Thread: Konig History

  1. #231
    Allen J. Lang
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    There is a gentleman in AOMC who flys blimps said while he was in europe, he did fly a blimp powered by Konigs.

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    Cool Alllen. Would you by any chance be able to see if he has any pictures, or brochures or other information on it?



  3. #233
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    More images from the same roll of film as previously posted. Shot on February 27, 1975. Bernd Tschierschke is working on what looks to be a cast iron block FA.
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    Awesome photos!
    Kim's work place was right at the back of the building. You went to the end of the drive and turned left. There was/is a seperate building behind the main building where Dieter's boats and hang glider are still stored.Opposite that building in the rear wall of the main building is a roller door and Kims workshop was behind that. The 350 BMW Koenig is still there and when I was there a few years ago there was a pile of clipon handlebars on Kims workbench.
    Not sure on the timing of the aircraft engine stuff but the three cylinder is still manufactured in Canada. The design was sold a few years ago I think.
    I would love to know aout the blimp!

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    You really got me looking at my old photos again Tim. I didn't remember a building behind the main one, but after enlarging some old slides I may have a portion of it that you may recognize, I had a very hard time figuring out the layout because I got used to using a 24 mm lens as my standard lens rather than a 50mm because I moved in close for my pit shots and wanted more of the peripheral vison of the human eye rather than the actual size of a subject. The problem is the perpective on distant objects (even not very distant) is distorted. Here are three pics that I took at the same time behind the Konig factory. In the first pic is the one I think may be the building on the left you are talking about. I never went in there, I can't remember anything about it, but it does look like the nose of a hydro just inside a rolling door.

    I took all these when as I mentioned earlier Lars Strom came to pick up an engine. Otherwise, I probably would not have these images. I am very sorry I didn't get any pictures of Lars, but it seems like it was a very quick, in and out pickup. I was in the middle of rigging up a new Danisch hydro when Dieter said he needed help to move boats out of the way. I think Lars parked just beyond the roll up door at the back and the motor test room was just to the left, but I'm not positive. Maybe Lars can shed some light on this.
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    Trying to orient myself with the photos. It seems sad that all that activity had to come to an end.
    When Kim got the bike going for the first time Dieter insisted on having a ride down the lane to the side of the main building.The engine suddenly got into its rev range and accelerated down the lane and smack into the building across the bottom of the site. Dieter was thrown through the fibro (I think) wall - fortunately without injury.

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    I've had a hard time orienting myself Tim. I did find some later pics though that I believe were taken in a storage building behind the factory. I've loosened up some cobwebs and have a vague memory. The only pictures I have of the inside were near the door where there was available light. I didn't carry flash equipment with me when we went there to race because we already had too much stuff to take. That building didn't have any skylighting, so I didn't wander around in it and shoot any pics because it was too dark. I'm not even sure it had windows. I don't know how much things changed before Steve Litzell started going there, but maybe he can fill us in. Sometimes Steve is like a Tomcat. He may not prowl around this site for another month, but when he does you can be sure it will be insightful.

    Here are the remaining pics of the motorcycles I have not previously posted.
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    Very interesting pics.
    the bike engine is now canted up at the rear, which would have made access to the plugs better but raised the centre of gravity. Also the pipes now exit the bottom of the engine.
    Interesting to see the cush drive on the end of the crank.

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    Default Some early history right after WW II

    A couple of weeks ago Ralph Donald, who was very close to Scott Smith of Dallas, Georgia, the US Distributor for Konig, made a comment that he had quite a few stories he wished he could relate on this thread regards Konig history. Unfortunately Ralph suffers from the same disease that many do when it comes to a computer keyboard, namely the only system he is familiar with is "the Bible System", or "seek and ye shall find". That system does not lend itself well to comments more than a sentence or two long, and because he knows MUCH more of the early history of the importation and racing of Konig motors in the US, both Wayne Baldwin and I volunteered to listen to his comments and then post them here. My Mom was a typing teacher from the time I can first remember her until she retired in the late 70's, so one thing she insisted on was her "Billy" also knew how to type. I did not think much of the education or my junior high typing teacher at the time, but it has worked out to be one of the best things she ever made me do, as my chosen profession (sales) does require much typing of quotes, reports, etc., so it has been very valuable to me all my life.

    Since I was going to see Ralph at DePue before Wayne would have a chance to talk with him, we spent a little time together during the down time when he was not racing, and he related a couple of stories that I will repeat here. In addition to adding to the Konig history here on BRF, his other time at DePue was very well spent, as he won the National Championship in 175CC Hydroplane. There was a full field of boats and the competition was fast and furious, and he had to drive hard to beat the other competitors, some only a third his age. I don't believe he is the oldest driver to win a Nationals in the PRO category, but very close as he will be 80 years young his next birthday, and I am sure a lot of the competitors he won over at DePue last week will tell you he drives like he was MUCH younger. This first story he related and I am posting here, has to do with the two persons who first discovered that the Konig engines even existed and what they did from that point.

    The story starts just after WW II in occupied West Berlin. Al Bryant and Mather Hyatt were American GI's who stayed in Germany after the war. Mather Hyatt had a Sister back in the US who was married to Scott Smith, which of course made Scott, Mathers brother-in-law. Al and Mather had been GI's in Germany during the war, and after it ended they stayed in Germany working for the US government in some capacity. On their off time they would do sightseeing around West Berlin, and one day they were near a small lake in the area and happened to hear and see Dieter Konig testing one of his motors. Dieter at this time was about 16 years old. One thing that was most amazing to me as Ralph was telling the story, was that this meeting took place in 1947, which was only a year and a half/two years after Germany's surrender, and in just that short of time, the recovery of what could only be termed a "recreational" industry was already underway with the Konig factory turning out motors. For those of you who are not familiar, in addition to the racing motors, Dieter's father Rudolph also manufactured pleasure boat motors.

    After becoming acquainted with Dieter from stopping and talking with him, both Al and Mather got interested in boat racing, and bought both boats and Konig racing motors and raced themselves in Berlin. During that time period they also became friends with Rudolph, Dieters father. In 1949, Al came back to the US to stay and Mather stayed in Berlin. Because of their friendship cultivated with Rudolph, they secured the US distributorship for the motors, and Mather handled the shipping of motors back to the US to Al from Germany.

    Just being back in the US a short time and not fully established yet with a storage facility to store the motors and parts being sent over by Mather, Al, at the suggestion of Mather, contacted Scott Smith, ( Mather's brother-in law) who owned at the time a hardware store in Dallas, Ga. Scott agreed to furnish some space in his store and warehouse to them so as to provide a place for stocking motors and parts, and also a display area where they could be shown to the buying public. In addition to maintaining the stock of parts and motors, Al took care of all the customs paperwork associated with getting the motors imported into the US, and also during the same time handled the process of getting the motors approved by the two sanctioning bodies for racing here in the US, NOA and APBA, which was a full time job in itself at the beginning. The approximate time frame for these efforts by Al was the early to mid 1950's. Both NOA and APBA approved the motors for use in their respective alky burning categories, but the efforts to get the stock version of the motor approved by APBA were futile, as APBA would not approve the Konig for use in existing stock classes where they would compete against Mercury's, Champions, and other US made stock category engines. I am sure there was much political pressure brought to bear by the US engine manufacturers, and that story would be very interesting to hear if anyone knows the in's and out's of that battle. Based on recent happenings in the OPC Category over the last 30 years or so, it probably was a very similar situation as history tends to repeat itself in those type situations, no matter the contestants.

    The first motors that were available to the public on a widespread basis (comparatively speaking) came over in 1955. By this time Al had discontinued his business relationship with the Konig factory as a distributor, and Scott Smith became the sole distributor for the United States, with Al retaining a dealership for the motors in the southeastern US. Dieter came to the US in 1956 and raced at both local and several National Championship races. He was also here to race in 1957 and 1961. More information on his success racing in the US during that time frame can be found in other posts in this thread.

    Ralph also mentioned that in 1955 I think he said, he purchased 3 engines from Scott, an A, B, and C. Total purchase price for the three engines was $1500.00. That would make any current boat racer wish for the "good old days".

    I will be talking to Ralph off and on until the UIM races in October in Florida, and then will spend some more time with him, so hopefully we will have the benefit of a few more stories about the early history of the Konig motor in the US. THANKS RALPH

  10. #240
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    This is truly remarkable, chapter and verse from the beginning!
    As always I am overwhelmed by the effort that has gone into acquiring this history. I will certainly use it believe me.
    I understand that the factory was able to get back on its feet relatively quickly as Dieter and Rudolf had access to a vast Luftwaffe repair facility having undertaken the manufacture of aircraft parts during the war. Although all their own machine tools had been destroyed by a 500 pound bomb that blew up the factory the gear they needed was lying around waiting to be liberated. Or so the story goes.
    Dieter's wife Flo told me that during the worst of the bombing Dieter stayed in Berlin with his father and that when everybody else was diving for cover he would make his way onto the nearest roof to watch the mayhem.
    I am up against a bit of deadline pressure as I want to get my book out - called The Kiwi On The Koenig' the idea is to have it out for Christmas.
    One interesting aspect of the story has been the places where Koenig engines ended up. On Speedway tracks in cars and bikes, on the grand prix motorcycle circuit, on the backs of hydfros of course and in the air. When Father Goose took his first trainees South beside an ultralite he was powered by Koenig.
    Anyway, as always, thank you for your trouble. I know it's a consuming interest for all of you and that gathering the history is something you would want to do anyway but I still really appreciate the effort.

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