The Le Rhône 9C is a nine-cylinder rotary aircraft engine produced in France by '' Société des Moteurs Le Rhône'' /

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 licensee ...

. Also known as the Le Rhône 80 hp in a reference to its nominal power rating, the engine was fitted to many military aircraft types during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Le Rhône 9C engines were also produced under license in Great Britain, the United States and Sweden.

Design and development

First marketed in 1912, the 80 horsepower 9C was the first of the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

series rotary engines to have nine cylinders. In common with earlier seven cylinder Le Rhône series engines, the 9C featured

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

induction pipes and used a single push-pull rod to operate its two

overhead valves An overhead valve engine, abbreviated (OHV) and sometimes called a pushrod engine, is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with flathead (or "sidevalve") engines, where the va ...

. Unlike the later 110 horsepower 9J, the induction pipes and push rods were located on the front of the engine. Prior to the outbreak of World War One, aircraft powered by the Rhône 9C set numerous long distance city to city records including a highly publicised flight from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

with a single refuelling stop in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. The 9C also powered the 1913 world altitude record of set by the aviator Georges Legagneux in a

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

. The 9C was selected early on for use in military aircraft with the first of many applications being the 1912 Voisin Type 1. During WW1 the 9C was the engine used in many single-seater scout aircraft such as the Nieuport 11 “Bebe” and the

Sopwith Pup The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristi ...

. Later in the war most 9Cs built were used in training aircraft. The German Fliegertruppen fitted captured 9Cs in their Fokker Eindekkers in place of engines built by

Oberursel Oberursel (Taunus) (, , in contrast to " Lower Ursel") is a town in Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located to the north west of Frankfurt, in the Hochtaunuskreis county. It is the 13th largest town in Hesse. In ...

(which were themselves licensed built copies of the

Gnome Lambda The Gnome 7 Lambda was a French designed, seven-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine that was produced under license in Britain and Germany. Powering several World War I-era aircraft types it was claimed to produce from its capacity of alt ...

). Eindekkers fitted with the Le Rhône 9C were found to be superior particularly in relation to climb and maximum altitude.

Applications

Surviving engines and reproductions

Examples of Le Rhône 9C engines are on view in

aviation museum An aviation museum, air museum, or air and space museum is a museum exhibiting the history and cultural artifacts, artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual, replica or accurate reproduction aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, Ph ...

s either installed in aircraft exhibits or as stand-alone displays. A few examples of the 9C engine remain airworthy both in Europe and North America, one powering a vintage

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

in England, and a small number of others having powered reproduction WWI-era aircraft at

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum in Red Hook, New York, Red Hook, New York, adjacent to the town of Rhinebeck (town), New York, Rhinebeck. Founded in 1958, it owns many examples of airworthy aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer ...

and other American "living" aviation museums that fly their restored original engines in both similarly restored original, and airworthy reproduction period aircraft. Both the restored

Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aviation, automotive and agricultural collection located at Old Warden Aerodrome in Bedfordshire, England. History The collection was founded in 1928 by aviator Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth. While ...

's airworthy

and the 1960s-buil
reproduction Pup of the Owl's Head Transportation Museum
(originally from

) are each powered by 80 hp Le Rhône 9C rotary engines, and fly regularly throughout the summer months. An operative Le Rhone 9C is shown at the Museo Nacional de Aeronautica in Buenos Aires Argentina.

Engines on display

* A Le Rhône 9C is installed in the

on 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, in North London's Borough of Barnet. It includes five buildings and hangars showing the history of aviation and the Royal Air ...

. After renovation this aircraft flew for a brief period in the 1970s and is now retired.Royal Air Force Museum London - Sopwith Pup, ''N5182''- Full history
Retrieved: 17 November 2010. * A Le Rhône 9C is on public display at the

Aerospace Museum of California The Aerospace Museum of California is a private non-profit aviation museum located in McClellan, California, outside of Sacramento, California, on the grounds of the former McClellan Air Force Base. History Founded as the Air Force Logistics Mus ...

* A Le Rhône 9C is on public display at

The Hangar Flight Museum The Hangar Flight Museum, formerly known as the Aero Space Museum of Calgary, is a museum located south of Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History The museum was founded in 1975 as the Aero Space Museum Association of C ...

Specifications (Le Rhône 9C)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Rhone 9C Air-cooled aircraft piston engines 1910s aircraft piston engines 9C Rotary aircraft piston engines