Gnome Gamma

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).

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

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.