Meaning of two German Terms used in 1944/45
 

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone can provide the meaning of the following two terms, used by the OKW:

"Otto-Flugzeuge" and "Otto-Betriebsstoff", i.e. specifically the meaning of "Otto" within this context.

I presume that "Otto" refers to a fuel type or group, and as Nick Beale has indicated, it often refers to motor fuel in ULTRA.

Is "Otto" a generic term for petroleum?

Regards

Rod

Re: Meaning of two German Terms used in 1944/45
 

Not answering your question directly, but the Otto cycle is a thermodynamic representation of the four-stroke petrol engine - intake, compression, ignition, exhaust

Therefore it is not a step too far to think this would be used as a slang/code for fuel

Regards

Martin

Re: Meaning of two German Terms used in 1944/45
 

Hello Rod,

During battle of the Bulge, german tank units when on fuel starvation claim for "Otto"

Rémi

Re: Meaning of two German Terms used in 1944/45
 

Hello, all

This relates to a 4-stroke combustion engine, as the German Nikolaus August Otto was considered to be the inventor of this type of engine. So in my opinion this would mean ordinary fuel for 4-stroke engines.

Regards,
Andreas B

Re: Meaning of two German Terms used in 1944/45
 

Hi Martin, Rémi, and Andreas,

thanks for the feedback.

In terms of the context in which "Otto-Flugzeuge" was used by the OKW, it was referencing the replacement of or transition from "Otto-Flugzeuge" (petrol- or piston-engined aircraft?) with/to "Strahler" (jet aircraft).

I am also not sure if the term "Otto-Flugzeuge" was in common usage, or if it may have been mis-applied by OKW in this instance (after all, I don't think the Luftwaffe used fighter aircraft with "lawn mower" engines : )).

Cheers

Rod

Cheers

Rod

Re: Meaning of two German Terms used in 1944/45
 

Hello!

Ottomotor is a common term for basically any petrol/gasoline engine in German.

Re: Meaning of two German Terms used in 1944/45
 

Hi NagaSadow,

thanks for the details, it clarifies the context of the term "Otto-Flugzeuge".

Cheers

Rod

Re: Meaning of two German Terms used in 1944/45
 

Nicholas August Otto -together with Eugen Langen- developed and produced the first real combustion engine using both the two stroke and the four stroke principle and gasoline/ petrol as fuel. Both also set up in 1864 the very first engine production plant, N. A. Otto & Cie. in Köln (Cologne). This company became in 1872 the Gasmotoren-Fabrik DEUTZ AG, with
Gottlieb Daimler as Director and Wilhelm Maybach as head of Development.

The term "Ottomotor" was suggested by the "VDI" (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure) in 1936 and appeared for the first time in the German industrial Standard "DIN" in 1940.
From: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottomotor