Maybach Mb.IVa

Mb.IVa
Type 6-cyl water-cooled in-line piston engine
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH
Designed by Karl Maybach
Major applications Zeppelin airships (LZ 105 to 114[1])
Produced 1916 - 1918


Not to be confused with Mercedes D.IVa.

The Maybach Mb.IVa (written in German sources as Mb IVa, without a dot) was a six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline aircraft and airship engine developed in Germany during World War I by Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH, a subsidiary of Zeppelin. It was one of the world's first series-produced engines designed specifically for high-altitude use. It was quite different engine design than the previous Maybach Mb.IV, not just a simple modification.

Design and development

Like all engines of that time, the previous Maybach design, the Mb IV, lost at high altitude as much as half of the nominal power of 240 horsepower. The new Maybach Mb IVa of 1916 was the first engine designed to overcome this limitation.[1] It did not use a supercharger, but a much more primitive solution. The engine had purposely "oversized" cylinders, and too high compression ratio. It was tested on Wendelstein (mountain)[2] at an altitude of 1800 m and rated there at 245 hp.[3] This would theoretically correspond to rating of about 300 hp at sea level; however, the engine was not designed to withstand such power[4] - it needed to be carefully throttled down at low altitude, so it would not exceed the safe level of 245 hp. It had three carburettor settings, to be changed during the flight depending on the altitude.

The engine has been falsely designated as 260 hp (190 kW) at sea level, so it would not appear inferior to the engines it replaced.[4]

Applications

During the First World War

After the First World War

Other Maybach engines

The earlier Maybach's engines were:

The power ratings for these older engines are at sea level, unlike the rating of the Mb IVa.

Specifications (Mb.IVa)

Data from Kleinheins.[1]

General characteristics

Components

Performance

See also


Related lists

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maybach Mb IVa.
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Kleinheins, Peter (2005). Die grossen Zeppeline : die Geschichte des Luftschiffbaus (in German). Berlin [u.a.]: Springer. pp. 91–93. ISBN 3-540-21170-5.
  2. Ernst Heinrich Hirschel; Horst Prem; Gero Madelung (2004). Aeronautical research in Germany : from Lilienthal until today. Berlin: Springer. pp. 217–218. ISBN 3-540-40645-X.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Wilhelm Treue; Stefan Zima; Gustav Burr (1992). Hochleistungsmotoren : Karl Maybach und sein Werk (in German). Düsseldorf: VDI Verlag. p. 290. ISBN 978-3-18-400905-2.
  4. 4.0 4.1 George William Haddow; Peter Michael Grosz (1962). The German giants. Putnam.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Kyrill von Gersdorff; Kurt Grasmann; Karl Prestel; Helmut Schubert (1985). Flugmotoren und Strahltriebwerke : Entwicklungsgeschichte der deutschen Luftfahrtantriebe von den Anfängen bis zu den internationalen Gemeinschaftsentwicklungen (in German) (2. erg. und erw. Aufl. ed.). Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe. p. 26. ISBN 3-7637-5283-8.