The Salmson water-cooled aero-engines, produced in France by

Société des Moteurs Salmson Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...

from 1908 until 1920, were a series of pioneering aero-engines: unusually combining water-cooling with the radial arrangement of their cylinders.

History

Henri Salmson, a manufacturer of water pumps, was engaged by Georges Marius Henri-Georges Canton and Pierre Unné, a pair of

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

engineers, to produce engines to their design. Their initial efforts were on barrel engines, but these failed to meet expectations due to low reliability and high fuel consumption caused by internal friction. A new 7-cylinder water-cooled radial design was then developed by Canton and Unné. The range was expanded to produce 9-cylinder models, and also two-row 14-cylinder and 18-cylinder engines. By 1912 the Salmson A9 was producing around 120 brake horsepower; while competitive with rival designs from French companies, Salmson, Canton and Unné decided to develop more powerful engines as their rivals were concentrating on engines of lower power. The engines were produced at Salmson's factory at Billancourt, which was expanded during the First World War, and a second factory was opened at

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after ...

. The Salmson-(Canton-Unne) series of water-cooled engines were also built by licensees in Russia and in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

at the Dudbridge Iron Works Limited at

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five Va ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

between 1914 and 1918.Lumsden 2003, p. 225.

Applications

Salmson Z-9 engine NMUSAF 070110-F-1234S-007 (tight crop)

''Data from:''LA SOCIETE DES MOTEURS SALMSON Aircraft powered by Salmson water-cooled engines included: ;Salmson 9A: * Salmson-Moineau S.M.1 * Salmson-Moineau S.M.2 ;Salmson 9B: *

Short S.74 The Short Admiralty Type 74 was a single-engined biplane tractor seaplane with non-folding wings, which saw service with the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. Design and development The Type 74 incorporated some of the innova ...

Short type 135 Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known a ...

Short type 830 The Short Type 827 was a 1910s British two-seat reconnaissance floatplane. It was also known as the Short Admiralty Type 827. Design and development The Short Type 827 was a two-bay biplane with unswept unequal-span wings, a slightly smaller ...

;Salmson 9C * Farman 60 ;Salmson 9M * Blackburn type L * Bréguet U2 * Breguet 14 prototype * Voisin LA 3 ;Salmson 9P: *

Farman HF.27 The Farman HF.20 and its derivatives were a family of reconnaissance aircraft produced in France shortly before and during the First World War. It was a refined version of the Farman MF.11 "Shorthorn" that did away with the type's distinctive ...

* Voisin LA 5 ;Salmson 9R: * Anatra DS * Lebed 12 ;Salmson 9Z: * Besson H-5 * Caudron C.23 *

Farman HF.30 The Henry Farman HF.30 was a two-seat military biplane designed in France around 1915, which became a principal aircraft of the Imperial Russian Air Service during the First World War. Although it was widely used on the Eastern Front, and by t ...

* Farman 60 *

Hanriot HD.3 The Hanriot HD.3 C.2 was a two-seat fighter aircraft produced in France during World War I. Design and development Similar in appearance to a scaled-up Hanriot HD.1, HD.1, the Hanriot HD.3 was a conventional, single-bay biplane with staggered w ...

Hanriot H.26 The Hanriot H.26 was a French single seat fighter aircraft prototype completed in 1923. Only one was built. Design and development The H.26 (the first Hanriot fighter that did not use the HD nomenclature, where the D was for their long-stan ...

Latécoère 3 The Latécoère 3 was a French biplane transport; the 1919 prototype was a two-seater but the unbuilt production version would have carried two or three passengers as well as the pilot. Design and development Immediately after the end of World ...

Salmson 2 Berline The Salmson 2 A.2, (often shortened to Salmson 2) was a French biplane reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Salmson to a 1916 requirement. Along with the Breguet 14, it was the main reconnaissance aircraft of the French army in 1918 ...

Salmson 2A2 The Salmson 2 A.2, (often shortened to Salmson 2) was a French biplane reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Salmson to a 1916 requirement. Along with the Breguet 14, it was the main reconnaissance aircraft of the French army in 1918 ...

* Vickers Vimy prototype * Voisin Triplane ;Salmson 2M7: *

Kennedy Giant The Kennedy Giant was a British biplane heavy bomber designed by Kennedy Aeroplanes Ltd. during the First World War. The design was an imitation of works by Igor Sikorsky, with whom the owner of Kennedy Aeroplanes Ltd., C. J. H. Mackenzie-Kenne ...

Sopwith type C The Sopwith Special torpedo seaplane Type C was the first British aircraft designed to drop torpedoes. A single-engine biplane floatplane, it flew in July 1914 but proved unable to lift the design load and was soon abandoned. Design and deve ...

* Sopwith Bat Boat II *

Short type 166 The Short Type 166 was a 1910s British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo-carrying folder seaplane, designed by Short Brothers. Development The Short Type 166 was designed as a 'folder' aircraft to operate from the Ark Royal as a ...

Sopwith type 860 __NOTOC__ The Sopwith Admiralty Type 860 was a 1910s British biplane seaplane torpedo bomber designed and built for the Admiralty by the Sopwith Aviation Company. Design and development First flown in December 1914 the Type 860 was an unswept b ...

Wight Navyplane The Wight Pusher Seaplane, or Navyplane, was a British twin-float patrol seaplane produced by John Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft). Design and development Designed by Howard T Wright, the Pusher Seaplane was an enlarged versio ...

;Salmson 18Cm *

Hanriot H.25 The Hanriot H.25 was a French, single-engined, six passenger airliner built in 1926. Only one was flown. Design and development The Hanriot H.25 was a braced, high wing monoplane. It had an all-metal structure, covered everywhere with fabric ...

Variants and specifications

Some sources named the radial versions as ''Salmson (Canton-Unne)'' which refers to the Swiss engineers which engaged Salmson to build engines to their designs.

Specifications (Salmson 9Z)

Notes

References and further reading

*
La société des moteurs Salmson
at Hydro-Retro.Net
Salmson Z-9
at the Aircraft Engine Historical Society * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmson 9 (Water Cooled Engine) 1910s aircraft piston engines Salmson aircraft engines Water-cooled radial engines