According to Bill Gunston's "Development of Piston Aero Engines" indeed, Mikulin engines series had origins in licenced BMW VI (although the history of this cooperation dates back to late '20s). The book doesn't say when and how V-1710 was born, but I'd say it also was late '20s / early '30s design, after all it powered Acron and Macon airships didn't it? Was it also based on BMW VI however? I don't know.
Cheers.
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