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 Teledyne
Continental Motors (TCM) made several noteworthy announcements at EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh. First and foremost, Rhett Ross, who was recently
named president of TCM, was on hand to announce that the company has
completed the certification of their new O-200 engine for the
light-sport market, with FAA certification expected in the near future.
The O-200
engine offers 100 continuous horsepower, with a dry weight of 158
pounds, and a fully installed weight including accessories of 209
pounds. The engine is currently slated to power Cessna’s 162
SkyCatcher, with TCM planning to certify the engine for both avgas and
mogas.
Customer Support
Improvements Announced
"The
mission of the entire company is customer service," explained Ross,
who stated that TCM was focusing on re-emphasizing the importance of
customer service. Karen MacNaughton has been named as TCM’s new
Customer Service Director, with several personnel added to the staff to
support this effort. Part of customer support is being able to provide
the customer with the status of their orders, and the new group will be
able to answer questions on deliveries, products in inventory, and to
assist with problems encountered with the TCM line of engines.
Further Improvements
TCM has
added Johnny Doo as their engineering vice president. Doo, who has an
extensive resume in aviation, will lead the charge to expand the TCM
FADEC product line.
The
company has also worked to improve their product flow through the
factory by adding on additional shifts to meet customer demand, and
hiring production leaders from the automotive industry to assist in
streamlining the production process.
Ross noted that the world
is changing, and that TCM recognizes that alternative fuels are the
future of their engine line. "We are working and testing new fuels
and the issues involved, so that if avgas were to go away tomorrow, our
fleet could keep flying." As part of that effort, TCM is taking an
aggressive stand on alternative fuels, and is pursuing actions for the
testing of unleaded fuels and mogas for their engines, with engines
currently in the company’s test cells running these new fuels. The
company is also launching an initiative to investigate the use of heavy
fuels in general aviation engines.
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