Gnome-Rhône Mistral Major

Type: 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled piston engine
Bore: 146.05 mm (5.75 in)
Stroke: 165.1 mm (6.50 in)
Displacement: 38.72 L (2363.02 cu in)
Diameter: 1.29 m (4.23 ft)
Dry weight: 558 kg (1,230 lbs)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gnome-Rhône 14K Mistral Major was a 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engine. It was Gnome-Rhône's major aircraft engine prior to World War II, and matured into a highly sought-after design that would see licensed production throughout Europe and Japan. Thousands of Mistal Major engines were produced, used on a wide variety of aircraft.

1 History
2 Specifications (early 14K)
3 Applications
4 14K Derivatives
5 Sources

[edit] History

In 1921 Gnome-Rhône purchased a license for the highly successful Bristol Jupiter engine and produced it until about 1930, alongside the smaller Bristol Titan. Starting in 1926, however, they used the basic design of the Titan to produce a family of new engines, the so-called "K series". These started with the 5K Titan, followed by the 7K Titan Major and 9K Mistral. By 1930, 6,000 of these engines had been delivered.

However, the aircraft industry at that time was rapidly evolving and producing much larger aircraft that demanded larger engines to power them. Gnome-Rhône responded by developing the 7K into a two-row version that became the 14K Mistal Major. The first test examples were running in 1929.