
The Clerget 9B rotary engine was used on the Sopwith F1 Camel among other aircraft. At 130 Hp, with separate intake and exhaust valves, it was considered to be the Pinnacle of rotary aircraft engine design.
This particular Le Clerget 9B, produced July 1917 by Société Clerget-Blin et Cie, was held in stores at Toussus Le Noble airfield, west of Paris, during the Great War. After WWI the engine was sent to a French aviation training unit at Aeroport Pau Pyrenees where it remained in its crate. The engine was purchased by Jean-Baptiste Salis in 1937 with only factory run time on it. Baptiste moved the engine to Cerny-La Ferte Alais where it was hidden from the Germans during WWII. In 1965 the Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis (AJBS) was formed to restore and maintain vintage aircraft to flying condition. Here the engine was fitted to a Morane-Saulnier and flown for a short period of time. In 2005 the engine was removed for its first 20 hour “opening-up” inspection and placed in storage. In 2011 the engine was traded by AJBS to Koz Aero LLC in Grand Rapids, Michigan. From 2012 to 2014 the engine was disassembled, cleaned and overhauled to airworthy condition by Koz Aero LLC.