Austro-Daimler 6 Explained

The Austro-Daimler 6 was a series of Austrian six-cylinder water-cooled inline aero engines first produced in 1910 by the Austro-Daimler company.

Design and development

The first Austro-Daimler six-cylinder engine was designed by Dr-Ing Ferdinand Porsche to be an aircraft engine from the outset. Of high quality manufacture, the Austro-Daimler was modestly rated at relatively low rpm, which gave the engine family a reputation for robustness and reliability.

Features of the Austro-Daimler included welded steel water jackets (originally copper), seven main bearings and large diameter inclined inlet and exhaust valves opened by dual action push-pull rods and closed by spring pressure.

The single-overhead cam (SOHC) valvetrain of later engines was driven from the crankshaft through the usual vertically-oriented shaft as the contemporary Mercedes D.III was, but the Austro-Daimler had its vertical camshaft drive system mounted at the front of the engine instead, and not the usual aft-end placement of other Central Powers straight-six SOHC liquid-cooled aircraft powerplants, like the Mercedes and BMW designs.

The Austro-Daimler inspired many imitators such as the Mercedes D.II, Benz Bz.IV and Hiero 6. Limited availability of the Austro-Daimler engines forced some aircraft manufacturers to substitute Mercedes (the German Daimler company) engines in their aircraft, due to greater availability. From 1913, the 90 and 120 hp models were produced under license in Scotland by William Beardmore and Company. The Beardmore 120 hp went on to power many British military aircraft during WW1.^[1]

Variants

Data from:

Austro-Daimler 90 hp 6-cyl.

The original low capacity version developing 90abbr=onNaNabbr=on, introduced in 1910.

Austro-Daimler 120 hp 6-cyl.

Up-rated with a capacity of 13.9abbr=onNaNabbr=on, from 130abbr=onNaNabbr=on bore and 175abbr=onNaNabbr=on stroke, developing 120abbr=onNaNabbr=on at 1,200 rpm, introduced in 1911.

Austro-Daimler 160 hp 6-cyl.

developing 160abbr=onNaNabbr=on, introduced in 1913.

Austro-Daimler 185 hp 6-cyl.

developing 185abbr=onNaNabbr=on, introduced in 1916.

Austro-Daimler 200 hp 6-cyl.

Up-rated with a capacity of 15.03abbr=onNaNabbr=on, from 135abbr=onNaNabbr=on bore and 175abbr=onNaNabbr=on stroke, developing 200abbr=onNaNabbr=on at 1,350 rpm, introduced in December 1916.

Austro-Daimler 210 hp 6-cyl.

210abbr=onNaNabbr=on, introduced in late 1917.

Austro-Daimler 225 hp 6-cyl.

Up-rated with a capacity of 16.16abbr=onNaNabbr=on, from 140abbr=onNaNabbr=on bore and 175abbr=onNaNabbr=on stroke, developing 225abbr=onNaNabbr=on, introduced in 1918.

Applications

Albatros D.II (Oef) (Austro-Daimler 185 hp 6-cyl.)
Albatros D.III (Oef) (Austro-Daimler 200 hp 6-cyl.)
Aviatik B.I
Aviatik B.II
Aviatik D.I
Etrich VII
Hansa-Brandenburg C.I
Hansa-Brandenburg D.I
Lohner C.I
Lohner Type AA (Austro-Daimler 185 hp 6-cyl.)

References

Book: Fred T. . Jane . Fred T. Jane . Jane's All the World's Aircraft . html . Aug 17, 2018 . 1913 . 1969 . 1913 . Arco Publishing Company Inc. . New York, NY . Aeroplanes & Dirigibles: Austro-Hungarian . 69-14964 .
Book: Gunston, Bill . World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines: From the Pioneers to the Present Day . limited . Sutton Publishing . Stroud, UK . 2006 . 5th . 18 . 9780750944793 . 2008383222 .
Book: Angelucci, Enzo . 1980 . The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft 1914–1980 . 102 .
Book: Grey, C. G. . Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1919 . 1969 . 1919 . David & Charles Publishing Ltd. . 0-7153-4647-4 . 1b - 145b .

Notes and References

Book: Lumsden, Alec . British Piston Engines and their Aircraft . 2002 . Airlife Publishing . 1853102946 . 80-81 . en.