Göring's Letter Nr.2 concerning BMW motors

Here is letter Nr.2, again thanks to Hannes Täger for proof reading.

Best,
Dave Watts


Jagdgeschwader Frhr. v. Richthofen O.U.2.8.1918
Br.Nr. 2053/II

Reports over the BMW IIIa engine.
................................................
The BMW IIIa engine continues to perform splendidly. Apart from some small deficiencies, (which are already remedied), nothing has turned out to be unfavorable. Its superiority, as compared to the other engines, (also the enemy's), is proven daily. As a rule, the "over" gas throttle position is not used under 3000 meters. Not only have we been operating in the "over" gas throttle position almost constantly throughout aerial engagement, but also at low altitude, and without any damage to the engine; (only stronger vibrating becomes apparent). Recently a pilot, who was driven down by some Spads near a balloon and had lost his orientation, flew for over a half hour with the throttle in the "over" gas position and the motor at full revs (1500-1600rpm) at a height of 100 meters pursued by the Spads. It was superior in rate to the Spads. The engine had operated smoothly and had not suffered in the slightest. Again the Geschwader, (squadron), requests it for immediate and extensive delivery and asks for the immediate start of licensed production in as many factories as possible.
gez. Göring****************
Oblt. u. Geschwader-Kommandeur.

[Barrett]

Dave: Thanks for this rare technical info, the sort of valuable material that gets lost amid so many personality-driven threads.
Just a note of explanation: "Geschwader", whatever the literal translation, equates to group or wing rather than squadron. "Staffel" is squadron rather than flight, which as I understand it was usually a "Kette". For example, Jagdstaffel 1 (Arabic numeral) was Fighter Squadron One; Jagdgeschwader I (Roman numeral) was Fighter Wing One.
Details of BMW operation have been noted for future reference in the continuing saga, "Duel Over Douai." Coming to a bookstore near you sometime in the next millennium...if Boom, Puresome and I ever get organized.

Dave,

Fascinating, thank you for making these letters available for us 'nur auf Englisch' folk..

Am I correct in supposing the the Mercedes engine referred to by Goering is the 200 hp
high compression engine?

I cannot find any information on the BMW engine but I seem to recall that it was 220 hp also high compression but I may be wrong. I cannot seem to remember for sure if the BMW was 200 or 220 hp.

Regards,

MDD

Barrett,
Thanks for the clarification on the translations, I will make the corrections in my next posting for letter Nr.3. I agree with you, I find the information very interesting. The fact that these are "professional" observations, gives us an insight that would otherwise not be available.

Michael,
This subject of Horsepower ratings, is a tricky one. As I've posted before the motor companies, and Göring, (as you will see in future postings), refer to motors as "the 160 HP Mercedes", even though it may actually be a "over compressed 160" equaling 185 HP. So the nomenclature becomes somewhat confusing. Now, to answer your specific question, the Mercedes Göring is referring to would probably actually be rated at 170-180 HP, (you will see that he refers to a Albatros D.V in the next posting, so it would be an older version, but he is also most likely referring to early D.VIIs which would have had the 180-185 HP). The BMW IIIa is called a "185 HP", so it would probably be rated at 185-195 HP. The motors, (both Mercedes and BMW), were continually improved and horse power was increased accordingly, so as I stated, it is not possible to say the Mercedes or the BMW was this horsepower or that horsepower, since they were always changing.
Best Wishes,
Dave Watts

Dave,

Thanks for the useful information..

Regards,

MDD

[PeterL]

Dave, this is facinating stuff. Are you working with a view to future publication?

Peter L

[rammjaeger]

As a child I have had a booklet dealing with cars including also data of the horsepower for the engines.
I remember every car had two data: an American (?) number for the horspower and a more little number for the horsepower measured after German DIN (Deutsche Industrienorm) -standard.

1 German DIN-HP was equal to 1.xx hp measured with an American or British method (SEA or SAE or similar). Maybe a specialist with better knowledge in this field could explain the difference. But maybe this difference has nothing to do with this problem here.

Hannes,

Great point on the horsepower rating. You are quite correct about different countries using different formulas for configuring "horsepower" ratings. I can recall that when you would talk about your car in the USA, and would say that you had a 427 cubic inch, 425 horsepower motor, the usual response was, "At the flywheel or at the rear wheel?". It is always higher at the flywheel and this is what manufacturers would use in advertising. I'm assuming with a airplane motor, the horsepower would be configured from the crankshaft.

The other thing was that BHP, (British Horse Power), was always a lower number than American Horse Power.

I never thought of the different countries using their different formulas. As you said, it would be nice if someone could post the formulas for;

USA
British
German
French

Hannes, your point may help to explain some of the wide discrepancies that are given for motors. If you recall a posting on motors I got into a while back with Bryon Angel, he asked about the Mercedes horsepower rating of a motor from a very early D.VII, 368/18, that was captured just weeks after being delivered to the front. The horsepower rating was from a British report, so it will be interesting to see what new light is shed on this report.

Best Wishes,
Dave Watts

[Vigilant]

Dave
I believe BHP stands for Brake Horse Power, at least it does here in Britain. Don't ask me what it is though because I've never really fathomed the difference between BHP, HP, torque, CC etc.

Vigilant
New email: vigilant2@hotmail.com

David,

I have been faithfully lurking on this forum. Thank you for your translations, which I found MOST interesting.

In reading your second post, I was struck by the passage in Goering's letter to the effect that a German pilot in a D.VIIF:

".....was driven down by some Spads near a balloon and had lost his orientation, flew for over a half hour with the throttle in the "over" gas position and the motor at full revs (1500-1600rpm) at a height of 100 meters pursued by the Spads. It was superior in rate to the Spads."

Do you take the last sentence to imply that the D.VIIF was actually faster than the pursuing SPADS's in level speed at low altitude. We, of course, do not know if the SPAD's were VII's or XIII's. But in either case it would credit the D.VIIF with a level speed performance higher than other data which I have seen, inasmuch as the D.VIIF has not been credited IIRC with a level speed greater than either SPAD (or we might well be dealing with a fresh aircraft versus war-weary pursuers). Any thoughts on this point?

BRgds / Byron