page_title: BMW 801
section_title: Surviving and operational examples
hierarchical_section_title: BMW 801 / Design and development / Surviving and operational examples
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: Focke Wulf Fw190A-5 of Flying Heritage Collection
context_page_description: The BMW 801 was a powerful German 41.8-litre air-cooled 14-cylinder-radial aircraft engine built by BMW and used in a number of German Luftwaffe aircraft of World War II. Production versions of the twin-row engine generated between 1,560 and 2,000 PS. It was the most produced radial engine of Germany in World War II with more than 61,000 built.
  The 801 was originally intended to replace existing radial types in German transport and utility aircraft. At the time, it was widely agreed among European designers that an inline engine was a requirement for high performance designs due to its smaller frontal area and resulting lower drag. Kurt Tank successfully fitted a BMW 801 to a new fighter design he was working on, and as a result the 801 became best known as the power plant for the famous Focke-Wulf Fw 190. The BMW 801 radial also pioneered the use of what would today be designated an engine control unit: its Kommandogerät engine management system took over the operation of several aviation engine management control parameters of the era, allowing proper operation of the engine with just one throttle lever.
context_section_description: A sizable number of BMW 801s exist in museums, some on display by themselves, with some 20 of them associated with surviving examples of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190s that they powered in World War II.  The first original Fw 190 to be restored to flight condition in the 21st century is the Fw 190A-5 discovered near St. Petersburg, Russia in 1989, bearing Werknummer 151 227 and formerly serving with JG 54, was restored to flight condition along with its original BMW 801 powerplant. As of 2011, it is once again airworthy and located in Seattle, Washington, USA. The sole surviving Ju 388, in the hands of the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian, has a pair of complete BMW 801J turbocharged engines still in its nacelles.
  There is an 801-ML (801L) on display mounted in a Dornier 217 nacelle, essentially a complete surviving Motoranlage unitized powerplant, at the New England Air Museum, Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT. Likewise, the Ju 88R-1 night fighter at the
  Royal Air Force Museum London (see photo above) also has unitized BMW 801 radials installed.
caption: The Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum's airworthy Fw 190A-5, WkNr. 151 227, between flights with its original, restored BMW 801 radial.
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