The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Engines · piston (reciprocating) · data as of October 5, 2026

Continental TSIO-550-A

1 aircraft on the U.S. register carry a Continental TSIO-550-A engine, rated at about 360 horsepower. The Hafen John M Jr LANCAIR IV PRESSURIZ is the model most often fitted with it (1 aircraft).

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 TSIO-550-A. FAA spelling: TSIO-550-A.

Fitted to model families

Hafen John M Jr LANCAIR IV PRESSURIZ1

Hafen John M Jr LANCAIR IV PRESSURIZ

Where they are owner's state

Indiana1

Kind of aircraft

Piston singles1 (100%)

When the aircraft were built by decade

0001112000

What the FAA has certified, ordered and been told about the Continental TSIO-550-A the component layer

The design is held under 1 type certificate (E5SO, held by Continental Aerospace Technologies, INC.). The FAA has issued 16 airworthiness directives (orders that owners must comply with) that name this engine series. Operators and repair shops have filed 17 failure reports with the FAA since 1995, 14 of them in the last ten years.

FAA orders 16 airworthiness directives · newest first

2023-07-172023-09-09 · Exhaust Turbine System (Recip) · engine
2023-03-152023-05-16 · Reciprocating Engine Power Section · engine
2023-02-232023-04-08 · Reciprocating Engine Power Section · engine
2023-02-172023-02-12 · Engine Air Intake System · engine
2020-09-212020-16-11 · SUMMARY: Reciprocating Cylinder Section · engine
2016-09-152016-16-12 · Cylinder assemblies · engine

All orders naming the Continental TSIO-550-A

Failure reports 17 since · what operators and shops told the FAA

01223980507080910111213216

Parts most often reported as the reports name them

Alternator1Antenna1Check Valve1Duct1Exhaust Header1Frame1Gps1Line1Pan1Piston1

Latest reports

2016-09-26Exhaust Header: cracked
2016-05-19Gps: failed
2013-11-12Throttle Cable: broken
2012-08-10Points: broken
2012-06-02Check Valve: obstructed

Certificates and bulletins

E5SOType certificate held by Continental Aerospace Technologies, INC. · 12 models listed · revised March 31, 2020

Safety bulletins 8 · advice, not orders

2020-04-06NE-20-05 · POWERPLANT - Engine Camshaft Gear Tooth Fracture
2018-06-20NE-18-16 · POWERPLANT Alternator Drive Coupling
2017-05-10NE-17-11 · POWERPLANT Engine damage as a result of kickback
2016-03-08NE-16-13 · Powerplant - Prohibited use of sealant
2013-02-08NE-13-15 · Engine Controls: Continental Motors, Inc. (CMI) Throttle and Mixture Control Levers

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

Where they are
Airworthiness

These connections as data: /graph/engine/continental-tsio-550-a.json · about the eFlight graph.

Aircraft newest certificates first · 1

Tail no.Maker and modelGroupOwner and baseCertificateRegisteredStatus
N413AJ Hafen John M Jr
LANCAIR IV PRESSURIZ
Fixed-wing, single engine Co-owned owner
Indiana
Experimental 2023-02-07 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), October 5, 2026. Horsepower and thrust are the FAA's figures for the series, not for a particular aircraft.