Continental IO-550-A
3 aircraft on the U.S. register carry a Continental IO-550-A engine, rated at about 300 horsepower. The Cessna 310 is the model most often fitted with it (2 aircraft). The aircraft carrying it were built between 1975 and 2009.
The FAA records engines by code, usually at the level of a series ("O-320 series") rather than the exact variant; this page gathers every FAA code that reads as Continental IO-550-A. FAA spelling: IO-550-A.
Fuel: 100LL avgas.
Fitted to model families
Model families, as a table
| aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Cessna 310 | 2 |
| Bills Richard R LANCAIR LEGACY | 1 |
Cessna 310 · Bills Richard R LANCAIR LEGACY
Kind of aircraft
By kind, as a table
| aircraft | share | |
|---|---|---|
| Piston twins | 2 | 67% |
| Piston singles | 1 | 33% |
What the FAA has certified, ordered and been told about the Continental IO-550-A the component layer
The design is held under 1 type certificate (E3SO, held by Continental Aerospace Technologies, INC.). The FAA has issued 21 airworthiness directives (orders that owners must comply with) that name this engine series. Operators and repair shops have filed 6 failure reports with the FAA since 1995, 2 of them in the last ten years.
FAA orders 21 airworthiness directives · newest first
Failure reports 6 since · what operators and shops told the FAA
Failure reports by year, as a table
| reports | |
|---|---|
| 98 | 4 |
| 10 | 1 |
| 19 | 1 |
Parts most often reported as the reports name them
Latest reports
Approved replacement parts 436 parts manufacturer approvals
Parts a company other than the maker may make for this engine and sell as FAA-approved. The companies holding the most:
Most often: stud (78), gasket (36), pin (20), bolt (16), alternator (16), spring (15), ignition harness (15), seal (13), gear (12), bushing (12).
Certificates and bulletins
Safety bulletins 10 · advice, not orders
Sources: the FAA's type certificate data sheets, airworthiness directives, supplemental type certificates, special conditions and special airworthiness information bulletins (Dynamic Regulatory System), and the FAA's service difficulty reports. A failure report is what an operator or repair station chose to file; the counts show reporting as much as reliability, and larger and commercial fleets report more. How the systems are grouped.
Connections how this engine series links to the rest of the register
- Cessna 310 2 with this engine series
- FAA orders naming the Continental IO-550-A 21 airworthiness directives
- Failure reports on the Continental IO-550-A 6 reports since 1995
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/engine/continental-io-550-a.json.
Aircraft newest certificates first · 3
| Tail no. | Maker and model | Group | Owner and base | Certificate | Registered | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N310ST | Cessna 310R |
Fixed-wing, multi-engine | World Pilot Services LLC Garland, Texas |
Standard | 2023-11-09 | ValidFAA registration status code V: Valid registration. All codes |
| N310R | Cessna 310R |
Fixed-wing, multi-engine | Sky King Airplanes LLC Lewes, Delaware |
Standard | 2015-08-10 | ValidFAA registration status code V: Valid registration. All codes |
| N618AM | Bills Richard R LANCAIR LEGACY |
Fixed-wing, single engine | Individual owner Texas |
Experimental | 2009-10-14 | ValidFAA registration status code V: Valid registration. All codes |
Source: FAA Civil Aviation Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database (the engine reference table and each aircraft's engine code), November 10, 2026. Horsepower and thrust are the FAA's figures for the series, not for a particular aircraft.