Albatros
Albatros Flugzeugwerke of Johannisthal und Schneidemühl was a giant of WWI German aircraft production and dominated the German aircraft tallies during several periods of the war, from their early B-class unarmed planes, their long line of C-class two-seaters, and their famous fighters. If any criticism can be leveled, it is that their fighters never advanced significantly beyond what was offered by the D.III, but that is light criticism indeed in the face of all of their massed contributions.
In order to expand its Austro-Hungarian production, Albatros spun off Phönix in April 1914 and also sub-contracted to Oeffag. Austro-Hungarian versions of Albatros designs can be found under those manufacturer entries.
Production aircraft from the Great War or shortly thereafter include:
- Tauben
- Two-Seaters
- Albatros B.I
- Albatros B.II
- Albatros B.III
- Albatros C.I
- Albatros C.II [note 1]
- Albatros C.III
- Albatros C.IV [note 2]
- Albatros C.V
- Albatros C.VI
- Albatros C.VII
- Albatros C.VIIIN [note 3]
- Albatros C.IX [note 4]
- Albatros C.X
- Albatros C.XII
- Albatros C.XIII [note 5]
- Albatros C.XIV [note 6]
- Albatros C.XV
- Albatros L.3
- Fighters
- Albatros D.I
- Albatros D.II
- Albatros D.III
- Albatros D.IV [note 7]
- Albatros D.V
- Albatros D.Va
- Bombers
- Albatros G.I [note 8]
- Albatros G.II
- Albatros G.III
- Armored Ground-Attack Aircraft
- Seaplanes
- Albatros W.1
- Albatros W.2 [note 9]
- Albatros W.3 [note 10]
- Albatros W.4
- Albatros W.5
- Albatros W.8 [note 11]
References
- Notes
- ↑ In early 1916, only one C.II pusher was built to assess the pusher format.[1]
- ↑ Only one[2] or a handful[3] of C.IVs were built.
- ↑ The C.VIIIN was a prototype night bomber from 1917, but it was greatly underpowered and the project was abandoned.[4]
- ↑ Three Albatros C.IXs were built in 1917, but the type was not adopted for production.[4]
- ↑ The C.XIII was an attempt to turn a D.Va into a CL-class aircraft, but it was not adopted.[5]
- ↑ One C.XIV was built in spring 1918 with a lightened airframe. The design was modified into the C.XV.[5]
- ↑ The D.IV prototype used a geared Mercedes D.III engine. Due to difficulties with the motor, it did not enter production.[6][7]
- ↑ After its maiden flight on 31 Jan 1916[8], the four-engined Albatros G.I of 1916 was found to be completely unsatisfactory and was not further developed.[9]
- ↑ The W.2 was a prototype based on the Albatros C.III.[10]
- ↑ The W.3 was the prototype torpedo-carrier that led to the production W.5.[10]
- ↑ Three serial numbers were allocated to the W.8, a Brandenburg W.12 successor.[10]
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Enzo Angelucci, ed. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914-1980. New York: The Military Press, 1983 edition. ISBN 0-517-41021-4.
- Peter Gray and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. Great Britain, Putnam, 1962, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
- Peter Gray, Profile Publications 9: The Albatros D V. Great Britain: Profile Publications, Ltd., 1965.
- G.W. Haddow and Peter M. Grosz, The German Giants; The German R-Planes 1914-1918. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 2nd Ed., 1969. ISBN 9780370000374
- Heinz J. Nowarra, Bruce Robertson, and Peter G. Cooksley. Marine Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Letchworth, Herts, England: Harleyford Publications Limited, 1966. ISBN 0900435070