston and [[turbine]] engine lines remained separate, with the piston lines being built in the original Williamsport factories, and turbines in Stratford.

By 1961, Lycoming produced 600 to 700 engines per month.<ref name="Richard Bach"/> Its most successful post-war products were a series of [[Air-cooled engine|air-cooled]] [[Flat-four engine|flat-4]] and [[Flat-six engine|flat-6]] [[general aviation]] engines. Most famous among these are the [[Lycoming O-320|O-320]]  and [[Lycoming O-360|O-360]] four-cylinder engines, and the [[Lycoming O-540|O-540]] six-cylinder engine.<ref name="amazing_2014_03_15_flyingmag">[https://www.flyingmag.com/photo-gallery-photos-50-amazing-aircraft-engines/ "50 Amazing Aircraft Engines,"] March 15, 2014, ''[[Flying (magazine)|Flying]],'' retrieved August 8, 2023</ref><ref name="engine_guide_2013_kitplanes">Wilson, Tom: [https://www.kitplanes.com/2013-engine-buyers-guide/ ''2013 Engine Buyer’s Guide'': "Part 1: Traditional powerplants,"] February 14, 2013, ''Kitplanes,'' retrieved August 8, 2023</ref> Many light aircraft are powered by versions of these engines, with power ratings in the {{nowrap|100–360 hp (75–270 kW)}} range. Engines in this series also include the [[Lycoming O-235|O-235]] four-, [[Lycoming IO-580|O-580]] six- and [[Lycoming IO-720|O-720]] eight-cylinder engines, and the advanced [[Turbocharger|turbocharged]] and [[fuel injection|fuel-injected]] {{nowrap|450 hp (340 kW)}} [[Lycoming TIO-541|TIGO-541]] variant of the venerable (carbureted) O-540.

In the early 1980s, the general aviation market suddenly diminished and Lycoming's piston engine business was significantly impacted. Attempts were made to move some of the turbine production to Williamsport, but this led to a series of [[quality control]] problems and eventually it was abandoned.

Another attempt to rescue Williamsport was made in introducing the "radical" ''SCORE'' engine, a [[Wankel engine]] originally developed through a joint venture between [[Curtiss-Wright]] and [[John Deere]]. Curtiss-Wright lost interest in the design just as it was maturing and sold its interests in the project to Deere, which brought in Lycoming to sell the developed engine into the aviation markets. It was guaranteed a startup run by [[Cessna]], also owned by Textron. Just as production was ready to start, Cessna announced it was halting its small-aircraft business for an indefinite period, and SCORE was cancelled. The remains of the Deere licenses were later purchased by Rotary Power International, which briefly produced a {{nowrap|340 hp (254 kW)}} version.

Textron purchased the company in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.textron.com/About/Company/History|title=History {{!}} Textron|website=www.textron.com|access-date=2016-08-12}}</ref> In 1994, Textron sold the Lycoming Turbine Engine Division, located in [[Stratford, Connecticut]], to [[AlliedSignal]], who merged it with the [[Garrett AiResearch|Garrett Engine Division]] of AlliedSignal as part of AlliedSignal Aerospace, later becoming part of [[Honeywell Aerospace]] in 1999.<ref name="Leyes">Leyes, p. 725</ref> Textron retained piston engine production in Williamsport.

Lycomings continue to power new light aircraft by fellow Textron division, [[Cessna Aircraft]],<ref name="cessna_single_engine_txtav">[https://cessna.txtav.com/ "Single-Engine Aircraft"] on "Cessna" page, [[Textron Aviation|Cessna]], retrieved June 29, 2023</ref> and by [[Piper Aircraft|Piper]],<ref name="models_piper">[https://www.piper.com/models/ "Models"], [[Piper Aircraft|Piper]], retrieved June 29, 2023</ref> [[Cirrus Aircraft|Cirrus]],<ref name="cirrus_fleet">[https://cirrusaircraft.com/fleet/ "Built for Flight Training,"] [[Cirrus Aircraft]], retrieved June 29, 2023</ref> [[Diamond Aircraft|Diamond]],<ref name="why_diamond">[https://www.diamondaircraft.com/en/ "Why Diamond"], [[Diamond Aircraft]], retrieved June 29, 2023</ref> and others.
Lycomings remain the most popular line of engines for U.S. Experimental / Amateur-Built (E/A-B) aircraft, surpassing the 5 next-most-popular brands, combined.<ref name="baton_2022_12_19_kitplanes">Wanttaja, Ron: [https://www.kitplanes.com/homebuilt-accidents-passing-the-engine-baton/?unapproved=371105&moderation-hash=e7e829eebf89be6c06e652d487588586#comment-371105 "Homebuilt Accidents: Passing the Engine Baton,"] December 19, 2022, ''Kitplanes,'' retrieved June 29, 2023</ref>