Max Friz
Encyclopedia
Max Friz
(1883 in Urach – 1966 in Tegernsee
) was a German mechanical engineer specializing in engine design. He was the key contributor of engine design and innovation that led to the founding of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) in 1917.
, in the Design Office, making major contributions to the design of the racing engine for the 1914 Mercedes
Grand Prix car that won the French Grand Prix
.
Friz designed the first practical German aircraft engines in 1912-1913 while at Austro-Daimler
. The engines had separate cylinders on the crankcase and an overhead camshaft driven by a vertical shaft and bevel gears. At the end of 1916 the young engineer Max Friz applied for a position with Rapp Motorenwerke
. At that time Friz was still working for the Daimler engine company in Untertürkheim, near Stuttgart
. However, he was frustrated because the chief engineer, Paul Daimler
, ignored the suggestions of his young assistant on engine development. Faced with this situation, Friz remembered his former colleague, Karl Rapp
. At first Rapp was going to turn down Friz’s request; however, Josef Popp successfully intervened on Friz’s behalf, because he recognized that Rapp Motorenwerke
lacked an able designer.
At the Daimler engine company, Max Friz had tried in vain to develop an over-sized, high-compression engine, but Paul Daimler had firmly committed himself to supercharger technology. Not until he had moved to Munich was Friz able to put his own ideas for a high-altitude engine into practice. In the space of a few weeks he designed a new aero-engine, which, with an innovative carburettor and a variety of other technical details, was superior to any other German aero-engine. Later, this engine would gain world renown under the designation “BMW IIIa”.
Upon arriving at Rapp Motorenwerke, Friz was tasked to develop an aircraft engine that could attain very high altitudes as well as be durable and aerodynamically favorable. A higher operational flight ceiling was a critical strategic advantage for the pilot (since the atmospheric pressure decreases the higher a pilot flies a plane, a conventional engine at this time literally stalled out above 3,000 meters).
In the spring of 1917, at the time Friz was working at the drawing board on his groundbreaking engine, the outlook for Rapp Motorenwerke was bad. The Army High Command wanted to commit itself to a few types of aircraft and aeroengine and then get these built under license by several companies. In the spring of 1917 a commission from the Reichswehr
therefore inspected the Rapp engine plant. They had to decide which engines would in future have to be produced under license in Munich. In the end, the Rapp management was faced with the choice of manufacturing either Daimler or Benz engines. However, Franz Josef Popp seized the opportunity of presenting the new engine to the commission of experts, an engine which up to now had only existed in Max Friz’s drawings.
The interest shown by the officers was considerable, and soon there was no more talk of the Rapp engine factory being relegated to the rank of a mere assembler. In fact, the Reichswehr was so impressed by the new engine that it placed an order for 600 units, even before a single prototype had been produced. The aeroengine developed by Friz had turned Rapp Motorenwerke into an essential contributor to the war effort virtually overnight.
On 20 May 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke registered the documentation for the construction design for the new engine, dubbed project "BBE". Friz' design, based on Karl Rapp
's design) was laid out as an in-line six-cylinder, which guaranteed optimum balance, therefore few, small vibrations. The engine was successful, but the real breakthrough came in 1917, when Friz integrated a basically simple throttle
butterfly into the "high-altitude carburettor", enabling the engine to develop its full power high above the ground. This is precisely the reason why the engine, now dubbed "Type IIIa", had unique superiority in air combat. The water-cooled in-line 6-cylinder engine's
reputation grew very quickly. Franz-Zeno Diemer
, the pioneering aviator, sets a new world altitude record with a 32,000 ft (9760 m) flight in 1919 using the BMW IVa engine.
It was the success of this engine that allowed the company to grow exceptionally fast, necessitating the restructuring of the company. In 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke is renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH the predecessor to the modern day BMW AG. Friz, as Design Director for BMW, designed further aircraft engines which strengthened BMW's reputation still further in later years.
motorcycle, which established the foundation for all future boxer
powered BMW motorcycles (in addition to numerous motorsport titles and world records).
Friz and his team of engineers design the first "boxer" (or opposed twin
) engine was the fore-and-aft M2B15
, based on a British Douglas
design. It was manufactured by BMW in 1921/1922 but mostly used in other brands of motorcycles, notably Victoria
of Nuremberg
. The M2B15 proved to be moderately successful and BMW used it in its own Helios
motorcycle. BMW also developed and manufactured a small 2-stroke motorcycle called the Flink
for a short time. When BMW Gmbh went public in 1922, Friz was named the first Chief Engineer and Design Director of BMW AG, a post he would hold until 1937.
With the development of its first light alloy cylinder head
, a much more significant "across the frame" version of the boxer engine was designed. In 1923 the R32
debuted at the Paris Auto Show, and caused quite a sensation among engineers and consumers alike. Using the new aluminum alloy cylinders, Friz designed a 486 cc engine with 8.5 hp (6.3 kW) and a top speed of 95-100 km/h (60 mph). The R32 was the second major product Friz designed for his company, effectively keeping the company solvent during a difficult time.
The engine and gear box
formed a bolt-up single unit
. At a time when many motorcycle manufacturers used a total-loss oiling systems, the new BMW engine featured a recirculating wet-sump
oiling system. However, it was not a "high-pressure oil" system based on shell bearings and tight clearances that we are familiar with, but a drip feed to roller bearings. This system was used by BMW until 1969. The wet-sump system was not overly common on motorcycles until the 1970s and the arrival of Japanese motorcycles. Until then, many manufacturers had used dry sump
, with an external oil-tank made of sheet-metal.
1945 Friz retired from BMW. Friz was honored with an Honorary Doctorate from the Munich College of Advanced Technology in 1954.
Died in Tegernsee.
Friz
The surname Friz derives from Fritz, diminutive of the German name Friederich , originating from the Old Germanic Frithurik, composed of the prefix frithu and the suffix rikia , meaning "Lord of Peace", "The One who assures peace".The surname is diffused in the Adige Valley in northern Italy...
(1883 in Urach – 1966 in Tegernsee
Tegernsee
Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Tegernsee lake, at an elevation of 747 m above sea level....
) was a German mechanical engineer specializing in engine design. He was the key contributor of engine design and innovation that led to the founding of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) in 1917.
Early life
Assumed to be originally from Urach, very little is known about Friz' youth. It is known however, that at a young age, he apprenticed to the Kuhn steam engine company in Cannstatt starting in 1898. In 1902 he enrolled at the Royal Building Trade School in Stuttgart-Esslingen furthering his engineering skills. In 1906 he was employed by Daimler Motoren GesellschaftDaimler Motoren Gesellschaft
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft was a German engine and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, it was based first in Cannstatt...
, in the Design Office, making major contributions to the design of the racing engine for the 1914 Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz in motorsport
Throughout its long history, Mercedes-Benz has been involved in a range of motorsport activities, including sportscar racing and rallying, and is currently active in Formula Three, DTM and Formula One.-Early history:...
Grand Prix car that won the French Grand Prix
French Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix was a race held as part of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One automobile racing championships....
.
Friz designed the first practical German aircraft engines in 1912-1913 while at Austro-Daimler
Austro-Daimler
Austro-Daimler was an Austrian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was subsidiary of the German Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft .-Early history:...
. The engines had separate cylinders on the crankcase and an overhead camshaft driven by a vertical shaft and bevel gears. At the end of 1916 the young engineer Max Friz applied for a position with Rapp Motorenwerke
Rapp Motorenwerke
Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH was one of the first aircraft engine manufacturers in Germany at the turn of the 20th Century and underwent numerous mergers and changes before becoming BMW AG.-Early engines:...
. At that time Friz was still working for the Daimler engine company in Untertürkheim, near Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
. However, he was frustrated because the chief engineer, Paul Daimler
Paul Daimler
Paul Daimler was a German mechanical engineer who designed automobiles. He was the son of Gottlieb Daimler of Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft who had invented the petrol engine with Wilhelm Maybach....
, ignored the suggestions of his young assistant on engine development. Faced with this situation, Friz remembered his former colleague, Karl Rapp
Karl Rapp
Karl Friedrich Rapp was founder and owner of the Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH in Munich. In time this company became BMW AG. He is acknowledged by BMW AG as an indirect founder of the company....
. At first Rapp was going to turn down Friz’s request; however, Josef Popp successfully intervened on Friz’s behalf, because he recognized that Rapp Motorenwerke
Rapp Motorenwerke
Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH was one of the first aircraft engine manufacturers in Germany at the turn of the 20th Century and underwent numerous mergers and changes before becoming BMW AG.-Early engines:...
lacked an able designer.
At the Daimler engine company, Max Friz had tried in vain to develop an over-sized, high-compression engine, but Paul Daimler had firmly committed himself to supercharger technology. Not until he had moved to Munich was Friz able to put his own ideas for a high-altitude engine into practice. In the space of a few weeks he designed a new aero-engine, which, with an innovative carburettor and a variety of other technical details, was superior to any other German aero-engine. Later, this engine would gain world renown under the designation “BMW IIIa”.
Aircraft Engines
In the spring of 1917, at the time Friz was working at the drawing board on his groundbreaking engine, the outlook for Rapp Motorenwerke was bad. The Army High Command wanted to commit itself to a few types of aircraft and aeroengine and then get these built under license by several companies. In the spring of 1917 a commission from the Reichswehr
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
therefore inspected the Rapp engine plant. They had to decide which engines would in future have to be produced under license in Munich. In the end, the Rapp management was faced with the choice of manufacturing either Daimler or Benz engines. However, Franz Josef Popp seized the opportunity of presenting the new engine to the commission of experts, an engine which up to now had only existed in Max Friz’s drawings.
The interest shown by the officers was considerable, and soon there was no more talk of the Rapp engine factory being relegated to the rank of a mere assembler. In fact, the Reichswehr was so impressed by the new engine that it placed an order for 600 units, even before a single prototype had been produced. The aeroengine developed by Friz had turned Rapp Motorenwerke into an essential contributor to the war effort virtually overnight.
On 20 May 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke registered the documentation for the construction design for the new engine, dubbed project "BBE". Friz' design, based on Karl Rapp
Karl Rapp
Karl Friedrich Rapp was founder and owner of the Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH in Munich. In time this company became BMW AG. He is acknowledged by BMW AG as an indirect founder of the company....
's design) was laid out as an in-line six-cylinder, which guaranteed optimum balance, therefore few, small vibrations. The engine was successful, but the real breakthrough came in 1917, when Friz integrated a basically simple throttle
Throttle
A throttle is the mechanism by which the flow of a fluid is managed by constriction or obstruction. An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases , but usually decreased. The term throttle has come to refer, informally and incorrectly, to any mechanism by which...
butterfly into the "high-altitude carburettor", enabling the engine to develop its full power high above the ground. This is precisely the reason why the engine, now dubbed "Type IIIa", had unique superiority in air combat. The water-cooled in-line 6-cylinder engine's
Straight-6
The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six-cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase...
reputation grew very quickly. Franz-Zeno Diemer
Franz-Zeno Diemer
Franz Zeno Diemer was a flight pioneer in Bavaria, setting a number of world records, and Flight Officer for Bavarian Lifeguard Regiment.-Early life:Born in Oberammergau, Bavaria...
, the pioneering aviator, sets a new world altitude record with a 32,000 ft (9760 m) flight in 1919 using the BMW IVa engine.
It was the success of this engine that allowed the company to grow exceptionally fast, necessitating the restructuring of the company. In 1917, Rapp Motorenwerke is renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH the predecessor to the modern day BMW AG. Friz, as Design Director for BMW, designed further aircraft engines which strengthened BMW's reputation still further in later years.
Motorcycles
With World War I now over, the company was forbidden from aircraft design. This necessitated the need for new avenues of growth for the company. Friz, with his designs and engineering expertise, launches BMW into the motorcycle market with the development of the R32BMW R32
The BMW R32 was the first motorcycle produced by BMW under the BMW name. An aircraft engine manufacturer during World War I, BMW was forced to diversify after the Treaty of Versailles banned the German air force and German aircraft manufacture...
motorcycle, which established the foundation for all future boxer
Flat engine
A flat engine is an internal combustion engine with multiple pistons that move in a horizontal plane. Typically, the layout has cylinders arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft and is sometimes known as the boxer, or horizontally opposed engine. The concept was patented in 1896...
powered BMW motorcycles (in addition to numerous motorsport titles and world records).
Flat-twin
A flat-twin is a two cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders arranged on opposite sides of the crankshaft. It is part of the class of flat engines, sub-type "boxer", and shares most characteristics of those engines.-Motorcycle use:...
) engine was the fore-and-aft M2B15
BMW M2B15
The BMW M2B15 was a portable industrial engine manufactured by BMW from 1919 to 1922. It was used by several German motorcycle manufacturers to power their motorcycles....
, based on a British Douglas
Douglas (motorcycles)
Douglas was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1907–1957 based in Kingswood, Bristol, owned by the Douglas family, and especially known for its horizontally opposed twin cylinder engined bikes and as manufacturers of speedway machines...
design. It was manufactured by BMW in 1921/1922 but mostly used in other brands of motorcycles, notably Victoria
Victoria (motorcycle)
Victoria was a bicycle manufacturer in Nürnberg, Germany that made motorcycles from about 1901 until 1966. It should not be confused with a lesser-known, unrelated Victoria Motorcycle Company in Glasgow, Scotland that made motorcycles between 1902 and 1928....
of Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
. The M2B15 proved to be moderately successful and BMW used it in its own Helios
Helios
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
motorcycle. BMW also developed and manufactured a small 2-stroke motorcycle called the Flink
Flink
Flink , is a 2D scrolling platform game developed by Psygnosis.-Summary:...
for a short time. When BMW Gmbh went public in 1922, Friz was named the first Chief Engineer and Design Director of BMW AG, a post he would hold until 1937.
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...
, a much more significant "across the frame" version of the boxer engine was designed. In 1923 the R32
BMW R32
The BMW R32 was the first motorcycle produced by BMW under the BMW name. An aircraft engine manufacturer during World War I, BMW was forced to diversify after the Treaty of Versailles banned the German air force and German aircraft manufacture...
debuted at the Paris Auto Show, and caused quite a sensation among engineers and consumers alike. Using the new aluminum alloy cylinders, Friz designed a 486 cc engine with 8.5 hp (6.3 kW) and a top speed of 95-100 km/h (60 mph). The R32 was the second major product Friz designed for his company, effectively keeping the company solvent during a difficult time.
The engine and gear box
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
formed a bolt-up single unit
Unit construction
Unit construction is a term used to describe the design of larger motorcycles where the engine and gearbox components share a single casing. The term is sometimes applied to the design of automobile engines and was often loosely applied to motorcycles with rather different internal layouts such as...
. At a time when many motorcycle manufacturers used a total-loss oiling systems, the new BMW engine featured a recirculating wet-sump
Wet sump
A wet sump is a lubricating oil management design for four-stroke piston internal combustion engines which uses a built-in reservoir for oil, as opposed to an external or secondary reservoir used in a dry sump design....
oiling system. However, it was not a "high-pressure oil" system based on shell bearings and tight clearances that we are familiar with, but a drip feed to roller bearings. This system was used by BMW until 1969. The wet-sump system was not overly common on motorcycles until the 1970s and the arrival of Japanese motorcycles. Until then, many manufacturers had used dry sump
Dry sump
A dry sump is a lubricating motor oil management method for four-stroke and large two-stroke piston internal combustion engines that uses external pumps and a secondary external reservoir for oil, as compared to a conventional wet sump system....
, with an external oil-tank made of sheet-metal.
Automobiles
Friz was appointed to General Manager of BMW-Flugmotorenbau GmbH, Munich in 1934, and was there until 1937. With BMW continued growth into automobiles, Friz succeeded Leo C. Grass as General Manager of Flugmotorenfabrik Eisenach GmbH, overseeing development of automobile engine design and development.1945 Friz retired from BMW. Friz was honored with an Honorary Doctorate from the Munich College of Advanced Technology in 1954.
Died in Tegernsee.