operating division industry aircraft engines predecessor continental motors corporation founded 1929 headquarters mobile alabama united states key people rhett ross ceo owner government of the people s republic of china parent aviation industry corporation of china website http continentalmotors.aero continental motors inc. is an aircraft engine manufacturer located at the brookley aeroplex in mobile alabama united states . it was originally spun off from automobile engine manufacturer continental motors company in 1929 and owned by teledyne technologies until december 2010 . the company is now part of aviation industry corporation of china which is owned by the government of the people s republic of china . 1 2 although continental is most well known for its engines for light aircraft it was also contracted to produce the air cooled v 12 av 1790 5b gasoline engine for the u.s. army s m47 patton tank and the diesel avds 1790 2a and its derivatives for the m48 m60 patton and merkava main battle tanks . the company also produced engines for various independent manufacturers of automobiles tractors and stationary equipment pumps generators and machinery drives from the 1920s to the 1960s . contents 1 history 2 continental aircraft engines 2.1 opposed piston engines 2.2 radial and inverted v engines 2.3 turboprop turboshafts 2.4 jet engines 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit restored continental av1790 5b tank engine at the american armored foundation tank museum in danville virginia . in 1929 the company introduced its first aircraft engine 3 a seven cylinder radial designated as the a 70 with a displacement of 543.91 cu in 8.91 l that produced 170 hp 127 kw . in august 1929 the continental motors company formed the continental aircraft engine company as a subsidiary to develop and produce its aircraft engines . 4 as the great depression unwound 1930 saw the company introduce the 37 hp 28 kw a 40 four cylinder engine . a follow on design the 50 hp 37 kw a 50 was introduced in 1938 and was used to power the taylor cub and derivative piper cub . as the second world war started in 1939 continental commenced building aircraft engines for use in british and american tanks . 5 6 continental formed continental aviation and engineering cae in 1940 to develop and produce aircraft engines of over 500 hp 373 kw 4 continental ranked 38th among united states corporations in the value of wartime production contracts . 7 during the late 1930s early 1940s the gray marine motor company adapted continental engines for maritime use . on 14 june 1944 the company was purchased by continental for us 2.6 million . john w. mulford the son of one of gray s founders was appointed general manager of gray by continental . gray s continued to make marine engines in the post war period until its closure by continental in about 1967 . 8 9 during the 1950s the a 65 was developed into the more powerful 90 hp 67 kw c 90 and eventually into the 100 hp 75 kw o 200 . the o 200 powered a very important airplane design milestone the cessna 150 . by the 1960s turbocharging and fuel injection arrived in general aviation and the company s io 520 series came to dominate the market . in 1969 teledyne incorporated acquired continental motors which became teledyne continental motors tcm . 10 that same year the continental tiara series of high output engines were introduced although they were dropped from the line after 1978 . the company brought the tsio 520 be for the piper pa 46 to market in 1984 and it set new efficiency standards for light aircraft piston engines . powered by a liquid cooled version of the io 240 the rutan voyager was the first piston powered aircraft to circumnavigate the world without refueling in 1986 . nasa selected continental to develop and produce gap in 1997 a new 200 hp 150 kw piston engine to operate on jet a fuel . this was in response to 100 octane aviation gasoline becoming less available as a result of decreased demand due to smaller turboprop engines becoming more prevalent . td300 diesel engine in 2008 teledyne continental s new president rhett ross announced that the company was very concerned about future availability of 100ll avgas and as a result would develop a diesel engine in the 300 hp 220 kw range for certification in 2009 or 2010 . 11 by the fall of 2009 the company was feeling the effects of the economic situation and the resulting reduced demand for aircraft engines . the company announced that it would close its plant for two one week periods in october 2009 and january 2010 . salaried employees would move to a four day work week with one week vacations for thanksgiving and christmas with the aim to protect as much of our valuable employee base as possible . 12 on december 14 2010 continental s parent teledyne announced that teledyne continental motors teledyne mattituck services and its general aviation piston engine business would be sold to technify motor usa ltd a subsidiary of avic international for us 186 million in cash . avic is owned by the chinese government . in may 2011 the transaction was reported as complete and the company renamed continental motors inc. 1 2 13 on 23 july 2013 the company bought diesel aircraft engine manufacturer thielert from bankruptcy for an undisclosed sum . thielert will become an operating division of continental and will be renamed technify motors gmbh . 14 continental aircraft engines edit opposed piston engines edit continental motors c 90 8f aircraft engine in technik museum speyer a 40 four cylinder 40 horsepower 15 a 50 four cylinder 50 horsepower 15 a 65 four cylinder 65 horsepower 80 octane 1800 hour design time between overhauls 16 a 75 four cylinder 75 horsepower 15 c 75 four cylinder 75 horsepower 15 a 80 four cylinder 80 horsepower 15 c 85 four cylinder 85 horsepower 80 octane 1800 hour design time between overhauls 16 c 90 four cylinder 90 horsepower 80 octane 1800 hour design time between overhauls 16 continental tiara 4 180 o 270 four cylinder 180 horsepower 1970 c 115 six cylinder 115 horsepower 86 kw based on the same cylinders as the c 75 . c 125 six cylinder 125 horsepower 80 octane 1800 hour design time between overhauls 16 c 140 six cylinder a higher rpm version of the c 125 . c 145 six cylinder 145 horsepower 80 octane 1800 hour design time between overhauls 16 c 175 geared version of the c 145 a six cylinder 175 horsepower at 3200 rpm 80 octane 1500 hour design time between overhauls also designated as the go 300 16 e165 six cylinder 165 horsepower 80 octane 1500 hour design time between overhauls 16 e185 six cylinder 185 horsepower 80 octane 1500 hour design time between overhauls 16 o 200 four cylinder 100 horsepower 80 octane 1800 hour design time between overhauls 16 e225 six cylinder 225 horsepower 80 octane 1500 hour design time between overhauls 16 continental o 300 six cylinder 145 horsepower 80 octane 1800 hour design time between overhauls . family includes the go 300 . the o 300 is a modernized version of the c 145 16 continental io 346 four cylinder 165 horsepower 91 octane 15 continental io 360 six cylinder 210 horsepower 100 octane 1500 hour design time between overhauls . family includes the tsio 360 16 continental tiara o 405 six cylinder 6 285 6 320 285 320 horsepower 1969 1975 continental o 470 six cylinder 230 horsepower 80 octane design time between overhauls 1500 hour or every 12 years . family includes the io 470 and the tsio 470 16 continental o 520 six cylinder 320 horsepower 100 octane 1500 hour design time between overhauls . family includes the tsio 520 and the gtsio 520 16 continental o 526 six cylinder 270 300 310 horsepower 1957 fso gso go continental tiara o 540 eight cylinder 8 380 t8 450 380 450 horsepower 1970 continental io 550 six cylinder 280 hp 209 kw to 360 hp 268 kw 100 octane engine family includes iof 550 and tsio 550 . 17 18 continental td 300 four cylinder 230 250 hp diesel and jet a fueled prototype engine 2010 . radial and inverted v engines edit r 545 a 70 i 1430 r 670 r 975 turboprop turboshafts edit continental t51 continental t65 continental t67 continental t69 continental t72 continental tp 500 jet engines edit teledyne cae j69 continental rj35 ramjet continental rj45 ramjet continental rj49 ramjet see also edit alabama portal companies portal aviation portal lycoming engines references edit a b avweb staff december 2010 . teledyne continental bought by chinese interests . avweb . retrieved 14 december 2010 . a b teledyne technologies incorporated december 2010 . teledyne technologies agrees to sell teledyne continental motors to avic international . business wire . retrieved 14 december 2010 . strohl daniel in hemmings classic car december 2008 powerful as the nation pg 43 ... by the end of 1905 . according to continental s own history the company also began aircraft engine development at about the same time rolling out the 45hp model o four cylinder l head engine about 1906 or 1907 . . a b leyes p. 87 . borth christy . masters of mass production pp. 63 5 bobbs merrill company indianapolis in 1945 . herman arthur . freedom s forge how american business produced victory in world war ii pp. 96 100 126 200 random house new york new york 2012 . isbn 978 1 4000 6964 4 . peck merton j. & scherer frederic m. the weapons acquisition process an economic analysis 1962 harvard business school p. 619 a brief history of the gray marine motor company gas engine magazine grayson stan . engines afloat vol . ii marblehead ma devereaux books 1999 p. 116 . gunston p. 225 . avweb staff february 2008 . teledyne continental plans certified diesel within two years . retrieved 2008 02 18 . pew glenn october 2009 . tcm announces temporary plant closures more . retrieved 2009 10 05 . niles russ may 2011 . china lays out its ga plan . avweb . retrieved 5 may 2011 . bertorelli paul 23 july 2013 . continental buys thielert aircraft engines . avweb . retrieved 14 july 2013 . a b c d e f christy joe engines for homebuilt aircraft & ultralights p. 142 . tab books inc 1983 . isbn 0 8306 2347 7 . a b c d e f g h i j k l m n foster timothy r.v. the aviator s catalog p. 142 . van nostrand reinhold 1981 . isbn 0 442 21201 1 . federal aviation administration march 2007 . type certificate data sheet no . e3so revision 10 . retrieved 2008 12 28 . federal aviation administration december 2006 . type certificate data sheet no . e5so revision 3 pdf . retrieved 2008 12 28 . foss christopher f. 1974 . jane s pocket book of modern tanks and armored fighting vehicles . collier books . pp. 45 49 . 73 15286 . gunston bill 2006 . world encyclopedia of aero engines 5th edition . phoenix mill gloucestershire england uk sutton publishing limited . isbn 0 7509 4479 x. leyes ii richard a. ; william a. fleming 1999 . the history of north american small gas turbine aircraft engines . washington dc smithsonian institution . isbn 1 56347 332 1 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to continental aircraft engines . official website v t e continental motors aircraft engines opposed piston engines gasoline by company horsepower designation a40 a50 a65 a75 a80 c75 c85 c90 c115 c125 c140 c145 e165 e185 e225 tiara series by displacement o 170 o 190 o 200 o 205 o 240