| D.IVa | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mercedes D.IVa at the Deutsches Museum. The prominent black piping is the inlet manifold from the carburetor | |
| Type | Inline piston engine |
| Manufacturer | Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) |
| First run | 1917 |
The Mercedes D.IVa was a German six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline engine developed in 1917 for use in aircraft and built by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG).[1]
The D.IVa replaced the failed Mercedes D.IV inline eight-cylinder engine. The D.IVa was primarily used to power bombers and large reconnaissance aircraft. Unlike most German designs, the D.IVa was relatively advanced, including four valves per cylinder actuated by a SOHC valvetrain, the same "single-camshaft" arrangement that had also been used on the earlier two-valve per cylinder D.I through D.IIIa powerplants.
Designed specifically to be installed in the fuselage, the engine featured a number of design elements intended to reduce its width. For instance, the carburetor was placed behind the engine, feeding fuel to the cylinders via a long tubular intake manifold. This had the disadvantage of poor fuel distribution. Two versions of the engine were produced in mirror copies, running in opposite directions.
Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1918,[2] Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War One[3][4]
