Hirth Engines GmbH is an

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

manufacturer based in Benningen,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is currently a part of the UMS Aero Group. Hirth began manufacturing

aero engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

s in the 1920s, was taken over by Heinkel in WWII to develop the

Heinkel-Hirth Hirth Engines GmbH is an engine manufacturer based in Benningen, Germany. It is currently a part of the UMS Aero Group. Hirth began manufacturing aero engines in the 1920s, was taken over by Heinkel in WWII to develop the Heinkel-Hirth jet en ...

jet engines, and today specialises in small

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

engines for light aircraft and other applications.

History

Hellmuth Hirth and Hirth Motoren

The company was founded by Hellmuth Hirth as Versuchsbau Hellmuth Hirth. The first commercial engine, the 4-cylinder inverted in-line HM 60, first ran in June 1923 and was sold from the next year. Its quality was extremely high and it formed the foundation of the business.Gunston, Bill (1998). ''World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines'', 4th Edition. Patrick Stephens Ltd (PSL). The company was renamed Leichtmetall-Werke GmbH, Elektronmetall GmbH and eventually separated from the aero engine manufacturing to form

Mahle GmbH MAHLE GmbH is a German automotive parts manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of the largest automotive suppliers worldwide. As a manufacturer of components and systems for the combustion engine and its periphery, the company is one ...

as a manufacturer of light alloy engine components, specifically the magnesium alloy Elektron, including parts for aircraft engines. In 1931, Hirth renamed the much-expanded aero engine business as Hirth Motoren GmbH. An upgrade in the form of the HM 60R improved efficiency, and was followed by 6, 8 and 12-cylinder versions based on the same basic design. Over the next decade, Hirth became one of Germany's leading aero engine manufacturers.

Heinkel-Hirth

During the late 1930s

Hans von Ohain Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain (14 December 191113 March 1998) was a German physicist, engineer, and the designer of the first operational jet engine. Together with Frank Whittle he is called the "father of the jet engine". His first test unit ra ...

developed a jet engine design while at

Göttingen University Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

. Despite having no engine facility, aircraft designer

Heinkel Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with ...

employed him to continue his work. Together with Wilhelm Gundermann he developed a series of experimental engines, including the HeS 3B which powered the world's first jet aircraft, the

Heinkel He 178 The Heinkel He 178 was an experimental aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It was the world's first aircraft to fly using the thrust from a turbojet engine. The He 178 was developed to test the jet propu ...

, in 1939. Hellmuth Hirth died in an aircraft crash in 1938. The RLM or ''

Reichsluftfahrtministerium The Ministry of Aviation (german: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany (1933–45). It is also the original name of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus building on the Wilhelmstrass ...

'' ("Reich aviation ministry") nationalised his company, and in 1942 it was taken over by

to form Heinkel-Hirth. While the existing piston engine series were continued, Heinkel also used the Hirth facilities for development work on their series of

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

s. Although Heinkel-Hirth had some technical success with this programme, their jet engines were not put into production.

Gobler-Hirth and UMS Skeldar

Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Hirth re-emerged as an independent company once again. Because of the prohibitions on German aviation in this period, Hirth manufactured small marine and

stationary engine A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. They are used to drive immobile equipment, such as pumps, generators, mills or factory machinery, or cable cars. The term usually refers to large immobile reciprocating engines, ...

s, as well as motors for

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

s. In the early 1970s the company went into voluntary liquidation. The company was acquired by Hans Göbler, who continued making small

engines under the name of Gobler-Hirth Motoren Gmbh, and re-introduced aero engines to the range. In 2011 Gobler-Hirth were developing UAV piston engines to run on heavier jet fuel, because of its higher energy density and ease of handling. In 2018 Gobler-Hirth was taken over by UMS Skeldar, a joint venture between the Swedish aerospace company

Saab AB Saab AB (originally , later just SAAB and Saab Group) is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. Headquartered in Stockholm, the development and the manufacturing is undertaken in Linköping. Saab produced automobiles from 19 ...

and Swiss drone maker UMS Aero Group in which UMS hold a majority share. The company was renamed Hirth Engines Gmbh. The Skeldar range of UAVs, originally developed by Saab, have introduced Hirth's heavy-fuel piston engines to the marketplace, alongside their established gasoline-fuelled products.UMS SKELDAR Announces Acquisition of Global Engine Manufacturer Hirth Engines
Hirth Engines, 2018. (retrieved 23 August 2022)

Engines

Four-stroke piston (prewar and WWII)

Hirth HM 60 The Hirth HM 60 was a four-cylinder inverted air-cooled inline aircraft engine designed in 1923 and first sold in 1924. The engine was of very high quality, and its sales success contributed to Hirth's rapid pre-war expansion. It was a popular ...

- 4-cylinder inverted air-cooled inline aircraft engine, * Hirth HM 500 - 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline, * Hirth HM 501 - 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline, *

Hirth HM 504 The Hirth HM 504 is a four-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline engine. The HM 504 was a popular engine for light aircraft of the 1930s-1940s, and it was used to power a number of Germany's trainer aircraft of World War II. The engine featured a ...

- 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline, * Hirth HM 506 - 6-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline, *

Hirth HM 508 The Hirth HM 508 was an air-cooled, eight-cylinder, 60° cylinder bank angle inverted-V aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1930s. It had a bore and stroke of 105 mm × 115 mm (4.1 in × 4.5 in) and developed 210 kW (280 ...

- 8-cylinder air-cooled inverted-V, * Hirth HM 512 - 12-cylinder air-cooled inverted-V, * Hirth HM 515 - 4-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline,

Turbine (prewar and WWII)

* Heinkel HeS 1 - Bench-test prototype engine fuelled by hydrogen, run some five months after the first Whittle bench-test prototype. * Heinkel HeS 3 - First jet engine to fly. * Heinkel-Hirth HeS 30 - aka 006. * Heinkel-Hirth HeS 40 - "constant volume" combustion engine. * Heinkel-Hirth HeS 50 - ducted-fan unit for long-duration flight. * Heinkel-Hirth HeS 60 - HeS 50 with an additional turbine stage. * Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 - advanced twin-spool design, 19 test examples built.

Two-stroke piston (postwar)

* Hirth F-23 - 2-cylinder two stroke *

Hirth F-30 The Hirth F-30 is a horizontally opposed four-cylinder, two-stroke, carburetted aircraft engine, with optional fuel injection, designed for use on ultralight aircraft and homebuilts. It is manufactured by Hirth of Germany.Cliche, Andre: ''U ...

- 4-cylinder two stroke *

Hirth F-33 The Hirth F-33 is a single cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engine designed for use on ultralight aircraft, including powered paragliders and ultralight trikes. the engine is noted for its extremely light base weight of . It is ma ...

- 1-cylinder two stroke *

Hirth F-36 The Hirth F-36 is a single-cylinder, two-stroke, carburetted aircraft engine designed for use on ultralight aircraft, especially powered paragliders and ultralight trikes. It is noted for its extremely small equipped weight of including exh ...

- 1-cylinder two stroke * Hirth F-40 - 4-cylinder two stroke * Hirth F-102 - 2-cylinder two stroke *

Hirth F-263 The Hirth F-263 is a twin cylinder, in-line, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engine that was designed for use on ultralight aircraft. It was manufactured by Hirth of Germany, but was discontinued about 2001.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Airc ...

- 2-cylinder two stroke * Hirth 2702 - 2-cylinder two stroke * Hirth 2703 - 2-cylinder two stroke *

Hirth 2704 The Hirth 2704 and 2706 are a family of in-line twin cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engines, with optional fuel injection, designed for use on ultralight aircraft and especially two seat ultralight trainers, single seat gyrocopte ...

- 2-cylinder two stroke *

Hirth 2706 The Hirth 2704 and 2706 are a family of in-line twin cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engines, with optional fuel injection, designed for use on ultralight aircraft and especially two seat ultralight trainers, single seat gyrocopte ...

- 2-cylinder two stroke * Hirth 3002 - 4-cylinder two stroke *

Hirth 3202 The Hirth 3202 and 3203 are a family of in-line twin cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engines, with optional fuel injection, designed for use on ultralight aircraft, especially two seat ultralight trainers, gyrocopters and small h ...

- 2-cylinder two stroke * Hirth 3203 - 2-cylinder two stroke * Hirth 3502 - 2-cylinder two stroke * Hirth 3503 - 2-cylinder two stroke *

Hirth 3701 The Hirth 3701 is an in-line three-cylinder, two-stroke, carburetted aircraft engine, with optional fuel injection, designed for use on ultralight aircraft and small homebuilts. It is manufactured by Hirth of Germany. Development The 3701 ...

- 3-cylinder two stroke

References

External links

* {{Hirth aeroengines Aircraft engine manufacturers of Germany Companies based in Bavaria German brands Heinkel