The Le Rhône 9J is a nine-cylinder rotary aircraft engine produced in France by Gnome et Rhône. 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 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 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 was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, 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 Rotary engine, rotary aircraft engines built between 1910 and 1920. Le Rhône series engines were originally sold by the Gnome et Rhône#Le Rhône, Société des Moteurs Le Rhône and, following a 1914 ...

series engines, the 9J featured highly visible

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 valve 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 v ...

s. The main visual difference between the 9J and the earlier, less powerful Le Rhône 9C 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, Ph ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

post- WWI,

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) is a French sesquiplane fighter aircraft, fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little large ...

, 23 and 23bis * Nieuport 24 and 24bis *

Nieuport 27 The Nieuport 27 (or Nieuport XXVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed by Gustave Delage. The 27 was the last of the line of Nieuport "V-strut" single seat fighters that began with the Nie ...

;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 ;Oberursel Ur.II * Fokker D.VI (first prototype) *

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

* Fokker Dr.I * Fokker S.IV * Fokker V.9 * Fokker V.16 * Fokker V.17 * Fokker V.25 * Fokker V.33

Survivors

A Bristol M.1 replica, owned and operated by the Shuttleworth Collection remains airworthy and is powered by a Le Rhône 9J engine. The collection's airworthy

Avro 504 The Avro 504 is a single-engine biplane bomber made by the Avro, Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during World War I totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind ...

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 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 ...

has also flown with an original Le Rhone 9J powerplant, as was Cole Palen's first reproduction Fokker Dr.I 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'', is 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 1 ...

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 * Shuttleworth Collection * Museum of Hungarian Aviation * Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

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