Gnome Gamma

Gamma
Type	Rotary aero engine
Manufacturer	Gnome et Rhone
First run	c.1911
Major applications	Blériot XXI Handley Page H.P.3

The Gnome 7 Gamma was a French designed, seven-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine. Powering several pre-World War I era aircraft types it produced 70 horsepower (52 kW) from its capacity of 12 litres (680 cubic inches).

A 14-cylinder variant was known as the Gnome 14 Gamma-Gamma.

Variants

Gnome 7 Gamma

Seven-cylinder, single-row rotary engine.

Gnome 14 Gamma-Gamma

14-cylinder, two-row rotary engine using Gamma cylinders. 140 hp (104 kW).

Applications

List from Lumsden

Gnome 7 Gamma

• Blériot XXI
• Bristol Biplane Type T
• Bristol Prier-Dickson
• Henry Farman Biplane
• Grahame-White Passenger Biplane VIIc
• Handley Page H.P.3
• Morane-Borel seaplane
• Nieuport Monoplane
• Paulhan Biplane
• Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.3
• Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.4
• Short School Biplane
• Short S.32
• Short S.36
• Short S.38
• Short S.45
• Sopwith Three-Seater
• Vickers No.6 Monoplane
• Vickers No.8 Monoplane

Gnome 14 Gamma-Gamma

• Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.7
• Short S.41

Specifications (Gnome 7 Gamma)

Data from Lumsden.

General characteristics

• Type: 7-cylinder, single-row, rotary engine
• Bore: 120 mm (4.7 in)
• Stroke: 130 mm (5.1 in)
• Displacement: 11.14 L (679.84 cu in)
• Length: 112.7 cm (44.4 in)
• Diameter: 86.9 cm (34.2 in)

Components

• Valvetrain: Automatic centre-piston inlet valve, overhead exhaust valve (one each per cylinder)
• Cooling system: Air-cooled
• Reduction gear: Direct drive, right-hand tractor, left-hand pusher

Performance

• Power output: 52.2 kW (70 hp) at 1,200 rpm

See also

Comparable engines

• Anzani 10-cylinder
• Clerget 7Z
• Le Rhône 9C

Related lists

• List of aircraft engines

References

Bibliography

• Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6.