The
Gnome rotary engine took the aviation world by storm in 1909
with its light weight (60 kg) and power (34 hp). Le Rhône
produced its first rotary engine in 1910. These two companies
merged in 1915 and improved the rotary engine through World War I.
After the War Gnome-Rhône
re-focused its efforts on radial engines, at first by license
building Bristol products. Gnome-Rhône
formed the basis of SNECMA after World War II.
History
1892:
Louis and Laurent Seguin begin making petrol engines. They
acquire a license to produce the Gnome gas engine from Oberursel.
1909: The Seguin brothers introduce their
first production aircraft engine, the rotary Gnome Omega engine.
1910: Louis Verdet designs his own rotary
aicraft engine.
1912:
Louis Verdet establishes the Societe des Moteurs Le Rhône.
1915: Gnome buys out its rival Le Rhône
to form the Societe des Moteurs Gnome et Rhône.
Through World War I, the two companies retain their separate
identities.
1921: Gnome-Rhône
begins its successful program of building Bristol
engines, then improving them.
1945: Gnome-Rhône
vanishes into the nationalized group Societe Nationale d'Etudes
et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation (SNECMA).
