In 1917, BMW's first aircraft engine, the Type IIIa, goes into production. It is a water-cooled six-cylinder inline engine, it features a unique "high-altitude carburetor" developed by chief engineer Max Friz that allows it to develop full power at altitude. Max Friz was a grand engineering mind who would dominate BMW's product development culture on into the 1960's.
Popp convinced the German government to buy the BMW IIIa engine.
Camillo Castiglioni - Short presentation
22 October 1879 – 18 December 1957 was an Italian-Austrian financier and banker, and was the wealthiest man in Central Europe during World War I. Nicknamed “Austrian Stinnes”, he was active in aviation's pioneering days and invested in the arts.
Early life
Castiglioni was born in Trieste, then Austria–Hungary (now part of Italy). It is not know when Camillo developed his interest in aviation, but it is known that he was passionate about flying. Camillo's education was primarily law, gaining employment as an attorney and legal officer of a bank in Padua, quickly learning international finance and how to manage capital. He was the son of a rubber maker, so naturally Camillo found work with the Austro-American Gummiwarenfabrik AG (rubber products) in Vienna as an Agent for the Kaufmann automobile tire division in Constantinople. Camillo found great success in this position, demonstrating his abilities to negotiate and structure financial deals. In fact, Camillo was so successful, he was promoted to Director of the export department of the parent company in Vienna. Around 1901, along with Viktor Silberer and Franz Hinterstoissera Camillo helped to create the Viennese aero club (later Austrian aero club). He eventually was made deputy director, then in 1904 he was appointed to General Director of the company. Through his experience in the rubber and tire production field, Camillo saw the birth of aviation as an industry, going from a ballooning hobby, to makeshift glider craft requiring tires, to fully operational aircraft operated by engines. He met many influential men in his business, and came to realize that aviation sparked not only his passion for flight, but also recognized the tremendous financial opportunity of aviation's potential as an industry.
In order to draw from the arising enthusiasm for airplanes and ballooning, as well as to take advantage of the lucrative business the hobby generated, Camillo established one of his first companies, Motoren-Luftfahrzeuggesellschaft GmbH, in 1907. Being a pure commercial firm - it acquired the Etrich balloon patents and sold balloon fliers in Austria Hungary. There were many contests that these inspired balloon drivers entered, and Camillo was no different- he bought his own balloon and successfully took his balloon driver examination on 24 August 1909.
Aviation financing
During the First World War, became one of the richest and most influential financiers in Central Europe.
The first major investor in the series production of aircraft. 1914 Purchased the German aircraft company Hansa- und Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke, which employed Ernst Heinkel as its chief designer. Acquired a majority holding in Austro-Daimler with its chief designers Puch and Porsche. Press "Czar" and sponsor of the arts (financed Max Reinhardt and helped him to organize the Salzburg Festival). After a series of setbacks, his financial empire broke up in 1926. He retired to Switzerland, then to Milan where he set up a private bank and once again amassed a considerable fortune. After the Second World War, negotiated a large US loan for his friend Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia. When Tito refused to pay his commission, Castiglioni succeeded in getting Yugoslavian assets in Italy worth millions sequestered. 1916 Awarded the Franz Joseph Order with ribbon on the Military Service Cross for his services to aviation 1918 with the St-Georges Order for his achievements in the war material production.
Castiglioni became rich in ventures during the period of inflation, acquiring a majority interest in Alpine Montan AG. The Austrian aviation company Österreichische Luftfahrtsgesellschaft was founded by him.
BMW influence
Castiglioni significantly influenced the development of BMW AG in its early years. The granting of a license agreement by Austro-Daimler to the Rapp-Werke in 1917 was partly attributable to Castiglioni. 1918 At Castiglioni's insistence the Wiener Bankverein (Vienna) acquired the majority of BMW's share capital. 1922 Castiglioni purchased all the equipment relating to engine construction, the associated know-how and the rights to the name "Bayerische Motoren Werke AG" from the BMW AG, which was renamed Süddeutsche Bremse AG. Castiglioni in turn renamed the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke to BMW AG and allowed the renamed company to continue production at the BFW plant. From the establishment of BMW AG until November 9, 1922 and then from 1924 to 1929, he was a member of the Supervisory Board and President of BMW AG. 1928 Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
His was one of the voices that urged BMW in 1928 to purchase the Eisenach Automobilwerke. Due to financial difficulties in 1929 he was obliged to surrender his holding of BMW shares to a consortium of banks (Deutsche Bank, Disconto, Bankhaus Hagen etc.).
A consortium led by the Deutsche Bank and the Diskonto-Gesellschaft purchased the BMW shares previously held by Camillo Castiglioni, who was facing problems of liquidity.
Failed speculation and bankcruptcy
In February 1924, Castiglioni partnered with Fritz Mannheimer, and later other influential bankers to speculate on the devaluation of the French franc. They shorted hundreds of millions of franc, eventually causing the franc to drop almost 40% in less than a month. By the beginning of March 1924, one United States dollar was worth 28 francs. Then, however, investment bank Lazard, on the behalf of Banque de France and powered by J.P. Morgan & Co.,[1] bought immense amounts of francs, causing the franc to rise again, to 15 franc per dollar. Castiglioni, Mannheimer and their partners lost millions.
In September 1924, the Austrian Depositenbank, of which Castiglioni had been president, collapsed. A warrant for his arrest on a charge of fraud was issued, but Castiglioni had been taken care to be in Italy when the crash came. The Austrian State said that if he deposited $4,200,000 ($56956893 in present day value), he could return unmolested.
Philanthropy
Castiglioni built up a large art collection and a theatre in Vienna. He was the richest man in Central Europe and much beloved by the Viennese whom he assisted financially on Sundays and odd occasions. He was also a patron of the arts and for some time supported the famed producer Max Reinhardt, for whom he built a theater. So fond was he of appearing in the public limelight that he lived with all the pomp and ceremony of royalty, even traveling in the Kaiser Karl's private parlor car, which he bought.
Because of his famous banking activities, his life was documented in a 1988 movie on television titled Camillo Castiglioni oder die Moral der Haifische (in English: Camillo Castiglioni, or the morality of sharks), directed by Peter Patzak.
Max Friz - Short Presentation
Max Friz ,
the engineer who designed the BMW IIIa aero engine and the R32 motorcycle
1 October 1883 – 9 June 1966 was a German mechanical engineer specializing in engine design. He was the key contributor of engine design and innovation that led to the founding of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) in 1917.
Early life
Assumed to be originally from Urach, very little is known about Friz' youth. It is known however, that at a young age, he apprenticed to the Kuhn steam engine company in Cannstatt starting in 1898. In 1902 he enrolled at the Royal Building Trade School in Stuttgart-Esslingen furthering his engineering skills. In 1906 he was employed by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, in the Design Office, making major contributions to the design of the racing engine for the 1914 Mercedes Grand Prix car that won the French Grand Prix.
Friz designed the first practical German aircraft engines in 1912-1913 while at Austro-Daimler. The engines had separate cylinders on the crankcase and an overhead camshaft driven by a vertical shaft and bevel gears. At the end of 1916 the young engineer Max Friz applied for a position with Rapp Motorenwerke. At that time Friz was still working for the Daimler engine company in Untertürkheim, near Stuttgart. However, he was frustrated because the chief engineer, Paul Daimler, ignored the suggestions of his young assistant on engine development. Faced with this situation, Friz remembered his former colleague, Karl Rapp. At first Rapp was going to turn down Friz’s request; however, Josef Popp successfully intervened on Friz’s behalf, because he recognized that Rapp Motorenwerke lacked an able designer.
At the Daimler engine company, Max Friz had tried in vain to develop an over-sized, high-compression engine, but Paul Daimler had firmly committed himself to supercharger technology. Not until he had moved to Munich was Friz able to put his own ideas for a high-altitude engine into practice. In the space of a few weeks he designed a new aero-engine, which, with an innovative carburettor and a variety of other technical details, was superior to any other German aero-engine. Later, this engine would gain world renown under the designation “BMW IIIa”.
Aircraft Engines
Upon arriving at Rapp Motorenwerke, Friz was tasked to develop an aircraft engine that could attain very high altitudes as well as be durable and aerodynamically favorable. A higher operational flight ceiling was a critical strategic advantage for the pilot (since the atmospheric pressure decreases the higher a pilot flies a plane, a conventional engine at this time literally stalled out above 3,000 meters).
In the spring of 1917, at the time Friz was working at the drawing board on his groundbreaking engine, the outlook for Rapp Motorenwerke was bad. The Army High Command wanted to commit itself to a few types of aircraft and aeroengine and then get these built under license by several companies. In the spring of 1917 a commission from the Reichswehr therefore inspected the Rapp engine plant. They had to decide which engines would in future have to be produced under license in Munich. In the end, the Rapp management was faced with the choice of manufacturing either Daimler or Benz engines. However, Franz Josef Popp seized the opportunity of presenting the new engine to the commission of experts, an engine which up to now had only existed in Max Friz’s drawings.
The interest shown by the officers was considerable, and soon there was no more talk of the Rapp engine factory being relegated to the rank of a mere assembler. In fact, the Reichswehr was so impressed by the new engine that it placed an order for 600 units, even before a single prototype had been produced. The aeroengine developed by Friz had turned Rapp Motorenwerke into an essential contributor to the war effort virtually overnight.
On 20 May 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke registered the documentation for the construction design for the new engine, dubbed project "BBE". Friz' design, based on Karl Rapp's design) was laid out as an in-line six-cylinder, which guaranteed optimum balance, therefore few, small vibrations. The engine was successful, but the real breakthrough came in 1917, when Friz integrated a basically simple throttle butterfly into the "high-altitude carburettor", enabling the engine to develop its full power high above the ground. This is precisely the reason why the engine, now dubbed "Type IIIa", had unique superiority in air combat. The water-cooled in-line 6-cylinder engine's reputation grew very quickly. Franz-Zeno Diemer, the pioneering aviator, sets a new world altitude record with a 32,000 ft (9760 m) flight in 1919 using the BMW IVa engine.
It was the success of this engine that allowed the company to grow exceptionally fast, necessitating the restructuring of the company. In 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke is renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH the predecessor to the modern day BMW AG. Friz, as Design Director for BMW, designed further aircraft engines which strengthened BMW's reputation still further in later years.
Motorcycles
With World War I now over, the company was forbidden from aircraft design. This necessitated the need for new avenues of growth for the company. Friz, with his designs and engineering expertise, launches BMW into the motorcycle market with the development of the R32 motorcycle, which established the foundation for all future boxer powered BMW motorcycles (in addition to numerous motorsport titles and world records).
The boxer engine in an R32 - 1924
Friz and his team of engineers design the first "boxer" (or opposed twin) engine was the fore-and-aft M2B15, based on a British Douglas design. It was manufactured by BMW in 1921/1922 but mostly used in other brands of motorcycles, notably Victoria of Nuremberg. The M2B15 proved to be moderately successful and BMW used it in its own Helios motorcycle. BMW also developed and manufactured a small 2-stroke motorcycle called the Flink for a short time. When BMW Gmbh went public in 1922, Friz was named the first Chief Engineer and Design Director of BMW AG, a post he would hold until 1937.
With the development of its first light alloy cylinder head, a much more significant "across the frame" version of the boxer engine was designed. In 1923 the R32 debuted at the Paris Auto Show, and caused quite a sensation among engineers and consumers alike. Using the new aluminum alloy cylinders, Friz designed a 486 cc engine with 8.5 hp (6.3 kW) and a top speed of 95–100 km/h (60 mph). The R32 was the second major product Friz designed for his company, effectively keeping the company solvent during a difficult time.
The engine and gear box formed a bolt-up single unit. At a time when many motorcycle manufacturers used a total-loss oiling systems, the new BMW engine featured a recirculating wet-sump oiling system. However, it was not a "high-pressure oil" system based on shell bearings and tight clearances that we are familiar with, but a drip feed to roller bearings. This system was used by BMW until 1969. The wet-sump system was not overly common on motorcycles until the 1970s and the arrival of Japanese motorcycles. Until then, many manufacturers had used dry sump, with an external oil-tank made of sheet-metal.
Automobiles
Friz was appointed to General Manager of BMW-Flugmotorenbau GmbH, Munich in 1934, and was there until 1937. With BMW continued growth into automobiles, Friz succeeded Leo C. Grass as General Manager of Flugmotorenfabrik Eisenach GmbH, overseeing development of automobile engine design and development. 1945 Friz retired from BMW. Friz was honored with an Honorary Doctorate from the Munich College of Advanced Technology in 1954.
Died in Tegernsee.
Franz-Zeno Diemer - Short presentation
Early life
Born in Oberammergau, Bavaria Son of the painter Prof. Michael Zeno Diemer and Frau Diemer Trained as an engineer. 1912 Joined the Bavarian Lifeguard Regiment, then a flying squadron. Was a member of "Bogohl 8 (the bomber squadron operated by the Senior Military Command, with rank of Flying Officer.1. July 1921 Joined Dornier in Friedrichshafen as test pilot and for trial flying of new aircraft.
1922 After Dornier's move to Marina di Pisa Italy, worked as test pilot, head of the aerodynamics department and manager of the advertising department.
From 1935 on, worked exclusively as manager of the advertising department. Was editor in chief of the company newspaper "Dornier-Post" which appeared from the autumn of 1935 until July 1938.
August 1939 to Ende 1944: German Air Force.
Returned to Dornier and assumed charge of the suggestions scheme. End of March 1946 retired; ceased to work for Dornier.
Functions at BMW
Test pilot for BMW.
13.09.1919 Set up a world altitude record for a passenger aircraft (8 people on board, 6750 metres) in a Junkers F.13 powered by a BMW IIIa aircraft engine (the pilot, however, may have been Moes).
Franz-Zeno Diemer, the pioneering aviator, sets a new world altitude record with a 32,023 ft (9760 m) flight in 1919 using the BMW IV engine.
BMW test pilot Franz Zeno Diemer took off from the Oberwiesenfeld on 17.06.1919 in a DFW- F 37/III ("C-IV") and captured the first (initially unofficial) world record for BMW by reaching an altitude of 9,760 metres in an aircraft with a BMW IV engine, the successor to the IIIa, reached in 89 minutes. The Treaty of Versailles, signed three weeks later, prohibited Germany from making aircraft and aircraft engines, and all BMW's aero-engine development assets were confiscated by order of the Allied Control Commission.
No comments:
Post a Comment