Register

Ultimate Issue: Ly-Con Still Going Strong

A visit to Visalia, California, finds the aircraft engine builder near perfect but nothing fancy.

Ken Tunnell (seated) is the fuel and spark at Ly-Con, and brother Bryan oversees the vital inspection and assembly shop. [Tom Wilson/KITPLANES]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Founded in 1980 by Ken Tunnell, Ly-Con Aircraft Engines gained a worldwide reputation for dependable, powerful engines through an obsessive focus on precision, measurement, and continuous process improvement.
  • Specializing in horizontally opposed engines, Ly-Con is renowned for its high-performance builds in aerobatics and air racing, which also informs and enhances its certified engine overhaul services, making up 70% of its business.
  • The company boasts advanced in-house capabilities, including state-of-the-art machining (CNC, automated hones), cryogenic treatment, and dual engine dynos, allowing for exceptional quality, performance development, and rigorous testing.
  • Ly-Con leverages lessons learned from building cutting-edge experimental engines to improve the longevity and performance of all its products, demonstrating a practical synergy between its performance and certified work.
See a mistake? Contact us.

If it weren’t for the snow-capped Sierra Nevada’s floating distantly in the haze, Visalia, California, might pass for Kansas.

The terrain is unremittingly flat, the roads checkerboard at right angles, and farming is what matters. Irrigation ditches and muddy tracks entering and then tapering off on the county roads are too numerous to notice, and the vastness in the crop rows and vault of open sky keeps human activity properly scaled inside nature’s expanse.

Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson got into general aviation in 1973 after pumping avgas and waxing flight school airplanes, but the lure of racing cars and motorcycles sent him down a motor journalism career heavy on engines and racing. Today he flies for fun in a Starduster and a shared Cessna 140A.

Ready to Sell Your Aircraft?

List your airplane on AircraftForSale.com and reach qualified buyers.

List Your Aircraft
AircraftForSale Logo | FLYING Logo
Pilot in aircraft
Sign-up for newsletters & special offers!

Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox.

SUBSCRIBE