The Clerget 9B was a nine-cylinder rotary

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

era designed by Pierre Clerget. Manufactured in both France and Great Britain (

Gwynnes Limited Gwynnes Limited was a City of London England engineering business, iron founders and pump makers founded in 1849 to capitalise on the centrifugal pump inventedThe first practical centrifugal pump called the Massachusetts pump was built in the Un ...

), it was used on such aircraft as the

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

. The Clerget 9Bf was an increased

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

version.Lumsden 2003, p. 133.

Variants

;Clerget 9B (1913) 130 hp (97 kW). 1,300 produced by Ruston Proctor & Co Ltd of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

;Clerget 9Bf (1915) 140 hp (104 kW). Extended stroke (172 mm (6.75 in)) version, increasing capacity to 17.5 L (1,066.5 cu in). 1,750 produced by

and 600 produced by Ruston Proctor.

Applications

Clerget 9B

Armstrong Whitworth F.K.10 The Armstrong Whitworth F.K.10 was a British two-seat quadruplane (''i.e.'', four wing) fighter aircraft built by Armstrong Whitworth during the First World War. While it was ordered in small numbers for the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Nava ...

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

Avro 531 The Avro 531 Spider was a British fighter aircraft built by Avro during the First World War. It did not proceed past the prototype stage. Design and development The Spider was a sesquiplane with a largely conventional configuration, but it ...

Bristol M.1 The Bristol M.1 Monoplane Scout was a British monoplane Fighter aircraft, fighter of the World War I, First World War. It holds the distinction of being the only British monoplane fighter to reach production during the conflict. During mid-191 ...

Cierva C.6 The Cierva C.6 was the sixth autogyro designed by engineer Juan de la Cierva, and the first one to travel a "major" distance. Juan de la Cierva, 1st Count of la Cierva, Cierva, the engineer responsible for the invention of the autogyro, had spe ...

Cierva C.8 The Cierva C.8 was an experimental autogyro built by Juan de la Cierva in England in 1926 in association with Avro. Like Cierva's earlier autogyros, the C.8s were based on existing fixed-wing aircraft fuselages – in this case, the Avro 552. ...

Fairey Hamble Baby The Fairey Hamble Baby was a British single-seat naval patrol floatplane designed and built by Fairey Aviation for the Royal Naval Air Service Design and development Fairey Aviation built a number of Sopwith Baby floatplanes at its Hamble work ...

FBA Type C The FBA Type A and the similar Type B and C were a family of reconnaissance flying boats produced in France prior to and during World War I. Development All three were unequal-span pusher biplane flying boats with a single step hull with ash ...

Nieuport 12 The Nieuport 12 (or Nieuport XII in contemporary sources) was a French Biplane#Sesquiplane, sesquiplane reconnaissance, fighter aircraft and trainer used by France, Russia, United Kingdom, Great Britain and the United States during World War I. ...

Nieuport 17bis The Nieuport 17bis C.1 (or Nieuport XVIIbis C.1 in contemporary sources) was a World War I French single-seat sesquiplane fighter that was produced under licence in the United Kingdom in small numbers for the Royal Naval Air Service. Development ...

Sopwith Baby The Sopwith Baby is a British single-seat floatplane that was operated by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) from 1915. Development and design The Baby (also known as the Admiralty 8200 Type) was a development of the two-seat Sopwith Schneider. ...

Sopwith Scooter The Sopwith Swallow was a British parasol wing fighter aircraft of the First World War. A single example was built, but it saw no production, offering no performance advantages over contemporary biplanes. Design and development In June 1918, ...

Sopwith Triplane The Sopwith Triplane was a British single seat fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War. It has the distinction of being the first military triplane to see operational service. The ...

Sopwith 1½ Strutter The Sopwith Strutter was a British single- or two-seat multi-role biplane aircraft of the First World War.Lake 2002, p. 40. It was the first British two-seat tractor fighter and the first British aircraft to enter service with a synchronised ...

Clerget 9Bf

Engines on display

*A preserved Clerget 9B engine is on public display at the

Fleet Air Arm Museum The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintin ...

RNAS Yeovilton Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, or RNAS Yeovilton, (HMS ''Heron'') is an airfield of the Royal Navy and British Army, sited a few miles north of Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of two active Fleet Air Arm bases (the other being RNAS Culdrose) ...

. *A Clerget 9Bf engine is on display at the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. * A Clerget 9B is on display at the

Pima Air & Space Museum The Pima Air & Space Museum, located in Tucson, Arizona, is one of the world's largest non-government funded aerospace museums. The museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres (320,000 m²) on a campus occ ...

in Arizona.

Operational (Airworthy) Rotary Engines

The Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aeronautical and automotive collection located at the Old Warden Aerodrome, Old Warden in Bedfordshire, England. It is the oldest in the world and one of the most prestigious, due to the variety of old a ...

based at

Old Warden Aerodrome Old Warden Aerodrome is located east southeast of Bedford, in Bedfordshire, England. The privately owned aerodrome serves The Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aeronautical and automotive collection located ...

, UK, operate an airworthy late production

''(G-BOCK)'' fitted with an original 9B as well as an airworthy late production

''(G-BZSC)''The Shuttleworth Collection - Sopwith Camel
Retrieved: 21 August 2018 fitted with an original long-stroke 9Bf. These aircraft can be seen displaying at home air displays through the summer months.

Specifications (Clerget 9B)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines''. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. * Lumsden, Alec. ''British Piston Engines and their Aircraft''. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. . * {{Clerget aeroengines Air-cooled aircraft piston engines 1910s aircraft piston engines 9B Rotary aircraft piston engines