Gnome Delta

The Gnome 9 Delta was a French designed, nine-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine that was produced under license in Britain. Powering several World War I era aircraft types it produced 100 hp (75 kW) from its capacity of 16 litres (980 cu in).^[1]

Delta
Gnome 9 Delta as shown in a 1913 Gnome catalog
Type	Rotary aero engine
Manufacturer	Société des Moteurs Gnome
First run	c.1909
Major applications	Avro 500 Vickers F.B.9 Gunbus
Variants	Oberursel U.I

Variants

Delta

The baseline 9-cylinder 100 hp (75 kW) rotary engine.

Delta-Delta

An 18-cylinder 200 hp (150 kW) two-row rotary engine - Two Deltas on a common crankshaft.

Applications

List from Lumsden

• Avro Type 500
• Caudron Type L^[2]
• Dreadnought No.1^[3]
• Pemberton-Billing P.B.25
• Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.2
• Vickers No.7 Monoplane
• Vickers F.B.9 Gunbus

Engines on display

• A preserved Gnome 9 Delta engine is on public display at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris

Specifications (9 Delta)

Gnome 18 Delta-Delta from the 1913 Gnome catalog

Data from Lumsden.^[1][4][5]

General characteristics

• Type: 9-cylinder, single-row, rotary engine
• Bore: 124 mm (4.88 in)
• Stroke: 150 mm (5.91 in)
• Displacement: 16.28 L (993.47 cu in)
• Length: 1,150 mm (45.28 in)
• Diameter: 1,020 mm (40.16 in)
• Dry weight: 135 kg (297.6 lb)

Components

• Valvetrain: Automatic centre-piston inlet valve, one overhead exhaust valve per cylinder.
• Fuel system: one static Bloctube carburettor feeding the crankcase
• Fuel type: 40 / 50 Octane gasoline
• Oil system: Total loss pressure fed
• Cooling system: Air-cooled

Performance

• Power output: 75 kW (100 hp) at 1,200 rpm
• Specific fuel consumption: 362 g/(kW·h) (0.6 lb/(hp·h))

See also

Comparable engines

• Bentley BR1
• Clerget
• Le Rhône 9C

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines