Gnome Lambda

Lambda
The Sopwith Tabloid replica on display at the Royal Air Force Museum is fitted with an original Gnome 7 Lambda engine.
Type Rotary aero engine
Manufacturer Gnome et Rhone
First run c.1916
Major applications Avro 504
Bristol Boxkite
Bristol Scout
Number built 979 (British production)


The Gnome 7 Lambda was a French designed, seven-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine that was produced under license in Britain and Germany. Powering several World War I era aircraft types it was claimed to produce 80 horsepower (60 kW) from its capacity of 12 litres (720 cubic inches) although recorded figures are lower.[1]

Just under 1,000 units were produced in Britain, the majority (967) by the Daimler Company of Coventry. A 14-cylinder variant was known as the Gnome 14 Lambda-Lambda.

In Germany Motorenfabrik Oberursel license-built the seven-cylinder engine as the Oberursel U.0 and later copied the 14-cylinder design and designated it as the Oberursel U.III.

Variants

Gnome 7 Lambda
Seven-cylinder, single-row rotary engine.
Gnome 7 Lambda (long stroke)
Increased stroke of 145 mm (5.7 in) to raise the compression ratio to 3.87:1, and total displacement to 12.26 litres.
Gnome 14 Lambda-Lambda
14-cylinder, two-row rotary engine using Lambda cylinders. 160 hp (120 kW).
Motorenfabrik Oberursel U.0
German production of the Gnome 7 Lambda - had a 124mm cylinder bore and 140mm piston stroke for a total displacement of 11.52 litres, external diameter of 1.020 meters.[2]

Applications

List from Lumsden

Gnome 7 Lambda

Gnome 14 Lambda-Lambda

Survivors

An original Gnome 7 Lambda engine is installed in the Sopwith Tabloid replica aircraft on display in the Grahame-White hall of the Royal Air Force Museum London.[4]

Specifications (Gnome 7 Lambda)

Oberursel U.III, a 14-cylinder copy of the Gnome Lambda-Lambda

Data from Lumsden.[1]

General characteristics

Components

Performance

See also


Comparable engines
Related lists

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gnome et Rhône.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lumsden 2003, p. 151.
  2. ↑ "Obsah fóra :: Zbraně a vybavení :: Výzbroj, zbraňové systémy, vybavení a příslušenství :: Motory :: Letecké motory :: Pístové :: Německo (DEU) :: Oberursel U.0". valka.cz (in Czech). Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  3. ↑ "The Borel Hydro-Monoplane". Flight: 450. 19 July 1913.
  4. ↑ RAF Museum - Sopwith Tabloid replica history Retrieved: 11 November 2010.

Bibliography

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