List of aircraft engines of Germany during World War II

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This is a list of all German motors including all aircraft engines, rocket motors, jets and any other powerplants, along with a very basic description. It includes experimental engines as well as those that made it to production status.

Contents

The Reich Air Ministry used an internal designation system that included a prefix number signifying the engine type, 9 for piston engines and 109 for jets and rockets, followed by a manufacturer's code, followed by an engine series number. [1] Unlike the 9-prefixed piston engine designations, the 109-series of reaction-thrust, turbojet, turboprop and rocket engine designation numbers' three-place numerical suffixes had no "firm adherence" to any one manufacturer.

Using this system, the famous BMW engine used in the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 would be known as the 9-801 (Piston(9)-BMW(8)Number(01)). However, this system was not widely used, even within the RLM, and a common name consisting of the manufacturer's name (often abbreviated) followed by the model number was much more common. The list below uses the common BMW 801 instead of the official 9-801.

Engines produced before the RLM's designation system was set up are often listed using the same basic terminology. So while the interwar Argus 10 engine can be referred to as the As 10, it is not correct to call it the 9–10, this designation was never applied.

Notable engines:

BMW 003BMW 801HWK 109–509


The Luftwaffe also used engines from France, particularly the Gnôme-Rhône 14 cylinder series of radial engines for its Henschel Hs 129 (14M) ground attack aircraft and Messerschmitt Me 323 (14N) "Gigant" transporter.


Piston engines (motors)

Argus Motoren

Bayerische Motorenwerke

BMW-Bramo

Daimler-Benz

Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz

Hirth Motoren and Heinkel-Hirth

Junkers Motoren

Siemens–Schuckert Werke

Jet and rocket engines

(Rocket engines, turboprops, turbojets, and other non-piston engines included)
For the Last three digits: 001-499 Air Breathing, 500–999 Non-Air Breathing (Rockets)

Air-breathing

(turbojets, turboprops, pulsejets, .... )

Rockets

(non-air breathing engines: liquid-fuel rocket, solid-fuel rocket)

Other

See also

RLM aircraft designation system
List of RLM aircraft designations

Notes and references

  1. Christopher, John. The Race for Hitler's X-Planes (The Mill, Gloucestershire: History Press, 2013), p.77 and 100.
  2. Polish Aviation Museum page on their 109-501 RATO booster

References:

Jason R. Wisniewski, Powering the Luftwaffe: German Aero Engines of World War II, FriesenPress, Victoria, BC, Canada, 2013.

Bill Gunston, World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines: From the Pioneers to the Present Day, Sutton Publishing Ltd, Phoenix Mill UK, 2006.

Herschel Smith, Aircraft Piston Engines: From the Manly Balzer to the Continental Tiara, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan, Kansas, 1986.

Antony L. Kay, German Jet Engine and Gas Turbine Development, 1930–45, Crowood Press, 2002.

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