The Lorraine 9N Algol was a French 9-cylinder radial

aeroengine 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 ...

built and used in the 1930s. It was rated at up to , but more usually in the range.

Design and development

The Algol was a conventionally laid out

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

, with nine cylinders in a single row. The

crankcase In a piston engine, the crankcase is the housing that surrounds the crankshaft. In most modern engines, the crankcase is integrated into the engine block. Two-stroke engines typically use a crankcase-compression design, resulting in the fuel/a ...

was a barrel-shaped aluminium alloy casting, with an internal integral diaphragm which held the front crankshaft bearing. Forward of the diaphragm there was an integrally cast cam-gear case for the double track cam-ring. The reduction gear was housed under a domed casing attached to the front of the crankcase. Flange-mounted steel barrels were bolted to the crankcase and enclosed with cast aluminium alloy, screwed-on, cylinder head with integral

cooling fin In the study of heat transfer, fins are surfaces that extend from an object to increase the rate of heat transfer to or from the environment by increasing convection. The amount of conduction, convection, or radiation of an object determines th ...

s. The pistons were also made of aluminium alloy and had floating

gudgeon pin In internal combustion engines, the gudgeon pin (UK, wrist pin or piston pin US) connects the piston to the connecting rod, and provides a bearing for the connecting rod to pivot upon as the piston moves.Nunney, Malcolm James (2007) "The Reciproc ...

s. The nine pistons drove the single throw crankshaft via one channel-section

master rod Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

and eight circular section auxiliary rods. The master rod had an integral, split type big-end. The crankshaft was machined from a single forging, with bolt-on balance weights. The Algol had a single pair of overhead inlet and exhaust valves per cylinder. The cam-ring drove roller

tappet A tappet is most commonly a component in an internal combustion engine which converts the rotating motion of the camshaft into linear motion of the valves, either directly or indirectly. An earlier use of the term was for part of the valve gear ...

s, mounted in the cam-case, which in turn operated

rocker arm In the context of an internal combustion engine, a rocker arm is a valvetrain component that typically transfers the motion of a pushrod to the corresponding intake/exhaust valve. Rocker arms in automobiles are typically made from stamped steel ...

s, fitted with ball bearings, via

pushrods A valvetrain or valve train is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) ...

. The cam-ring was concentric with the crankshaft and driven via

epicyclic gear An epicyclic gear train (also known as a planetary gearset) consists of two gears mounted so that the center of one gear revolves around the center of the other. A carrier connects the centers of the two gears and rotates the planet and sun gea ...

s. Most Algols were conventionally aspirated via a single

carburetter A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...

but at least one 1938 variant used a form of

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

, where fuel was blown into the induction system rather than the cylinder head.

Variants

;9A: ;9Ab: ;9Ac: ;9Ad: ;9N Algol: ;9Na Algol: ;9N Algol-Junior ;9N Algol-Major ;9N Algol-Amelioré ;Type 120 500 hp: A developed version with supercharger and reduction gear giving at

Applications

ANF Les Mureaux 120 The ANF Les Mureaux 120 was a 1930s French three-seat military night reconnaissance monoplane built by ANF Les Mureaux. Design and development The 120 was designed to meet a 1928 French Aéronautique Militaire requirement for a three-seat nigh ...

* Bernard 161 * Bloch 120 * Bloch MB.500 * Caudron C.180 *

FBA 290 __NOTOC__ The Franco-British Aviation Model 290 was a French four-seat amphibian flying boat built by the Franco-British Aviation Company (FBA) as a replacement for the Model 17 in French naval service. Development The FBA Company was requeste ...

Loire 11 __NOTOC__ The Loire 11 was a French three-seat general-purpose monoplane designed and built by Loire Aviation of St. Nazaire. Design and development The Loire 11 was the first original design by the company and was designed to meet a requirement ...

Potez 33 The Potez 32 and its military version the Potez 33 was a single-engine French monoplane transport built by Potez and based on the Potez 29 biplane. Development The Potez 32 used the same fuselage, tail unit and landing gear of the Potez 29, but ...

* Potez 40 *

PWS-24 The PWS-24 was a Polish single-engine passenger aircraft for 4 passengers, built in PWS factory, used from 1933 to 1936 by LOT Polish Airlines. In spite of its limited capacity, it was the only series-built airliner of domestic design ever used b ...

* Romano R.16 * SAB-SEMA 12 * Lorraine-Hanriot LH.70 *

Weymann 66 The Weymann 66 was a French multipurpose biplane built for colonial work in the 1930s. It had a low ground clearance cabin, three engines and twin tailbooms. Design and development Charles Terres Weymann of Paris, France is best known as the d ...

Specifications

References

{{Lorraine aeroengines 1930s aircraft piston engines Aircraft air-cooled radial piston engines

Algol ALGOL (; short for "Algorithmic Language") is a family of imperative computer programming languages originally developed in 1958. ALGOL heavily influenced many other languages and was the standard method for algorithm description used by the ...