Between 1920 and 1951 the

Société des Moteurs Salmson Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

developed and built a series of widely used air-cooled

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years ma ...

s.Gunston 1986, p. 158. Maryse Hilsz 1935

Design and development

After their successful water-cooled radial engines, developed from 1908 to 1918, Salmson changed their focus to air-cooling to reduce weight and increase specific power (power per unit weight). The majority of the engines produced by Salmson were of radial type with a few other arrangements such as the

Salmson T6.E Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...

. In common with other engines produced by this manufacturer, the air-cooled radial engines featured the unorthodox Canton-Unné internal arrangement that dispensed with a

master rod Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

in favour of a cage of

epicyclic gear An epicyclic gear train (also known as a planetary gearset) consists of two gears mounted so that the center of one gear revolves around the center of the other. A carrier connects the centers of the two gears and rotates the planet and sun gea ...

s driving the

crankpin A crankpin or crank pin, also known as a rod bearing journal, is a mechanical device in an engine which connects the crankshaft to the connecting rod for each cylinder. It has a cylindrical surface, to allow the crankpin to rotate relative to the ...

. Production ended in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

with the liquidation of the manufacturing company.

British Salmson

The 3,7 and 9 cylinder Salmsons were license-built in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, during the 1920s and 1930s, by the

British Salmson engine company British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

as the British Salmson AD.3, British Salmson AC.7, British Salmson AC.9, and British Salmson AD.9.

Salmson post-WWI engines

In common with several other French aero-engine manufacturers Salmson named their engines with the number of cylinders then a series letter in capitals followed by variant letters in lower-case. Engines not included in the 1932 table which follows are listed here: Salmson air-cooled engines available in 1932 are listed here

Applications

Nine cylinder engines

Seven cylinder engines

7AC

Albert A-61 The Albert A-60 was a single engine, two seat, wooden sports monoplane designed and built in France in the early 1930s. Two were built and flown with three different engines. Design and development The A-60 was an all-wood, low wing cantilev ...

* Caudron C.191&2 *

Caudron C.220 The Caudron C.220 was a two-seat French biplane trainer. Only two were built, using different engines. Design and development The Caudron C.220 basic trainer was a single bay biplane with two pairs of parallel interplane struts aided by wire ...

* Caudron C.270 *

Dewoitine D.480 The Dewoitine D.480 was a French single engine side-by-side sports and training aircraft built in the early 1930s. Two were completed and flew with several different radial engines. One remained active through the 1950s. Design The D.480 was d ...

* Farman F.234 *

Farman F.280 The Farman F.280 was a three engine, cantilever wing monoplane designed in France as a Mail plane, mail carrier in the early 1930s. Underpowered and slow, only two were built and briefly used. Design and development The F.280 was a relative, th ...

* Farman F.352 * Hanriot H.411 *

Kellner-Béchereau 23 The Kellner-Béchereau 23 was a French two seat cabin touring aircraft, built in 1932. Its wing was constructed in a novel way. Only one was completed. Design The Kellner-Béchereau 23 was the first aircraft known as a Kellner-Béchereau (the ...

* Morane-Saulnier MS.132 * Morane-Saulnier MS.148 * Potez 36/5

Five cylinder engines

5Ap

* Jodel D.123

5Aq

* Caudron C.109.2 *

CFA D.7 Cricri Major The CFA D.7 Cricri Major was a French-built light civil aircraft of the 1940s. Development The CFA D.7 Cricri Major was a postwar-built light high-wing monoplane with enclosed two-seat tandem glazed cabin and a fixed tail-wheel undercarriage, ...

5AC

* Caudron C.110 *

Caudron C.161 __NOTOC__ The Caudron C.161 was a lightweight French two-seat biplane designed by Caudron for sport or flight training use. A conventional biplane with a square fuselage powered by a Salmson radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating ...

* Jodel D.124 * Potez 36/3

Specifications (9 Ab)

Notes

References

* * Lumsden, Alec. ''British Piston Engines and their Aircraft''. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. . * Cuny, Jean. "Latécoère - Les Avions et Hydravions".Paris. Docavia/Editions Lariviere. 1992. {{Salmson aeroengines Radial engines 1910s aircraft piston engines Salmson aircraft engines