BMW Model IIIA In-line 6 Engine
date: label: Date
content: 1918
name: label: Manufacturer
content: BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke)
notes: label: Physical Description
content: Type: Reciprocating, In-line, 6 cylinders, liquid-cooled,
label: Physical Description
content: Power Rating: 134 kW (180 hp) at 1410 rpm
label: Physical Description
content: Displacement: 19.058 L (1,163 cu in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Bore and Stroke: 150 mm (5.9 in) x 180 mm (7.1 in)
label: Physical Description
content: Weight: 293 kg (644 lb)
label: Summary
content: The Daimler-Benz company's virtual monopoly on the production of aircraft engines in Germany stifled research and development of other engines. As a result, when the Allies introduced a new generation of high-performance engines in 1916, Germany found itself without a suitable replacement for its now-obsolete standard aircraft power plant, the 119 kw (160-shp) Daimler-Benz Mercedes.
label: Summary
content: Believing that he had a solution to the crisis, Daimler-Benz designer Max Fritz proposed a new engine that used the same technology as the older Mercedes. But his ideas met with resistance, so Fritz left and joined Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW). There he designed an engine that retained the 6-cylinder in-line configuration of the earlier Daimler-Benz engines, but was superior in many respects.
label: Summary
content: The BMW Model IIIa had unusually low fuel consumption and very good performance at high altitudes. This was the result of a choked down carburetor setting and a high compression ratio. It powered such aircraft as the Fokker D VII.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: Germany
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
label: Exhibition
content: World War I: The Birth of Military Aviation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transferred from the U.S. Navy
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19710908000
objectType: label: Type
content: PROPULSION-Reciprocating & Rotary
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Metal
label: Dimensions
content: 3-D: 170.2 × 50.8 × 105.4cm (67 × 20 × 41 1/2 in.)
label: Dimensions
content: Support: 65.4 × 106.7 × 50.8cm (25 3/4 in. × 42 in. × 20 in.)