This Engine is Not What You Think... Le Rhone 9C

The Le Rhône 9C is a nine-cylinder rotary aircraft engine produced in France by Gnome et Rhône. Also known as the Le Rhône 80 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. Le Rhône 9C engines were also produced under license in Great Britain by several companies, and in the United States.

[joelhartzell]

The stress on the engine must have been insane

[ruthlessrubberducky]

If you wanted to make giant spinning rotors more terrifying, this is a good way to do it.

[jamesvetromila]

When the motor mounts in my 93 Buick Roadmaster station wagon broke, same situation.😂

[upsidedowndog]

They also had no throttle. Wide open all of the time! To come down you used an ignition interruptor.

[kendallrussell]

Can we appreciate how the hell they got fuel to each cylinder???

[StewartNicolasBILLYCONNOLLY]

This engine was used on the Sopwith Camel. The torque from the engine allowed the Camel to flick-roll to port at a tremendous rate.

[dushyantkumar]

Whoever designed this engine is a genius. Considering the fact it was designed when no computers were available to help

[Doggeslife]

Also they did not have a throttle. You controlled engine speed by flipping the ignition switch on and off. That's why many old WWI airplanes sound like they are having engine problems when landing, with the engine cutting out and in again.

[BritishBeeMan]

This is actually really common on all early radials as they used to overheat and all designers adopted this method of cooling, with even watercooling proving ineffective.

[iowafarmboy]

Balancing that whole thing must have been a nightmare 😳

[KG]

I saw one Le Rhone 9 cylinders and a Gnome 7 cylinders cutaway engines. Real pieces of art. Most of the parts were made from steel nickel alloys to withstand heat. So far, only some guys in New Zealand managed to replicate these engines. With the help of CNC machining, I would say.

[JohnDoe-hxwx]

Damn I wouldn't wanna be anything near that during catastrophic failure!

[georgeblack]

That thing is nuts. That crank bearing is just wild.

[saosaqii]

That’s pretty crazy but gotta imagine some efficiency loss with the engine also rotating that fast. Also nice you included the engine in action.

[egyptiancotton]

Rotary radial! I’ve never actually seen one in action, so cool!

[no-damn-alias]

a German motorcycle had the same type of engine integrated in the front wheel. It was called a Megola

[izzabelladogalini]

The comments saying why didn't they do this or that seem to be forgetting this was pioneering stuff, the rotary and counter-rotary (where the cylinders went one way but the crank rather than being fixed rotated in the opposite direction) was used by many aero manufacturers for about ten years 1908 to 1918 ... when you were introduced they outperformed other engines so were adopted by many manufacturers especially during WW1 .... once tech improved to the point where fixed radials were outperforming them they were consigned to history.

[boyetz]

The issue with this kind of engine is the huge gyroscopic effect it applies on the front end of the airplane making it hard to maneuver.

[darrinbunston]

Thanks for showing that that's the craziest engine I've ever seen

[jdos]

Lubricated by castor oil - and the pilots had to get use to the "effects" of it.