Airplane engines К-7, К-9 and К-14

Manufacturer: Industry of Airplane Engines (Engine Industry Rakovica)

Place and time of production: Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1936–1939

Dimensions (cm): 195 . 136 . 160; 190 . 130 . 135; 190 . 127 . 97

Inventory numbers: Т:12.57, Т:12.58, Т:12.59

Airplane engines К-7, К-9 and К-14 are star-shaped, four-stroke, diesel, pistol engines with air-cooling, with a characteristic “star” or radial layout of pistons around the crankcase. The number in the name of the model marks the number of cylinders of each individual engine. Model K-7 had 430 horse power, K-9 600 hp, while two-row star engine K-14 had 870 hp. The strongest one, K-14, was installed in bombardiers Dornier 17K. 

Engine Industry Rakovica, established in 1927 as Industry of Airplane Engines, manufactured these types of engines from 1936 until 1940, under the licence of French factory Gnome et Rhône, long-time leading manufacturer of airplane engines in Europe. The engines were first assembled using imported parts and then, in 1930, the factory began independent production. Until April 1940, around 350 K-series engines were delivered. Museum of Science and Technology received three engines as a donation by the Engine Industry Rakovica in 2019.