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 Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...

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 Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, a pair of

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the 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 ...

. 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 north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

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. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

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

Applications

''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 * Short type 135 * Short type 830 ;Salmson 9C *

Farman 60 The Farman F.60 Goliath was a French airliner and bomber produced by the Farman Aviation Works from 1919. It was instrumental in the creation of early airlines and commercial routes in Europe after World War I. Design and development The ''Go ...

;Salmson 9M * Blackburn type L *

Bréguet U2 Breguet may refer to: * Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer **Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker ** Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work * Breguet Aviation, ...

* Breguet 14 prototype *

Voisin LA 3 The Voisin III was a French World War I two-seat pusher biplane multi-purpose aircraft developed by Voisin in 1914 as a more powerful version of the 1912 Voisin L. It is notable for being the aircraft used for the first successful shooting down ...

;Salmson 9P: * Farman HF.27 *

Voisin LA 5 The Voisin III was a French World War I two-seat pusher configuration, pusher biplane multi-purpose aircraft developed by Voisin (aircraft), Voisin in 1914 as a more powerful version of the 1912 Voisin L. It is notable for being the aircraft used ...

;Salmson 9R: *

Anatra DS The Anatra DS or Anasal was a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Anatra D (Anade). It was built in the Anatra factory in Odessa in the Russian Empire and flown during World War I by both sides during the Russian Civil War. Th ...

Lebed 12 The Lebed XII was a Russian military reconnaissance aircraft produced during the First World War for the Imperial Russian Air Force. It was one of the few domestically designed aircraft to see production in Russia during the war, but was based o ...

;Salmson 9Z: *

Besson H-5 __NOTOC__ The Besson H-5 (or sometimes Besson MB-11) was a French transport quadruplane flying boat designed by the Marcel Besson company of Boulogne. The only H-5 was damaged and development was abandoned. Development The HB.5 (MB-10) origina ...

* Caudron C.23 * Farman HF.30 *

* Hanriot HD.3 * Hanriot H.26 * Latécoère 3 *

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 a ...

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 a ...

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

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 * Sopwith type 860 * Wight Navyplane ;Salmson 18Cm * Hanriot H.25

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