The Gnome 7 Omega (commonly called the Gnome 50 hp) is a French seven-cylinder,

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

aero engine produced by

Gnome et Rhône Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp (81 kW) rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licen ...

. It was shown at the Paris Aero Salon held in December 1908 and was first flown in 1909. It was the world's first aviation

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

produced in quantity. Its introduction revolutionized the aviation industry and it was used by many early aircraft. It produced from its engine capacity. A Gnome Omega engine powers the 1912 Blackburn Monoplane, owned and operated by 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 ...

, the oldest known airworthy British-designed aeroplane worldwide. A two-row version of the same engine was also produced, known as the Gnome 14 Omega-Omega or Gnome 100 hp. The prototype Omega engine still exists, and is on display at the United States'

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

. Like all early Gnome et Rhône engines the Omega featured a single pushrod driven exhaust valve on the cylinder head; the intake valve was located in the piston crown, opening by inertia on the downstroke and feeding the intake charge from the crankcase into the upper part of the cylinder. No throttle was provided, the pilot controlling his speed by switching off the ignition when necessary. Gnome-GA section

Variants

;Gnome 7 Omega:Single-row 7-cyl. original version; . ;Gnome 14 Omega-Omega :Two-row, 14-cylinder version using Omega cylinders; .

Applications

Gnome 7 Omega

A Vlaicu I The A Vlaicu I was the first powered airplane built by Aurel Vlaicu. Design and development After flying his glider in Binţinţi, Aurel Vlaicu moved to the Kingdom of Romania. On November 1, 1909, he began the construction of his first powere ...

* A Vlaicu II *

ASL Valkyrie The ASL Valkyrie was a canard pusher configuration aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd in 1910. Examples were widely flown during 1911 and were used for instructional purposes at the ASL flying school, which was the first occup ...

* Avro Type 500 * Avro-Burga Monoplane *

Blackburn Mercury The Blackburn Mercury was an early British aircraft designed as a pilot trainer for the Blackburn Flying School, Filey, in 1911. It was an enlarged, two-seat version of the Second Monoplane that flew earlier that year. It was a mid-wing monop ...

* Blackburn Type D Monoplane *

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most fam ...

Breguet Type III Breguet or Bréguet may refer to: * Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer **Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker **Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work * Bréguet ...

* Breguet Type IV *

Bristol Boxkite The Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company). A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III, it was one of the ...

* Bristol Racing Biplane * Bristol Monoplane * Bristol-Prier P.1 *

Bristol-Coanda School Monoplane The Bristol Coanda Monoplanes were a series of monoplane trainers designed by the Romanian designer Henri Coandă for the British company British and Colonial Aeroplane Company. Several versions of the plane were built from 1912 onwards with ...

Bristol-Coanda T.B.8 The Bristol T.B.8, or Bristol-Coanda T.B.8 was an early British biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company and designed by the Romanian Henri Coandă. Fifty four Bristol T.B.8s were built, being mainly used as a trainer. A small number of B ...

* Castaibert III *

Caudron Type B The Caudron Type B was a 1911 development of the earliest Caudron type, the Caudron Type A, with a nacelle style fuselage and more powerful engine. Initially an equal span biplane, it was modified into a sesquiplane. Design and development Pilo ...

Deperdussin 1910 monoplane The 1910 Deperdussin monoplane was the first aircraft to be built in significant quantities by Aéroplanes Deperdussin. The type was produced in a number of variants which were flown successfully in air races and gained several records during 19 ...

François Denhaut François Denhaut (1877–1952) was a French aviator notable for designing, constructing and flying the first flying boat in 1912.Nicolaou, p.17 Life He was born on 4 October 1877 at Champagnat, Creuse and after some success as a racing cycli ...

's flying boat *

Fabre Hydravion Fabre Hydravion is the name used in English-language sources for an originally unnamed experimental floatplane designed by Henri Fabre. The aircraft is notable as the first to take off from water under its own power. Development Hydravion ( ...

* Farman HF.6 Militaire *

Farman III The Farman III, also known as the Henry Farman 1909 biplane, was an early French aircraft designed and built by Henry Farman FBA Type A 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 ...

* Grahame-White Type VII *

Grahame-White Type XV The Grahame White Type XV was a military trainer biplane produced in the United Kingdom before and during World War I. It is often referred to as the Box-kite, although this name more properly describes the Grahame-White Type XII, an earlier a ...

Howard Wright 1910 Biplane The Howard Wright 1910 Biplane was an early British aircraft built by Howard T. Wright to a design by W.O. Manning. One was used by Thomas Sopwith for his early record-breaking flights. Another made the first powered flight in New Zealand. De ...

Koolhoven Heidevogel The Koolhoven Heidevogel was one of the first Dutch aircraft, an improvement of the popular Farman type. Development Frits Koolhoven began as car dealer and racing driver but his entry into aviation came in partnership with Henri Wijnmalen whos ...

* Lakes Waterbird *

London and Provincial Fuselage Biplane The London and Provincial ''Fuselage'' Biplane was a British single-engined two-seat training aircraft of the First World War. While the aircraft demonstrated excellent manoeuvrability, only a single example was built. Design and development ...

Morane-Borel monoplane The Morane-Borel monoplane (sometimes referred to with the retronym Morane-Saulnier Type A or simply the Morane monoplane; company designation Bo.1) was an early French single-engine, single-seat aircraft. It was flown in several European air r ...

Nieuport II The Nieuport II was a mid-wing monoplane racing or sport aircraft built by the Société Anonyme des Établissements Nieuport between 1910 and 1914 and was noted for its high performance using a small twin-cylinder engine, and winning many ra ...

Paalson Type 1 The Paalson Type 1, (Pålson), was a Swedish single-seat sport aircraft built around 1920. It was of conventional single-seat biplane layout but had some unusual features such as girder type interplane struts, a novel main undercarriage axle mount ...

* Paulhan-Tatin Aéro-Torpille No.1 * Paulhan biplane * Pemberton-Billing P.B.9 *

Radley-England waterplanes The Radley-England Waterplane was a British floatplane designed and built by James Radley and Gordon England to take place in the 1913 Circuit of Britain race. Damaged before the start of the race, it was unable to compete and was subsequently ...

* Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.3 * Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.4 * Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 * Sommer 1910 biplane *

Short S.27 The Short S.27 and its derivative, the Short Improved S.27 (sometimes called the Short-Sommer biplane), were a series of early British aircraft built by Short Brothers. They were used by the Admiralty and Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps fo ...

* Short Tandem Twin * Short Triple Twin * Short S.47 Triple Tractor * Short S.62 *

Sopwith Bee The Sopwith Bee was a small biplane built in 1916 as a personal aircraft for Harry Hawker, Sopwith's chief test pilot. History The Bee was a single-bay biplane powered by a Gnome Omega rotary engine, intended for use by Hawker as a runabout an ...

Sopwith Sparrow The Sopwith Sparrow was a manned light aircraft developed from the Sopwith A.T. (''Aerial Target'') drone and was powered by a ABC Gnat engine. References * {{Sopwith Aviation Company aircraft Sparrow Sparrow may refer to: Birds * Old Worl ...

* Van Meel Brikken * Vickers No.6 Monoplane * Vickers No.7 Monoplane * Vickers Boxkite School Biplane *

Voisin 1907 biplane The 1907 Voisin biplane (designated the Voisin II by the 1913 edition of ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft''), was the first successful powered aircraft designed by aeronautical engineer and manufacturer Gabriel Voisin. It was used by the F ...

* Voisin Type de Course Gnome Omega-Omega - Moteurs Gnome October 1913

Gnome 14 Omega-Omega

Avro 501 The Avro Type H, Type 501, and Type 503 were a family of early British military seaplanes. They were a development of the Avro 500 design and were originally conceived of as amphibious, the prototype being fitted with a single large main float ( ...

* Blériot XIII * Bleriot XXIII * Bristol-Gordon England G.E.2 * Coventry Ordnance Works Biplane 10 *

Deperdussin 1912 Racing Monoplane The Deperdussin 1912 Racing Monoplane was a French aircraft built by Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin especially for racing. It is notable for being the first aircraft to exceed in level flight. Design and development The D ...

* Nieuport IV.H floatplane * Short S.41 Tractor Biplane * Short S.57 Seaplane * Short S.64 Folder Seaplane * Short Admiralty Type 74

Engines on display

*The very first Gnome rotary engine ever built, Gnôme Omega No. 1, is on display at the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

*A preserved production Gnome 7 Omega engine is on public display at the

Royal Air Force Museum London The Royal Air Force Museum London (also commonly known as the RAF Museum) is located on the former Hendon Aerodrome. It includes five buildings and hangars showing the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force. It is part of the Royal Air Forc ...

. *A restored Omega is on display at the

New England Air Museum The New England Air Museum (NEAM) is an American aerospace museum located adjacent to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The museum consists of three display hangars with additional storage and restoration hangars. Its c ...

, Windsor Locks, CT.

Specifications (7 Omega)

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

NASM's page on Gnome Omega No.1

Video of April 2009 ground runup of a restored Gnome Omega in the USA
{{Gnome-Rhône aeroengines

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value of 800. The wo ...

Air-cooled aircraft piston engines 1900s aircraft piston engines Rotary aircraft piston engines