Recent from talks
BMW 003
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
BMW 003
The BMW 003 (full RLM designation 109-003) is an early axial turbojet engine produced by BMW AG in Germany during World War II. The 003 and the Junkers Jumo 004 were the only German turbojet engines to reach production during World War II.
Work had begun on the design of the BMW 003 before its contemporary, the Jumo 004, but prolonged developmental problems meant that the BMW 003 entered production much later, and the aircraft projects that had been designed with it in mind were re-engined with the Jumo powerplant instead. The most famous case of this was the Messerschmitt Me 262, which used the 003 in two of the V-series prototypes and in the two experimental A-1b aircraft. The only production aircraft to use the BMW 003 were the Heinkel He 162 and the later C-series, four-engined versions of the Arado Ar 234.
About 3,500 BMW 003 engines were built in Germany, but very few were ever installed in aircraft. The engine also formed the basis for turbojet development in Japan during the war, and in the Soviet Union following the war. A larger derivative was the BMW 018, but only three prototypes had been built by the end of the war.
The practicality of jet propulsion had been demonstrated in Germany in early 1937 by Hans von Ohain working with the Heinkel company. Recognising the potential of the invention, the Reich Air Ministry (German: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM) encouraged Germany's aero engine manufacturers to begin their own programmes of jet engine development, offering contracts to both Junkers and BMW for an engine capable of 1,520 lb (690 kg) static thrust.
The BMW 003 began development as a project of the Brandenburgische Motorenwerke (Brandenburg Motor Works, known as "Bramo"), under the direction of Hermann Östrich and assigned the RLM designation 109-003 (using the RLM's "109-" prefix, common to all jet and rocket engine projects). Bramo was also developing another turbojet, the 109–002. In 1939, BMW bought out Bramo, and in the acquisition, obtained both engine projects. The 109-002 had a very sophisticated contra-rotating compressor design intended to eliminate torque, but was abandoned in favour of the simpler engine, which in the end proved to have enough development problems of its own.
Construction began late in the same year and the engine ran for the first time in August 1940, but produced only 330 lb (150 kg) thrust, just half what was desired. The first flight test took place in mid-1941, mounted underneath a Messerschmitt Bf 110 testbed airframe. Problems continued, however, so delaying the program that while the Me 262 V1 prototype airframe (the first aircraft intended to use the engine) was ready for flight-testing, there were no power plants available for it and it actually began flight tests with a supplementary, conventional Junkers Jumo 210 piston engine in the nose. It was not until November 1941 that the Me 262 V1 was flown with BMW engines, which both failed during the test. The prototype aircraft had to return to the airfield on the power of the piston engine, which was still fitted.
The general usage of the BMW powerplant was abandoned for the Me 262, except for two experimental examples of the plane known as the Me 262 A-1b. The few Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1b test examples built used the more developed version of the 003 jet, recording an official top speed of 500 mph (800 km/h). The Me 262A-1a production version used the competing Jumo 004, whose heavier weight required the wings to be swept back in order to move the center of gravity into the correct position. Work on the 003 continued anyway, and by late 1942 it had been made far more powerful and reliable. The improved engine was flight tested under a Junkers Ju 88 in October 1943 and was finally ready for mass production in August 1944. Completed engines earned a reputation for unreliability; the time between major overhauls (not technically a TBO) was about 50 hours. (The competing Jumo 004's was between thirty and fifty, and may have been as low as ten.) Through 1944 the 003's reliability improved, making it a suitable power plant for air frame designs competing for the Jägernotprogramm’s light fighter production contract. which was won by the Heinkel He 162 Spatz design.
Developments of the engine included the 003C, which raised thrust to 900 kg (2,000 lb) — in the same thrust class as the competing Jumo 004B, but some 136 kg (300 lb) lighter in weight; and the 003D, which raised it to nearly 1,100 kg (2,400 lb), which added one extra compressor stage beyond the seven of the earlier designs, and an extra turbine stage, with the thrust-weight ratio of 16.58 N/kg for the 003D at only 1,431 lb (649 kg) in weight, being some 30% greater than the 1.288 lbf/lb (12.63 N/kg) figure for the 950-kilogram (2,090 lb) Heinkel HeS 011A.
Hub AI
BMW 003 AI simulator
(@BMW 003_simulator)
BMW 003
The BMW 003 (full RLM designation 109-003) is an early axial turbojet engine produced by BMW AG in Germany during World War II. The 003 and the Junkers Jumo 004 were the only German turbojet engines to reach production during World War II.
Work had begun on the design of the BMW 003 before its contemporary, the Jumo 004, but prolonged developmental problems meant that the BMW 003 entered production much later, and the aircraft projects that had been designed with it in mind were re-engined with the Jumo powerplant instead. The most famous case of this was the Messerschmitt Me 262, which used the 003 in two of the V-series prototypes and in the two experimental A-1b aircraft. The only production aircraft to use the BMW 003 were the Heinkel He 162 and the later C-series, four-engined versions of the Arado Ar 234.
About 3,500 BMW 003 engines were built in Germany, but very few were ever installed in aircraft. The engine also formed the basis for turbojet development in Japan during the war, and in the Soviet Union following the war. A larger derivative was the BMW 018, but only three prototypes had been built by the end of the war.
The practicality of jet propulsion had been demonstrated in Germany in early 1937 by Hans von Ohain working with the Heinkel company. Recognising the potential of the invention, the Reich Air Ministry (German: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM) encouraged Germany's aero engine manufacturers to begin their own programmes of jet engine development, offering contracts to both Junkers and BMW for an engine capable of 1,520 lb (690 kg) static thrust.
The BMW 003 began development as a project of the Brandenburgische Motorenwerke (Brandenburg Motor Works, known as "Bramo"), under the direction of Hermann Östrich and assigned the RLM designation 109-003 (using the RLM's "109-" prefix, common to all jet and rocket engine projects). Bramo was also developing another turbojet, the 109–002. In 1939, BMW bought out Bramo, and in the acquisition, obtained both engine projects. The 109-002 had a very sophisticated contra-rotating compressor design intended to eliminate torque, but was abandoned in favour of the simpler engine, which in the end proved to have enough development problems of its own.
Construction began late in the same year and the engine ran for the first time in August 1940, but produced only 330 lb (150 kg) thrust, just half what was desired. The first flight test took place in mid-1941, mounted underneath a Messerschmitt Bf 110 testbed airframe. Problems continued, however, so delaying the program that while the Me 262 V1 prototype airframe (the first aircraft intended to use the engine) was ready for flight-testing, there were no power plants available for it and it actually began flight tests with a supplementary, conventional Junkers Jumo 210 piston engine in the nose. It was not until November 1941 that the Me 262 V1 was flown with BMW engines, which both failed during the test. The prototype aircraft had to return to the airfield on the power of the piston engine, which was still fitted.
The general usage of the BMW powerplant was abandoned for the Me 262, except for two experimental examples of the plane known as the Me 262 A-1b. The few Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1b test examples built used the more developed version of the 003 jet, recording an official top speed of 500 mph (800 km/h). The Me 262A-1a production version used the competing Jumo 004, whose heavier weight required the wings to be swept back in order to move the center of gravity into the correct position. Work on the 003 continued anyway, and by late 1942 it had been made far more powerful and reliable. The improved engine was flight tested under a Junkers Ju 88 in October 1943 and was finally ready for mass production in August 1944. Completed engines earned a reputation for unreliability; the time between major overhauls (not technically a TBO) was about 50 hours. (The competing Jumo 004's was between thirty and fifty, and may have been as low as ten.) Through 1944 the 003's reliability improved, making it a suitable power plant for air frame designs competing for the Jägernotprogramm’s light fighter production contract. which was won by the Heinkel He 162 Spatz design.
Developments of the engine included the 003C, which raised thrust to 900 kg (2,000 lb) — in the same thrust class as the competing Jumo 004B, but some 136 kg (300 lb) lighter in weight; and the 003D, which raised it to nearly 1,100 kg (2,400 lb), which added one extra compressor stage beyond the seven of the earlier designs, and an extra turbine stage, with the thrust-weight ratio of 16.58 N/kg for the 003D at only 1,431 lb (649 kg) in weight, being some 30% greater than the 1.288 lbf/lb (12.63 N/kg) figure for the 950-kilogram (2,090 lb) Heinkel HeS 011A.
Recent media