The Le Rhône 9J is a nine-cylinder rotary aircraft engine produced in France 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 ...

. Also known as the Le Rhône 110 hp in a reference to its nominal power rating, the engine was fitted to a number of military aircraft types of the

First World War 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 ...

. Le Rhône 9J engines were produced under license in Great Britain by W.H. Allen Son & Company of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, and in Germany by

Motorenfabrik Oberursel Motorenfabrik Oberursel A.G. was a German manufacturer of automobile, locomotive and aircraft engines situated in Oberursel (Taunus), near Frankfurt (Main), Germany. During World War I it supplied a major 100 hp-class rotary engine that was u ...

where it was sold as the Oberursel Ur.II.Lumsden 2003, p. 161. In common with other

Le Rhône Le Rhône was the name given to a series of popular rotary aircraft engines produced in France by Société des Moteurs Le Rhône and the successor company of Gnome et Rhône. They powered a number of military aircraft types of the First Worl ...

series engines, the 9J featured highly visible

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) 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 pinkis ...

induction Induction, Inducible or Inductive may refer to: Biology and medicine * Labor induction (birth/pregnancy) * Induction chemotherapy, in medicine * Induced stem cells, stem cells derived from somatic, reproductive, pluripotent or other cell t ...

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

overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

s. The main visual difference between the 9J and the earlier, less powerful

Le Rhône 9C The Le Rhône 9C is a nine-cylinder rotary aircraft engine produced in France by '' Société des Moteurs Le Rhône'' / Gnome et Rhône. Also known as the Le Rhône 80 hp in a reference to its nominal power rating, the engine was ...

engine is that the copper intake manifold tubing (with round section lower ends) on the 110 hp 9J is attached to the crankcase behind the cylinders, whereas on the 9C (80 hp) the intake manifolds (with rectangular lower ends) are fully visible from the front. Examples of Le Rhône 9J engines are on public display 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, P ...

s, with several remaining airworthy, powering restored and authentic reproductions of vintage aircraft.

Variants

;Le Rhône 9Ja :(1916) , nine-cylinder rotary engine. 953 built by W.H. Allen Son & Co. ;Le Rhône 9Jb :(1916) , nine-cylinder rotary engine. ;Le Rhône 9Jby :(1916) , nine-cylinder rotary engine. ;Le Rhône M-2: production in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

post-

WWI 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 ...

Applications

;Le Rhône 9Ja ;Le Rhône 9Jb * Morane-Saulnier AC *

Nieuport 17 The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier N ...

, 23 and 23bis *

Nieuport 24 The Nieuport 24 (or Nieuport XXIV C.1 in contemporary sources) was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed by Gustave Delage as a development of the successful Nieuport 17. The Nieuport 24 had the misfortune to be the penult ...

and 24bis * Nieuport 27 ;Le Rhône 9Jby *

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 ...

Bristol Scout The Bristol Scout was a single-seat rotary-engined biplane originally designed as a racing aircraft. Like similar fast, light aircraft of the period it was used by the RNAS and the RFC as a " scout", or fast reconnaissance type. It was one o ...

;Oberursel Ur.II *

Fokker D.VI The Fokker D.VI was a German fighter aircraft built in limited numbers at the end of World War I. The D.VI served in the German and Austro-Hungarian air services. Design and development In late 1917, Fokker-Flugzeugwerke built two small biplane ...

(first prototype) *

Fokker D.VIII The Fokker E.V was a German parasol-monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz and built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The E.V was the last Fokker design to become operational with the ''Luftstreitkräfte,'' entering service in the last mon ...

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

Fokker S.IV The Fokker S.IV was a military trainer aircraft produced in the Netherlands in the mid-1920s. It was a conventional, single-bay biplane with staggered wings of unequal span braced with N-struts, essentially a radial-engined development of the ...

Fokker V.9 The Fokker V.9 was part of a series of experimental aircraft which led up to the low-production D.VI fighter. The aircraft were very similar, varying in detail and power plants. The V.9 was powered by a 60 kW (80 hp) Oberursel and first ...

* Fokker V.16 * Fokker V.17 * Fokker V.25 * Fokker V.33

Survivors

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 ...

replica, 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 ...

remains airworthy and is powered by a Le Rhône 9J engine. The collection's airworthy

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 ...

is also powered by a 110 hp Le Rhône rotary engine. The reproduction Avro 504 at

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum in Rhinebeck, New York. It owns many examples of airworthy aircraft of the Pioneer Era, World War I and the Golden Age of Aviation between the World Wars, and multiple examples of roadworthy antiqu ...

has also flown with an original Le Rhone 9J powerplant, as was

Cole Palen Cole Palen (December 28, 1925 – December 8, 1993) was the founder of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a living museum of vintage aircraft from 1900-1937 located in Red Hook, New York. Palen's aerodrome boasts one of the finest collections of an ...

's first reproduction

triplane (now retired) for Old Rhinebeck's airshows in the 1960s, bearing American registration ''N3221''. A full-scale

Nieuport 11 The Nieuport 11 (or Nieuport XI C.1 in contemporary sources), nicknamed the ''Bébé'', was a French World War I single seat sesquiplane fighter aircraft, designed by Gustave Delage. It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge in ...

replica built by Walt Pfeifer and Joe Pfeifer in the early 1960s, now operated by The Vintage Aviator Limited, flies in New Zealand with a Le Rhone 9C.

Engines on display

Preserved Le Rhône 9J engines are on public display at the following museums: *

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerous ...

Museum of Hungarian Aviation The Szolnoki Repülőmúzeum ("Airplane Museum of Szolnok") is a large museum displaying old military and civilian aircraft and aircraft engines in Szolnok, Hungary. It was located next to the "Lt. Ittebei Kiss József" Helicopter Base of the ...

Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina The National Aeronautics Museum "Brigadier Edmundo Civati Bernasconi" ( es, Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica) is an Argentine museum located in the city of Morón, Buenos Aires. Established in 1960, the museum is dedicated to the history of aviati ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Specifications (Le Rhône 9Ja)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Lumsden, Alec. ''British Piston Engines and their Aircraft''. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. . * Gunston, Bill. ''World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines''. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989.

External links

Le Rhône rotary engine - Images and description

YouTube Video of Le Rhône 9J-powered Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Avro 504New-build reproduction Oberursel Ur.II rotary engine run-up from New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Rhone 9J 1910s aircraft piston engines 9J Rotary aircraft piston engines