Object Details
Manufacturer
Oberursel Motoren Gesellschaft (Frankfurt, Germany)
Physical Description
Type: Rotary, 14 cylinders, air-cooled
Power rating: 119 kW (160 hp) at 1,300 rpm
Displacement: 23.7 L (1,443 cu in.)
Bore and Stroke: 124 mm (4.88 in) x 140 mm (5.51 in)
Weight: 170 kg ( 374 lb)
Summary
Before 1914, the Oberursel Motoren Gesellschaft of Frankfurt, Germany had obtained a license to build Gnome engines. However, these pre-World War I designs became obsolete and, with the encouragement of the Army's Inspectorate of Aviation, the company embarked on the manufacture of a copy of the 82 kW (110 hp) Le Rhone engine, which became available from 1917.
Convinced of the merits of the rotary engine, aviation pioneer Anthony Fokker acquired Oberursel, and used its Le Rhone copies to power aircraft such as the Fokker Triplane and D VI scouts. Reinhold Platz designed the D-VIII cantilever-wing monoplane for Fokker around the 82 kW (110 hp) Oberursel, and attained performance equal to the best wire-braced biplanes with 50-percent more power. That aircraft was only built in small numbers at the war’s end.
This 119 kW (160 shp) Oberursel UR IIIa powered Fokker D VI, Fokker Dr I, and Pfalz D VI aircraft during World War I.
Credit Line
Transferred from the War Department, Air Corps, Materiel Division, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio
Date
1917
Inventory Number
A19340005000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
PROPULSION-Reciprocating & Rotary
Materials
Ferrous Alloy
Non-Magnetic Metal
Unknown Coating
Dimensions
Other (Engine on Stand and Stand dimensions): 4 ft. 2 in. × 4 ft. 2 in. × 3 ft. 8 in. (127 × 127 × 111.8cm)
Country of Origin
Germany
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19340005000