Albatros D.III

     Germany employed several notable combat craft throughout the first World War. In this post we'll focus on the Albatros D.III. Designed by Albatros Flugzeugwerke, the D.III was a fairly straightforward development based on previous Albatros models. It entered German service in December of 1916, and was also license-built in Austria-Hungary. The Albatros is largely credited with bringing the German Luftstreitkräfte air superiority during the early months of 1917 in a period of the war known as Bloody April. Throughout the period, the British Royal Flying Corps suffered somewhere between 245 and 275 air losses. The Germans would lose 66 aircraft. The D.III undoubtedly made its mark on the war during Bloody April, but would be outclassed in the latter months of 1917 as new fighters such as the Sopwith Camel and SPAD S.XIII were introduced onto the battlefield.

    The Albatros D.III was an iterative design that built upon the previous D.I and D.II, but with a bit of a twist. It borrowed its wing design from the French Nieuport 11, which had aided the French in wrestling air superiority from the Germans earlier in 1916. The new wing design had a lengthened main top wing, and a shortened lower wing. This wing design isn't a true biplane, but is instead a sesquiplane, meaning "one-and-a-half wings." Due to having less wing area on the lower wing, the struts that supported the top wing were V-shaped instead of N-shaped. This configuration provided less drag at speed, and an increased rate of climb over more conventional designs. The D.III was also praised for its stability and maneuverability compared to the preceding D.I and D.II.

    As for D.III's engine, it remained the same as the previous two Albatros craft: An in-line 6-cylinder Mercedes D.IIIa piston engine. Water cooling and an overhead camshaft allowed the engine to produce more power than contemporary radial engines at around 160 horsepower. Between the engine and the wing design, the D.III was intended to dive from a height, attempt an attack on a target, then use the remaining speed and energy to climb away from the target. This meant it would need to be resistant to quick changes in applied force. Knowing this, the hull was reinforced with a handful of steel elements.

    After its introduction, it was very quickly discovered that D.III still had some problems. The radiator was placed above the pilot in order to reduce the probability of being hit by enemy fire. This worked in theory, but also meant that if the radiator was struck or punctured it would dump scalding hot water on the pilot directly below it. The radiator was quickly shifted next to the pilot instead of directly above them. The second problem proved much more fundamental. The new wing design introduced a flaw. While the hull was reinforced against quick changes in forces, the wings were not. At high speeds and forces the pressure from the upper wing weighed on the lower wing through the V-shaped struts. This would crack or deform the lower wing as it flexed in response to those forces. In response, all D.IIIs were kept grounded until several changes could be made to strengthen the lower wing. Even after the problem was addressed, pilots were told to avoid steep dives which would gather too much speed.

    D.III had an armament layout which would have been very familiar to German pilots. It mounted two synchronized and air-cooled lMG 08/15 machine guns chambered in 7.92×57mm, the standard rifle cartridge for the German military since 1903. The lMG 08/15 itself was surprisingly helpful to pilots. The guns were fitted with a device that displayed the amount of remaining ammunition on the back of the receiver. This aided pilots in their trigger discipline, helping them know when they could afford to be generous with their fire or when they needed to be more cautious and reserved with taking shots at their opponents.

    Here's something interesting: while several German and Austro-Hungarian aces flew an Albatros D.III, the most famous is the iconic Red Baron. Today he's typically associated with the distinctive Fokker Dr.I triplane, but it's likely he owed a quarter of his overall air victories to the D.III! Below is a picture of a reproduced Albatros D.III in flight retrieved from The Vintage Aviator. I also managed to find a video of the very same D.III starting its engine.

Reproduction Albatros D.III produced in 2011