Daimler-Benz DB 600 series

The Daimler-Benz DB 600 series was a group of German aircraft engines designed and built before and during the Second World War, all following the layout of a liquid-cooled inverted V12. The design began as a private Daimler-Benz project in 1929, a 30-litre engine called the F4, and by 1931 two prototypes were running on the test bench. The improved F4 B became the prototype of the DB 600, which received its development contract in 1933; 2,281 were built, and unlike its successors it mixed its fuel with a carburettor. The German air ministry's decision to favour fuel injection led to the DB 601, which added direct injection, entered serial production in November 1937 and stayed in production until 1943 after about 19,000 examples. The later DB 603 and DB 605 grew in bore, stroke and power but followed the pattern of the DB 600, while the DB 602 diesel airship engine is related to the series only through its maker.