2-839-531 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

This World War I engine, built by Germany’s Maybach, was of the type that powered the Zeppelin, Schutte-Lanz, and Parseval airships or airplanes such as the Rumpler C4 and C5. Without measurements of the artifact it is not possible to determine if it was the water-cooled, six-cylinder, in-line design rated at 149 kW (200 shp) that powered the airships, or the derivative of this engine, known as the 224 kW (300 shp) Maybach, that powered the airplanes. The artifact is heavily damaged. It is probable that it was removed from a downed airship for technical analysis. This engine was part of a collection of foreign power plants that was assembled by the U.S. Army Air Corps, Materiel Division at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio