Salmson air-cooled aero-engines


Between 1920 and 1951 the Société des Moteurs Salmson in France developed and built a series of widely used air-cooled aircraft engines.
holding the propeller of her Mauboussin M.122 with Salmson 9 Aé.RS, 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. The majority of the engines produced by Salmson were of radial type with a few other arrangements such as the Salmson T6.E. 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 in favour of a cage of epicyclic gears driving the crankpin. Production ended in 1951 with the liquidation of the manufacturing company.

British Salmson

The 3,7 and 9 cylinder Salmsons were license-built in Great Britain, during the 1920s and 1930s, by the British Salmson engine company 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
NameCylindersYearBoreStrokeCapacityPowerWeight
7AC7-cyl radial at 1,800 rpm
9AB9-cyl radial at 1,700 rpm
9AC9-cyl radial at 1,800 rpm
9AD9-cyl radial at 2,000 rpm
9ADb9-cyl radial at 2,200 rpm
9ADr9-cyl radial at 2,700 rpm
9NA9-cyl radial at 1,800 rpm
9NAs9-cyl radial at 1,800rpm
9NC9-cyl radial at 1,800 rpm
9NCt9-cyl radial at 1,800 rpm
18AB18-cyl air-cooled two-row radial at 1,700 rpm
18ABs18-cyl air-cooled two-row radial at 1,700 rpm

Applications

Nine cylinder engines

Seven cylinder engines

7AC

5Ap