BMW was an airplane manufacturer before it began making automobiles. Due to the high demand for aircraft engines beginning in 1916 and lasting until the end of World War One,
BMW developed become Bavaria’s largest aircraft manufacturer throughout the course of the war, producing engines for a variety of German aircraft in addition to its own lineup of useful aircraft.
BMW began creating furniture and kitchen cabinets utilizing the considerable joinery equipment it had after the war when German industries were prohibited from making military aircraft.
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A Joint Venture Between BMW and Rolls-Royce Will Produce Aircraft Engines
MUNICH, West Germany (AP) BMW, the West German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, announced Thursday that it is resuming a business it left 31 years ago by forming a joint venture with Britain’s Rolls-Royce PLC to produce aviation engines.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG announced that it would buy Kloekner-Humboldt-Deutz AG’s (KHD) aerospace technology division and combine the business into a joint venture with Rolls-Royce.
According to BMW, the company’s goal to diversify into new, yet connected, industrial sectors is reflected in the company’s return to airplane engines. The business chose not to provide information about the upcoming transactions.
According to Rolls-Royce, both partners would jointly own the KHD aerospace division.
BMW announced that it will own 50.5 percent of the aviation engine company, which will have its headquarters in Oberursel, close to Frankfurt. The remaining will belong to the British aircraft engine manufacturer.
The joint venture will develop, produce, and market jet engines with a maximum thrust of 20,000 pounds, which power small civilian and military jets with a maximum passenger capacity of roughly 100.
The partnership, known as BMW-Rolls-Royce, will work alongside the British company’s own Tay and Trent jet engine programs, according to a second news release. However, it declared that none of its current engine operations would be integrated into the project.
In order to address evolving airframe and re-engineering needs in the 75-seater-plus (aircraft) class, BMW-Rolls-Royce will next start designing and developing new engines with less than 20,000 pounds of thrust, according to a statement from Rolls-Royce.
According to a BMW spokesman, the KHD aerospace division, known as KHD Luftfahrttechnik GmbH and based in Oberursel, generates around $98 million in revenue each year and employs roughly 900 people.
According to George Shapiro, an analyst at Salomon Brothers Inc. in New York, the project seems to be Rolls-Royce’s attempt to strengthen its position in the aircraft engine market.
He stated, “I’ve always thought of Rolls-Royce as kind of the weak third-party participant.”
According to him, General Electric Co. and the Pratt & Whitney branch of United Technologies Corp. each control 40% to45% of the global engine market, while Rolls-Royce holds a 15% to 20% share.
The new business will be prepared for rapid expansion over the following five to ten years, according to BMW officials, who declined to provide sales projections.
According to insiders in the European aircraft sector, the joint venture may set its sights on annual sales of up to $595 million over the following ten years.
However, the experts warned that in order to achieve that target, the two parent businesses would likely need to spend up to 1 billion marks, or $595 million, on expansion.
Through World War II, BMW constructed aircraft engines, and by the end of the conflict, it was producing turbines for the recently invented jet airplane.
By selling its operations to the significant West German engineering giant MAN AG, which eventually combined them with Daimler-Benz AG, the Munich-based company exited the aircraft engine market.
The integrated engine operations initiative between Rolls-Royce and BMW is in line with industry trends. Earlier this year, Daimler-Benz decided to combine its operations for civil jet engines with those of Pratt & Whitney.
The arrangement between Daimler and Pratt & Whitney is being contested in court by General Electric, which claims it violates their joint engine development agreement with Daimler.
BMW
Many people are aware that BMW began manufacturing aircraft, and its emblem features an image of their renowned 801 engine mounted on an aircraft during World War II. Despite the fact that they originally began the war with cars, they soon switched to airplanes. The huge 41.8-liter engine, for which there was a demand of almost 61,000, was the most often used one and propelled them into the spotlight of success.
They did not continue or ever dabble in modern aircraft, unlike several of the firms listed below, although they do have close relations to (as in they own) Rolls-Royce, which continues to produce airplanes and, more recently, jet engines. That division is now solely responsible for BMW’s aviation efforts. But we’ll discuss that later. For the time being, suffice it to note that BMW was a success in the avionics industry and that, although losing the war, they produced ok aircraft with reasonable performance.
The Treaty of Versailles and the birth of the first BMW vehicle
If you’re a car enthusiast, you’re surely aware that BMW once produced fighter aircraft engines. In fact, it’s sometimes said that the company’s iconic emblem is a stylized portrayal of airplane propeller blades. Because they used little fuel and performed well at high altitudes, the company’s aircraft engines were highly popular during World War I. At the time, a biplane powered by a BMW engine set an altitude record by ascending to a height of 32,000 feet.
However, because Germany was forbidden from producing them by the Treaty of Versailles, the development of aviation engines came to an end with the end of World War I. At this point, the corporation began to concentrate on other industries, autos included. It’s interesting to note that BMW began manufacturing aircraft engines during World Conflict II and stopped doing so after the war.
Why did BMW discontinue producing aircraft?
After the war, BMW’s surviving West German facilities were prohibited from producing motor vehicles or aircraft due to the heavy bombing of its factories during the conflict.
What types of jet engines does BMW produce?
The BMW 801 was a potent German 14-cylinder air-cooled 41.8-liter (2,550 cu in) radial engine that was produced by BMW and utilized in a number of German Luftwaffe aircraft during World War II. The twin-row engine produced between 1,560 and 2,000 PS in its production versions. With more than 61,000 engines built, it was Germany’s most prolific radial engine during World War II.
The German transport and utility aircraft’s current radial types were to be replaced by the 801 at first. A prerequisite for high performance designs at the period was an inline engine due to its reduced frontal area and resulting lower drag, which was universally accepted among European designers[citation needed]. After Kurt Tank successfully adapted a BMW 801 to a new fighter design he was developing, the 801 gained notoriety as the engine for the renowned Focke-Wulf Fw 190. The BMW 801 radial also paved the way for the adoption of what is now known as an engine control unit: its Kommandogerat engine management system replaced a number of the aviation engine management control parameters of the time, enabling proper engine operation with just one throttle lever.
When did BMW start producing jet engines?
The German automaker BMW, with its headquarters in Munich, was officially founded in March 1916. From 1917 to 1918 and again from 1933 to 1945, the business produced airplane engines. In actuality, the BMW Illa straight-six aviation engine was the company’s first creation.
Does BMW manufacture jet engines?
BMW had to stop producing aircraft engines after the end of World War I, so it started developing motorcycles and then cars. But BMW persisted in developing aero engines.
What did BMW create at first?
The Rapp-Motorenwerke GmbH, which started making aviation engines in 1913, is where the current BMW AG got its start. Rapp provided the German Empire’s aviation force during the First World War. Automobiles had not yet gained widespread acceptance at that period.
What was produced by BMW during the war?
The production halls were situated on the border of the forest and were camouflaged with paint.
The company’s financial data also reveals this significant expansion of the business. By 1939, the company was producing RM 275.5 million in sales with a workforce of 26,918 as opposed to RM 35.56 million in sales in 1933 produced by 6,514. By 1944, these numbers would further rise to RM 750 million in sales, generated by 56,213 workers.
The aero-engines BMW 132, Bramo 323 “Fafnir,” and the twin-row radial engine BMW 801 were the focus of production. The BMW 003 jet engine, a different type of engine, started to be developed in 1944. Along with aero-engines, BMW also produced motorbikes for the German Army (Wehrmacht), such as the BMW R 75. From 1938 to 1940, the BMW 325 standard passenger automobile was added to this production. BMW became purely an arms firm in 1941, when the government banned the manufacture of cars.
What products did BMW produce after World War Two?
Following World War II, the Allied government prohibited German manufacturers from making a number of goods, including the majority of vehicles. As its primary source of cash flow declines,
The corporation reacted to the manufacturing limits by employing its metal moulding machinery to create pots and pans, much as it did to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles by creating kitchens rather than airplanes.
BMW manufactured a range of bicycles in addition to kitchen appliances to keep its plants running and the money coming in. BMW began manufacturing motorcycles in 1947 once limits on vehicle production were eased, and then a variety of production automobiles.
What are BMW’s trademarks?
One of the most popular and well-known luxury automobile brands in the world is BMW. Today, there are millions of BMW vehicles on the road, making it nearly impossible to drive through a city without spotting a sizable number of them.
Did Mercedes produce engines for airplanes?
The Daimler Mercedes D.III, also known as the F1466 internally, was a six-cylinder SOHC valvetrain liquid-cooled inline aircraft engine that saw service on a variety of German aircraft throughout World War I. The earliest models were released in 1914 with 160 horsepower, but after a series of modifications, they increased to 170 hp in 1917 and 180 hp by the middle of 1918. The sole serious competitor, the BMW III, was only available in very small quantities, and these latter variants were utilized on nearly all German fighters in the late stages of the war. The D.III was generally outclassed by the Allied engines it faced.
Is BMW a part of World War Two?
BMW, a German automaker, acknowledged on Monday that it had “deep regret” for the “enormous suffering” that it had contributed to during World War II by utilizing Nazi slave labor.
BMW AG worked exclusively as a supplier to the German arms industry under the National Socialist dictatorship of the 1930s and 1940s, according to the manufacturer, which made the regretful admission at a celebration in Munich commemorating the illustrious automaker’s 100th birthday.
BMW used Nazi slave labor to provide airplane and motorbike parts for the Nazi war effort during World War II.
Gunther Quandt, the owner of BMW, and his son Herbert reportedly made friends with Hitler and benefited from the Holocaust by receiving enterprises that had been taken from Jews who had been transported to death camps.
“Forced laborers, criminals, and prisoners from concentration camps were hired to help with the production of BMW aviation engines as demand rose. It is still really regrettable how much pain this resulted in and how many people were forced to work “The automaker, whose business name is Bayerische Motoren Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works, said.
Officials claimed that they are continuing efforts that were started in 1983 to confront the organization’s troubled background.
According to a statement from the firm, “BMW AG became the first industrial corporation to launch a public discourse about this chapter of its history with the release of a book entitled “BMW – Eine Deutsche Geschichte (BMW – A German History)”.
The BMW Group has aggressively promoted tolerance, respect, and understanding of other cultures ever since the 1990s.