Albatros D.III: Johannisthal, OAW, and Oeffag variants

· Air Vanguard Book 13 · Bloomsbury Publishing
3.5
2 reviews
Ebook
64
Pages

About this ebook

A concise technical history of the German Albatros D.III and D.III(OAW) type scouts.

In 1916 German aerial domination, once held sway by rotary-engined Fokker and Pfalz E-type wing-warping monoplanes, had been lost to the more nimble French Nieuports and British DH 2s which not only out-flew the German fighters but were present in greater numbers. Born-from-experience calls from German fighter pilots requested that, rather than compete with the maneuverability of these adversaries, new single-engine machines should be equipped with higher horsepower engines and armed with two rather than the then-standard single machine gun.

The Robert Thelen-led Albatros design bureau set to work on what became the Albatros D.I and D.II and by April 1916, they had developed a sleek yet rugged machine that featured the usual Albatros semi-monocoque wooden construction and employed a 160hp Mercedes D.III engine with power enough to equip the aeroplane with two forward-firing machine guns.

As this book details, in all, 500 D.IIIs and 840 D.III(OAW)s were produced and saw heavy service throughout 1917.

Ratings and reviews

3.5
2 reviews

About the author

James F. Miller is a married father of two who lives in Naples, Florida. A commercial pilot and lifelong student of all aspects of aviation, his current research focuses on the middle years of World War I.

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