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Conrad C.III

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Conrad C.III

The Conrad C.III was a six-cylinder, water-cooled inline aircraft engine designed by Robert Conrad. It was used on some German training aircraft during World War I. The engine was mainly produced under license by the German Nationale Automobil Gesellschaft.

Contents

Development

After having designed two aircraft engines for the German Kaiserpreis aero-engine competition of 1912–1913, Robert Conrad prepared an 180 hp (134 kW) six-cylinder aircraft engine for the second Kaiserpreis competition anticipated to take place in 1914–1915. Further improvements on the engine design were done in 1915 by Robert Conrad while he was working for the Deutsche Motorenbau-Gesellschaft. His work resulted in a six-cylinder water-cooled engine with increased bore which was capable of delivering 185 hp (138 kW) at 1400 rpm. After a successful type test in February 1916, the engine was assigned the designation C.III (C for Conrad) by the German military.

Due to insufficient production capacity at the Deutsche Motorenbau-Gesellschaft, the engine was produced by the Nationale Automobil Gesellschaft (NAG).

After NAG subsequently adapted the engine, it was uprated to 210 hp (157 kW) and successfully type tested in November 1916. The new 210 hp variant however proved unreliable and so subsequent versions of the engine were again rated 185 hp (138 kW), although with various design improvements over the original C.III.

Variants

All engine variants were built by NAG. Despite various adaptions of the original design all variants had the same bore and stroke.

C.III / C.III Nag
initial production variant, 185 hp (138 kW)
C.IIIa / C.III Nag a
adapted and uprated variant, 210 hp (157 kW), only small number of engines produced, proved unreliable
C.IIIb / C.III Nag b
various improvements over preceding types, 185 hp (138 kW)
C.IIIav Nag
185 hp (138 kW), new design, further details unknown

Applications

  • DFW C.V (trainers)
  • Gotha G.IV (trainers)
  • Specifications (C.III NAG)

    Data from

    General characteristics

  • Type: 6-cylinder, inline, water-cooled, piston engine
  • Bore: 138 mm (5.433 in)
  • Stroke: 190 mm (7.480 in)
  • Displacement: 17.051 l (1,041 cu in)
  • Dry weight: 332 kg (732 lb)
  • Components

  • Valvetrain: One overhead camshaft, driving two inlet and two exhaust valves per cylinder.
  • Fuel system: Two Pallas carburetters, each serving three adjacent cylinders. Two spark plugs per cylinder, placed horizontally and opposite each other, supplied by two Bosch ZH 6 magnetos.
  • Cooling system: Water-cooled
  • Performance

  • Power output: 185 hp (138 kW)
  • Compression ratio: 4.8:1
  • References

    Conrad C.III Wikipedia