(Albatros) D.III & D.V @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Albatros D.III Albatros D.III
    Albatros D.III
  • Albatros D.III Albatros D.III
    Albatros D.III
  • Albatros D.III<br>Voss.Scheffer 1917 Albatros D.III<br>Voss.Scheffer 1917
    Albatros D.III
    Voss.Scheffer 1917
  • Albatros D.III - 1917 Albatros D.III - 1917
    Albatros D.III - 1917
  • Albatros D.III<br>Erich Löwenhardt<br>jasta 11 1917 Albatros D.III<br>Erich Löwenhardt<br>jasta 11 1917
    Albatros D.III
    Erich Löwenhardt
    jasta 11 1917
  • Albatros D.III<br>Werner Voß<br>Manfred von Richthofen Albatros D.III<br>Werner Voß<br>Manfred von Richthofen
    Albatros D.III
    Werner Voß
    Manfred von Richthofen
  • Albatros D.V Albatros D.V
    Albatros D.V
  • Albaros D.V<br>Guido Scheffer 1918 Albaros D.V<br>Guido Scheffer 1918
    Albaros D.V
    Guido Scheffer 1918
  • Albatros D.V - (Manfred von Richthofen) Albatros D.V - (Manfred von Richthofen)
    Albatros D.V - (Manfred von Richthofen)
  • Albatros D.V<br>Maxim gun Albatros D.V<br>Maxim gun
    Albatros D.V
    Maxim gun
  • Albatros D.V<br>Richtoffen Flying<br>Circus Jasta 11 Albatros D.V<br>Richtoffen Flying<br>Circus Jasta 11
    Albatros D.V
    Richtoffen Flying
    Circus Jasta 11
  • Albatros D.Va Albatros D.Va
    Albatros D.Va
  • Albatros D.Vd Albatros D.Vd
    Albatros D.Vd
  • Albatros D.V<br>Oblt Guido<br>Scheffer 1917 Albatros D.V<br>Oblt Guido<br>Scheffer 1917
    Albatros D.V
    Oblt Guido
    Scheffer 1917
  • Albatros D.Va Albatros D.Va
    Albatros D.Va
  • Albatros D.V Albatros D.V
    Albatros D.V
  • Albatros D.V - Max Muller Albatros D.V - Max Muller
    Albatros D.V - Max Muller

Albatros D.III and D.V

Albatros D.III

Work on the prototype D.III started in late July or early August 1916. The date of the maiden flight is unknown, but is believed to have occurred in late August or early September. Following on the successful Albatros D.I and D.II series, the D.III utilized the same semi-monocoque, plywood-skinned fuselage. At the request of the Idflieg (Inspectorate of Flying Troops), however, the D.III adopted a sesquiplane wing arrangement broadly similar to the French Nieuport 11. The upper wing was extended in span, while the lower wing was redesigned with reduced chord and a single main spar. "V" shaped interplane struts replaced the previous parallel struts. For this reason, British aircrews commonly referred to the D.III as the "V-strutter."

After a Typenprüfung (official type test) on 26 September 1916, Albatros received an order for 400 D.III aircraft, the largest German production contract to date. Idflieg placed additional orders for 50 aircraft in February and March 1917.

Operational history

The D.III entered squadron service in December 1916, and was immediately acclaimed by German aircrews for its maneuverability and rate of climb. Two faults with the new aircraft were soon identified. Like the D.II, early D.III's featured a Teves und Braun airfoil shaped radiator in the center of the upper wing, where it tended to scald the pilot if punctured. From the 290th D.III onward, the radiator was offset to the right.

More seriously, the new aircraft immediately began experiencing failures of the lower wing ribs and leading edge, a defect shared with the Nieuport 17. On 23 January 1917, a Jasta 6 pilot suffered a failure of the lower right wing spar. On the following day, Manfred von Richthofen suffered a crack in the lower wing of his new D.III. On 27 January, the Kogenluft (Kommandierenden General der Luftstreitkräfte) issued an order grounding all D.IIIs pending resolution of the wing failure problem. On 19 February, after Albatros introduced a reinforced lower wing, the Kogenluft rescinded the grounding order. New production D.IIIs were completed with the strengthened wing while operational D.IIIs were withdrawn to Armee-Flugparks for modifications, forcing Jastas to use the Albatros D.II and Halberstadt D.II during the interim.

At the time, the continued wing failures were attributed to poor workmanship and materials at the Johannisthal factory. In fact, the cause of the wing failures lay in the sesquiplane arrangement taken from the Nieuport. While the lower wing had sufficient strength in static tests, it was subsequently determined that the main spar was located too far aft, causing the wing to twist under aerodynamic loads. Pilots were therefore advised not to perform steep or prolonged dives in the D.III. This design flaw persisted despite attempts to rectify the problem in the D.III and succeeding D.V.

Apart from its structural deficiencies, the D.III was considered pleasant and easy to fly, if somewhat heavy on the controls. The sesquiplane arrangement offered improved climb, maneuverability, and downward visibility compared to the preceding D.II. Like most contemporary aircraft, the D.III was prone to spinning, but recovery was straightforward.

Albatros built approximately 500 D.III aircraft at its Johannisthal factory. In the spring of 1917, D.III production shifted to Albatros' subsidiary, Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW), to permit Albatros to concentrate on development and production of the D.V. Between April and August 1917, Idflieg issued five separate orders for a total of 840 D.IIIs. The OAW variant underwent its Typenprüfung in June 1917. Production commenced at the Schneidemühl factory in June and continued through December 1917. OAW aircraft were distinguishable by their larger, rounded rudders.

Peak service was in November 1917, with 446 aircraft on the Western Front. The D.III did not disappear with the end of production, however. It remained in frontline service well into 1918. As of 31 August 1918, 54 D.III aircraft remained on the Western Front.

Albatros D.V

In April 1917, Albatros received an order from the Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen) for an improved version of the D.III.

The resulting D.V featured a new fuselage of elliptical cross-section, which was 70 lbs (32 kg) lighter than that of the D.III. The prototype D.V retained the standard tail surfaces of the D.III, but production examples used the enlarged rudder featured on the Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW) D.III. The D.V also featured a larger ventral fin. The upper wing was repositioned 4.75 inches closer to the fuselage, while the lower wings attached to the fuselage without a fairing. The wings themselves were similar to those of the standard D.III, except for a revised linkage of the aileron cables. Early examples of the D.V featured a large headrest, which was usually removed because it interfered with the pilot's field of view. Aircraft deployed in Palestine used two wing radiators to cope with the warmer climate.

The D.V offered a slight performance advantage over the D.III through the use of more powerful engines. Most D.V aircraft were equipped with the 170 hp Mercedes D.IIIa, but late D.V and almost all D.Va aircraft used the high-compression 180 hp Mercedes D.IIIaü.

Operational use

The D.V entered service in May 1917 and like the D.III before it, immediately began experiencing structural failures of the lower wing. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that the D.V was even more prone to wing failures than the D.III. Furthermore, the D.V offered very little improvement in performance. This caused considerable dismay among frontline pilots. Manfred von Richthofen was particularly critical of the new aircraft. In a July 1917 letter, he described the D.V as "so obsolete and so ridiculously inferior to the English that one can't do anything with this aircraft."

In October 1917, production switched to the D.Va, which reverted to the D.III's aileron cable linkage to provide a more positive control response. The wings of the D.III and D.Va were in fact interchangeable. In an effort to resolve continuing problems with the wing structure, the D.Va also featured a metal sleeve to strengthen the lower main spar, as well as a small brace connecting the interplane struts to the leading edge of the lower wing. These modifications made the D.Va 50 lbs heavier than the D.III, while failing to entirely cure the structural problems of the type.

The structural problems of the Fokker Dr.I and the mediocre performance of the Pfalz D.III left the Luftstreitkräfte with no viable alternative to the D.Va until the Fokker D.VII entered service in the summer of 1918. As of May 1918, 131 D.V and 928 D.Va aircraft were in service on the Western Front. Numbers declined as production ended, but the D.Va remained in widespread use until the Armistice.

Operators

The German Luftstreitkräfte and the Polish Air Force that operated this type postwar.

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Albatros D.III of Wikipedia ( authors )

Specifications (Albatros D.V)

  • Length: 24 ft 1 in.
  • Height: 8 ft 10 in.
  • Wingspan: 29 ft 8 in.
  • Wing area: 228.50 ft².
  • Empty weight: 1,515 lb.
  • Loaded weight: 2,066 lb.
  • Maximum speed: 115.9 mph at sea level (or 101 kts).
  • Service ceiling: 9,800 ft).
  • Time to climb: 4.35 min to 1,000 m (or 3,280 ft).
  • Endurance: 2 hours.
  • Powerplant: One Mercedes D.IIIaü 6-cylinder water-cooled inline engine.
  • Power: 180 hp (or 134 kW).
  • Armament: Two forward-firing 7.92 mm LMG 08/15 machine guns.

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Albatros D.III of Wikipedia ( authors )
Source 2 : Article '; Albatros D.V of Wikipedia ( authors )
Albatros D.III & D.V : Your comments on this subject
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