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Albatros D.I

1916 WORLD WAR 1

History

During the First World War, the Albatros Flugzeugwerke company certainly made a name for itself. She was in charge of many outstanding airframes, helping to wrest control of the skies from the Triple Entente air aces. The series started with the excellent D.I and developed into improved versions of the D.II, D.III, D.V and D.Va by the end of the war in 1918. Although only 50 D.I models were produced, it proved to be an important addition to the German Imperial Army Air Force inventory needed to counter the ever-improving enemy scouts.

Like other classic mounts that debuted in World War I, the D.I only existed for a short time before being replaced by more powerful fighter jets - such was the life of military aircraft during the war, when technology seemed to change every day.

The Albatross D.I model was ordered in June 1916 and introduced into German aviation service in August 1916 to offset the success of the British scouts Airco and de Havilland and the French fighter series Nieuport. All three companies would earn their own respect by the end of the war - thanks in part to the development of German Albatross and Fokker.

These Airco, de Havilland and Nieuport designs helped to end the bloody "Fokker scourge" of early 1916, when aerial supremacy was firmly in German hands thanks to the revolutionary Fokker monoplane. Land conquered one day can be lost the next as changing technology forces newer and better mounts into the air.

So the Albatross introduced the D.I to repel further casualties to the Triple Entente pilots.

The D.I borrowed much of what it learned on the early C-Series biplanes. However, the D.I incorporates a greatly improved aerodynamically friendly airframe design, giving the new fighter a rather modern appearance. The design features a more streamlined front and an oval plywood fuselage, starting with propeller spinners that fit directly against the lines of the engine bay. Power is provided by Benz Bz. III (150 hp) or Mercedes D. III (160 hp) six-cylinder liquid-cooled engines, representing some of the most powerful engines available in Scout fighter jets, at speeds of around 110 miles per hour.

Such an installation produced immediate performance improvements that would make the D-Series legendary for the rest of the war. The armament is centred on a pair of 7.92mm Spandau LMG 08/15 series machine guns linked to a twin-blade propeller system for synchronisation the ability to fire the machine guns through rotating propeller blades, a German technical achievement, It was originally some time before the Triple Entente was supposed to come together.

The biplane wing arrangement was the standard design for fighter jets throughout the war - in which it was possible to install one (monoplane) and up to three (triplane) wings at a time. D.I carries these wings with parallel struts and matching wiring.

The landing gear is fixed and consists of two single-wheel main landing gear legs and a base tail skid. This allows for hard landings anywhere an airfield is established on the war dynamic front. The cockpit is mounted aft/under the midship forward and upper wing assemblies.

The strength of the D.I is its excellent rate of climb. It can reach an altitude of 3,280 feet in just 6 minutes, which means it responds quickly to an incoming bandit or balloon and takes off for a match. The Achilles heel of the design, however, was the inability of the fighter scout to be fully maneuverable, forcing the pilot to use that type of power and weaponry to their advantage.

Visibility from the open-air cockpit is good, except for the wing assemblies. This is a slight improvement on the outgoing D.II model, lowering the upper wing assembly. Regardless, D.I was the best of its kind from the start - only better enemy designs came online in time.

The impressive performance and capabilities of the D-Series as a whole eventually saw them being used by some of the top German ace of the day, including the mythical Manfred von Richthofen.