Le Rhône

Le Rhône was the name given to a series of rotary aircraft engines built between 1910 and 1920. Le Rhône series engines were originally sold by the Société des Moteurs Le Rhône, and following a 1914 corporate buyout, by its successor company, Gnome et Rhône. During World War I, more than 22,000 nine cylinder Le Rhône engines were built, with the type far outselling Gnome et Rhône's other main wartime engine series, the Gnome Monosoupape.

Licenses for production of Le Rhône series engines were negotiated with companies in Great Britain, Austria, Italy, Russia, Sweden, and Germany. Le Rhône-designed engines powered many of the most famous WW1 aircraft, including the Sopwith Pup, the Sopwith Camel, the Nieuport 11 "Bebe" and the Fokker Dr.1 "Triplane".