Mercedes D.IVa

The Mercedes D.IVa was a German six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline engine developed in 1917 for use in aircraft and built by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG).

Design and development
The D.IVa replaced the failed Mercedes D.IV inline eight-cylinder engine. The D.IVa was primarily used to power bombers and large reconnaissance aircraft. Unlike most German designs, the D.IVa was relatively advanced, including four valves per cylinder actuated by a SOHC valvetrain, the same "single-camshaft" arrangement that had also been used on the earlier two-valve per cylinder D.I through D.IIIa powerplants.

Designed specifically to be installed in the fuselage, the engine featured a number of design elements intended to reduce its width. For instance, the carburetor was placed behind the engine, feeding fuel to the cylinders via a long tubular intake manifold. This had the disadvantage of poor fuel distribution. Two versions of the engine were produced in mirror copies, running in opposite directions.

Applications

 * AEG G.IV
 * AEG G.V
 * AEG R.I
 * AGO C.VIII
 * Albatros C.X
 * Albatros C.XII
 * Albatros C.XV
 * Friedrichshafen G.III
 * Friedrichshafen G.IV
 * Friedrichshafen N.I
 * Gotha G.III
 * Gotha G.IV
 * Gotha G.V
 * Gotha G.VI
 * Gotha G.VII
 * Linke-Hofmann R.I
 * Linke-Hofmann R.II
 * Rumpler C.IV
 * Zeppelin Staaken R.VI

Engines on display

 * A Mercedes D.IVa recently restored by the Museum's Friends ASSN. is on public display at the Museo Nacional de Aeronautica (MORON-Argentina).