LeBlond Aircraft Engine Corporation
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Rearwin Airplanes |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Founder | Richard K. LeBlond |
| Defunct | 1937 |
| Products | Aeroengines |
LeBlond Aircraft Engine Corporation was a small engine manufacturer incorporated on April 11, 1928 and located on the northwest corner of Madison and Edwards Roads in Norwood, Ohio as a subsidiary of the R. K. LeBlond Machine Tool Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, a well known manufacturer of machinist lathes.
In 1928 Richard K. LeBlond purchased Detroit Aircraft Engineering Corporation, then a subsidiary of Detroit's automaker Rickenbacker owned by World War I pilot and ace Eddie Rickenbacker and the engineer, Glenn D. Angle. and their 5-cylinder Air Cat engine. LeBlond employed the company's designer and previous co-owner, Glenn D. Angle, to improve the design for further production and development. The LeBlond line was continually refined and improved through late 1937.
In December 1937, in order to offset a large tax liability incurred by the LeBlond Tool company, the subsidiary, LeBlond Engines, was sold at a significant loss to Raymond A. Rearwin of Rearwin Airplanes. The purchase was a perfect fit for Rearwin as his company was one of the largest users of LeBlond engines and gave Rearwin a well accepted radial engine to use on his designs. Rearwin renamed the company Ken-Royce Motors after his two sons Ken and Royce Rearwin and continued production of the line until World War Two.
Production of the LeBlond designs never resumed, as the design was not economical compared to the newer "flat" (horizontally opposed) engines of the post-war era. LeBlond/Ken-Royce engine parts were provided during the 1950s by Air Associates and in the 1960s the remaining parts were sold to the Antique Airplane Association of Blakesburg, Iowa.
The LeBlond 5D was the first engine introduced by LeBlond in 1928. The 5D engine design was in essence, a 1925 Detroit Air Cat with minor improvements.
Parts interchangeable between the 5 and 7-cylinder models of the LeBlond and later Ken-Royce engines include the cylinder assemblies, gear case and oil pump. As the engine is modular in design, the gear case can be removed intact. The oil pump, being a single unit, can be removed from the bottom of the gear case for overhaul or replacement.
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