Austro-Daimler 6

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The Austro-Daimler 6 - also known as Austro-Daimler Aeroplan Engine Type 6 or Austro-Daimler Type 6 or shortly AD6 - was a standing liquid-cooled series - six-cylinder - aircraft engine , which from 1910 by Austro-Daimler in what was then Austria-Hungary was made . This was designed by Ferdinand Porsche as an aircraft engine from the very beginning and was also used in a further developed form in the First World War , where, due to its qualities , it served as a model for various similar later engines from the German Empire , Austria-Hungary itself and even Great Britain . From 1917 onwards, the Type 6 replaced the original Mercedes engines during production and occasionally also afterwards in the field because of its higher performance, quality and greater availability in various aircraft of the Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops. The production of these engines ended after the First World War, after which there was limited civil use for a few years.

history

Austro-Daimler airplane type 6 engine
Austro-Daimler Type 6 with 200 hp

The beginnings

The Austro-Daimler 6 was built from 1909 at the request of the military aviation station , the immediate predecessor of the kuk aviation troops from the then Austria-Hungary , which that year started training with some aircraft from their own production (e.g. the Etrich Taube ) as well as various other machines of various origins, some of which were donated, began. An aircraft engine from the country's own production that fully utilizes the technical standard was required , which should be both powerful and reliable. The vehicle manufacturer Austro-Daimler from Wiener Neustadt received the order for development and production . The development was led by the well-known even in its time designer Ferdinand Porsche , of the Austro-Daimler Aeroplan Engine Type 6 engine called as liquid-cooled series - six-cylinder designed, where he so far represented a special feature, as it constructed and from the beginning as an aircraft engine contemporary unlike other Engines had not been derived from motor vehicle engines. The first series model ran in 1910 and then deliveries to the relevant aircraft manufacturers began .

First versions

The basic features of the Austro-Daimler type 6 aircraft came from the first aircraft engines for airships and airplanes, which had already appeared in 1908 and were also designed by Ferdinand Porsche himself . In its first version from 1910, the new airplane engine was the first mass-produced aircraft engine in the world with a displacement of 13.90 liters and a dry weight of 260 kg and a total of 65 hp (47 kW ) at 1200 rpm - although this was the first version because of it which at that time was still too low in performance initially did not find much interest in the aviation world of that time. After further development and refinement by Ferdinand Porsche himself, from 1912 it already produced 100 hp (73 kW) at a speed of 1200 rpm, and from 1913 120 hp (88 kW) at a speed of 1200 rpm.

The Austro Daimler type 6 had the typical features of former aircraft engines: vertically disposed stationary cylinder, a crankcase of an aluminum alloy , screwed cylinder made of cast iron , two valves per cylinder (one for inlet and one for outlet), and double ignition with two Bosch - magneto . However, a special feature was provided with two camshafts executed valve control : via bevel gears was supported by the crankshaft , a laterally disposed right below ( OHV driven) camshaft which on bumpers and rocker arm actuated exhaust valves. Another overhead ( OHC ) camshaft was driven by a vertical shaft and operated the inlet valves via short tappets. As with other OHV and / or OHC in-line engines of the Central Powers and the Allies , the arrangement of the inlet side was on the left and the outlet side on the right.

Prototype for other aircraft engines

Due to Ferdinand Porsche's design work, it was not surprising that the engine was a successful design from the start and that it was always of excellent manufacturing quality. It was therefore also not surprising that the Austro-Daimler 6 inspired various other manufacturers at home and abroad to design and manufacture very similar aircraft engines during the First World War . Among the imitators were such well-known manufacturers as Mercedes and Benz in the German Empire , Beardmore in Great Britain and Hiero in Austria-Hungary itself.

First World War (1914-1918)

As a result, both reconnaissance and fighter planes were fitted with these engines during the First World War . The power levels with unchanged displacement were from 1914 to 150 hp (110 kW) at a speed of 1200 rpm and from 1915 to 160 hp (118 kW) at a speed of 1300 rpm. An important customer was the Oesterreichische Flugzeugfabrik AG (Oeffag) in Wiener Neustadt, which manufactured various types of reconnaissance, fighter and seaplanes from 1915 to 1918 , including the Albatros fighter D.II and D.III under license . Oeffag only installed Austro-Daimler engines, with the two Albatros licensed machines mentioned being the most powerful models with 200 and 225 hp from 1917 onwards.

However, Austro-Daimler's production capacities were not sufficient to meet the enormous war-related demand, so that this engine was also manufactured under license in Hungary from 1916 by the company " MAG " in the 8th district of Budapest . In 1916, the Hungarian-made motor under license produced 160 HP (117 kW), later 165 HP (121 kW) at a speed of 1400 rpm, and from 1917 onwards it again corresponded to the further developed original with 200 or 225 HP.

In 1917, the further developed versions with a bore × stroke ratio of 135 × 175 mm and thus a slightly larger displacement (bore increased by 5 mm, stroke remained exactly the same) initially produced a total of 185 hp (136 kW) at a speed of 1400 / min, a short time later 200 hp (147 kW) at an engine speed of 1500 rpm and, following detailed improvements to the mixture preparation, 225 hp (165 kW) at an engine speed of 1500 rpm. At the same time, the engine was structurally reinforced, which, together with other measures such as a. two larger double riser carburetors (instead of one smaller double riser carburetor) increased the weight to 331 kg, whereby this Austro-Daimler aircraft engine reportedly lost none of its known reliability even in these highest power levels.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that despite all the qualities of the other also Austro-Hungarian six-cylinder aircraft engine Hiero , of the famous automobile - racing driver Otto Hieronimus was constructed and was influenced by Austro-Daimler 6, since its publication in 1915 and production stopped immediately after the war on the remaining Austrian and Hungarian soil always had more power (200 and later 230 hp) and proved to be at least as reliable.

Also around the beginning of 1917, the Austro-Daimler 6 replaced the original Mercedes engines during production and partly because of its higher performance, which was particularly advantageous on the higher Austrian airfields , its excellent quality and its higher availability for various types of aircraft of the kuk aviation troops also retrospectively for hunting machines in use in the field.

After 1918

After the war and the subsequent dissolution of the multi-ethnic state Austria-Hungary, the production of these Austro-Daimler aircraft engines in Austria, Hungary and Germany was discontinued by order of the Allies , whereupon the Austro-Daimler-Werke started again with the production of civilian vehicles . After that, it was no longer used in new aircraft, remnants and used engines from the war were sometimes still used in civil aircraft in the newly founded successor states of Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia . However , the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain required the destruction of all aircraft engines still in the factory. In addition, this same peace treaty forbade the Republic of Austria on the one hand the production of larger aircraft engines, on the other hand, the low demand for aircraft would have made a corresponding series production in any case not economical.

Applications

Technical specifications

  • Type: six-cylinder in - line engine
  • Bore × stroke :
    • from 1910: 130 × 175 mm
    • from 1917: 135 × 175 mm
  • Displacement :
    • from 1910: 13.90 liters
    • from 1917: 15.00 liters
  • Compression :
    • from 1910: 6.0: 1
    • from 1912: 6.2: 1
    • from 1914: 6.5: 1
    • from 1917: 7.0: 1
  • Cooling: liquid cooling , forced circulation with water pump and cooler
  • Valves per cylinder: 2
  • Valve control : Two camshafts , inlet side OHC / exhaust side OHV
  • Mixture preparation :
    • from 1910: A double riser carburetor
    • from 1917: Two double riser carburettors
  • Power:
    • from 1910: 65.00 hp (47.70 kW ) at a speed of 1200 rpm
    • from 1912: 100 HP (73 kW) at a speed of 1200 rpm
    • from 1913: 120 hp (88 kW) at a speed of 1200 rpm
    • from 1914: 150 hp (110 kW) at a speed of 1200 rpm
    • from 1915: 160 HP (118 kW) at a speed of 1300 rpm
    • from 1916: 185 hp (136 kW) at a speed of 1400 rpm
    • from 1917: 200 HP (147 kW) at an engine speed of 1500 rpm
    • from 1917: 225 hp (165 kW) at an engine speed of 1500 rpm
  • Dimensions:
    • Length: 172 mm
    • Width: 57mm
    • Height: 115 mm
  • Mass (dry):
    • from 1913: 260 kg
    • from 1917: 331 kg
  • Fuel: petrol (at least 75 octane , until 1914 at least 70 octane)

literature

  • Enzo Angelucci: The Rand McNalley Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft 1914–1980. Rand McNally, Chicago IL 1980, ISBN 0-528-81547-4 , p. 102.
  • Bill Gunston: World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Stephens, Wellingborough 1986, ISBN 0-85059-717-X , p. 22.
  • Wernfried Haberfellner: The Wiener Neustädter aircraft works. Gesellschaft mbH The emergence, construction and decline of an aircraft factory. Weishaupt, Graz 1999, ISBN 3-7059-0000-5 .

Web links

Commons : Austro-Daimler 6  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

See also