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Albatros J.I

1917 WORLD WAR 1

History of the Albatross J. I

The Albatross J.I was designed as a dedicated ground attack aircraft for "infantry close support roles" during the First World War. Using the wing assembly and tail of the C. XII, the C. XII's own Albatross, a reconnaissance biplane, has a new fuselage added to the design. Unique to the J.I is the addition of an armored steel plate to protect the crew during low-level assaults over enemy territory. This armor certainly added a lot of weight and ended up paying dearlyit added about 1,080 pounds to the airframe.

Despite the choice and use of a 200-horsepower engine, performance did suffer. To achieve its required low-flying missions, the J.I was equipped with a pair of pilot-controlled down-firing machine guns. This would allow the pilot to fly over the target and fire instead of aiming the entire aircraft at the target area.

The first flight of the J.I was recorded in 1917, the same year the aircraft entered service.

Despite its shortcomings, the J.I has had some success as a dedicated ground attack platform. While it can't face the true "scout" type directly, the J.I excels at shelling ground targets - disrupting supply lines, logistics, advancing enemy formations, digging troops in trenches.

In addition, the aircraft could cause enormous psychological damage to war-weary troops already under fire. The J.I series continued with around 240 production examples until the end of the war.

While the Albatross J.I is primarily a traditional-looking biplane design, it retains some of the features that set it apart. Chief among them is the downward-sloping front fuselage. , keeping the engines low compared to most other biplane designs. It also helps give pilots a better understanding of oncoming action. The engine is mounted in a forward compartment forward of the cockpit and protrudes from the top of the fuselage.

The engine drives a two-bladed wooden propeller assembly. The pilot looked behind the engine and under the upper wing assembly. Behind him is the rear cockpit spotter/gunner with a good view of the stern and sides.

The Gunner's job is to keep enemy fighters away from the J.I's vulnerable "six" corner. The wings have the same span, with parallel struts and double carriages additionally supported on the fuselage.

The circular fuselage was mounted at a point in the tail where a circular swept vertical stabilizer and a pair of horizontal planes were mounted. A ventral "fin" type structure is found under the tail of the fuselage, which helps support the tail.

The main landing gear is fixed in place, and each single-wheel landing gear leg is supported by two struts extending from the fuselage, with connecting struts connecting the two legs.

Electricity provided by Benz Bz. Series IV inline piston engines with up to 200 hp. This provides a top speed of up to 87 mph, with service capped at 13,120 feet. Engine life is just over 2 hours and 30 minutes with a climb rate of about 400 feet per minute. The J.I weighs 3,082 pounds empty and 3,986 pounds when ready for combat flight.

It has a wingspan of 46 feet 4 inches and a barrel length of 28 feet 11 inches. At rest, she stood at a height of 11 feet.

As an infantry close support platform, the J.I relies on its armament. This mainly consists of 2 x 7.92 Spandau LMG 08/15 series aircraft machine guns, mounted at a fixed downward angle, suitable for strafing trenches etc.

1 x 7.92mm Parabellum MG14 series rear machine gun used as a self-defense measure for the crew and aircraft. The machine gun was mounted on a trainable mount, allowing the rear gunner to aim the gun at nearby enemy aircraft.

Aside from the Luftwaffe, the only known J.I operator is Poland, but these were used in the years following the end of World War I. About 10 of these aircraft were in service in Poland until 1921, having previously been retired.