Daimler Benz DB-601

Airplane blueprint for the Daimler, Benz, DB-601 ... Aviation history and aircraft blueprints/plans.

Daimler-Benz DB-601 - It was a liquid-cooled inverted V12, and powered the Messerschmitt Bf 109, among others.
Daimler-Benz was formed in 1926 when Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (the parent company of Mercedes) merged with Benz. The company quickly entered the liquid-cooled V-12 market with the F2 in 1927. The famous Daimler-Benz inverted-vee V-12 engines had their start with the DB 600 of 1934. Direct fuel injection was introduced with the DB 601 which gave the Luftwaffe an edge over the RAF during the Battle of Britain...the DB 601 was unaffected by negative g's.

By 1944, Daimler-Benz engines were so important to the Luftwaffe that it ran 8 major factories with 6 more being run by other organizations.

The Mercedes-Benz DB 601 aircraft engine, built by the firm of Daimler-Benz A.G. in its huge factories at Stuttgart-Unterturkheim and elsewhere in Germany, is perhaps the best known military engine in Continental Europe. Undoubtedly, it has seen the most active service as it has been used extensively in large numbers of Heinkel He 111 bombers and Messerschmitt Me 109 fighters since the first days of the European War. It is also used extensively in Dornier Do 11 and Do 215 bombers, and in Heinkel He 112 interceptors and Messerschmitt Me 110 convoy-fighters or destroyers. When production figures are released it would not be surprising to learn that at least 100,000 of these engines were produced during the years 1939 and 1940.

The DB 601 was developed from the DB 600 engine of similar design which was introduced in 1937 to meet the demand for a high-performance military engine. Low weight and economical fuel consumption, together with maximum reliability, were stressed as essential requirements. The over-all dimensions of the engine have been kept as small as possible to reduce head resistance and its exterior cleanness simplifies the cowling problem to a great extent. The inverted cylinder construction and cantilever method of suspension in the airframe permit interchangeability between both models of the Mercedes-Benz engine and the Junkers Jumo 211 engine which is of almost identical size and power output.

The earlier Mercedes-Benz DB 600 was rated at 1,050 hp. at 2,400 rpm for take-off and also developed this power at an altitude of 13,100 ft. It was equipped with a pressure carburetor between the supercharger and the intake manifolds and an automatic timing device which permitted a 10 percent overlaod for a period of one minute. Using 87-Octane gasoline,four of these engines installed in a Junkers Ju 90 airliner established a World's Record by carrying a payload of 10,000 kg. (22,050 lb.) to an altitude of 7,242 m. (23,750 ft.) on June 8, 1938 in Germany.

The latest model DB 601 engine is rated at 1,200 hp. for one minute for takeoff and develops this power at an altitude of 16,400 ft. At 25,000 ft., its power output is approximately 850 hp. It weighs 1,265 lbs, or 1.05 lb. per hp. It runs on 87-Octane gasoline and is equipped with direct fuel injection whereby its consumption at cruising speed does not exceed 0.45 lb. per hp. per hour. This model has the World's Speed Record of 468.9 mph to its credit, established in a Messerschmit Me 109 fighter on April 26, 1939.