The
Albatros D.V was a
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
used by the
LuftstreitkräfteThe Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
(Imperial German Air Service) during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family, and the last Albatros fighter to see operational service. Despite its well-known shortcomings and general obsolescence, approximately 900 D.V and 1,612 D.Va aircraft were built before production halted in early 1918. The D.Va continued in operational service until the end of the war.
Development and production
In April 1917, Albatros received an order from the
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
(
Inspektion der Fliegertruppen) for an improved version of the
D.IIIThe Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...
. The prototype flew later that month.
The resulting D.V closely resembled the D.III and used the same 127 kW (170 hp)
Mercedes D.IIIThe Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
a engine. The most notable difference was a new
fuselageThe fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
which was 32 kg (70 lb) lighter than that of the D.III. The elliptical cross-section required an additional longeron on each side of the fuselage. The prototype D.V retained the standard rudder of the Johannisthal-built D.III, but production examples used the enlarged
rudderA rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft,or other conveyance that moves through a fluid . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
featured on D.IIIs built by Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW). The D.V also featured a larger spinner and ventral fin.
The upper wing of the D.V was repositioned 4.75 inches closer to the fuselage, while the lower wings attached to the fuselage without a fairing. The wings themselves were almost identical to those of the standard D.III, except for a revised linkage of the
aileronFor the band with a similar name, see The AileronsAilerons are hinged control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll...
cables. For this reason,
Idflieg conducted structural tests on the fuselage but not the wings of the new aircraft.
Early examples of the D.V featured a large headrest, which was usually removed in service because it interfered with the pilot's field of view. The headrest was eventually deleted from production. Aircraft deployed in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
used two wing
radiatorRadiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, chiefly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
s to cope with the warmer climate.
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
issued production contracts for 200 D.V aircraft in April 1917, followed by additional orders of 400 in May and 300 in July. Initial production of the D.V was exclusively undertaken by the Johannisthal factory, while the Schneidemühl factory produced the D.III through the remainder of 1917.
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. The outboard sections of the upper wing also suffered failures, requiring additional wire bracing. Furthermore, the D.V offered very little improvement in performance. This caused considerable dismay among frontline pilots, many of whom preferred the older D.III.
Manfred von RichthofenManfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.Richthofen was a member of an...
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." British tests of a captured D.V revealed that the aircraft was slow to maneuver, heavy on the controls, and tiring to fly.
Albatros responded with the
D.Va, which featured stronger wing spars, heavier wing ribs, and a reinforced fuselage. The D.Va also 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. The D.Va was also fitted with a small brace connecting the
interplane strutAn interplane strut is an aircraft airframe component designed to transmit lift and landing loads between wing panels on biplanes and other aircraft with multi-wing designs. They also maintain the correct angle of incidence for the connected wing panels and are often braced with wires...
s to the leading edge of the lower wing. These modifications made the D.Va 23 kg (50 lb) heavier than the D.III, while failing to entirely cure the structural problems of the type. Use of the high-compression 130 kW (180 hp) Mercedes D.IIIaü engine offset the increased weight of the D.Va.
Idflieg placed orders for 262 D.Va aircraft in August 1917, followed by additional orders for 250 in September and 550 in October. Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke, which had been engaged in production of the D.III, received orders for 600 D.Va aircraft in October.
Deliveries of the D.Va commenced in October 1917. The structural problems of the
Fokker Dr.IThe Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...
and the mediocre performance of the
Pfalz D.IIIThe Pfalz D.III was a fighter aircraft used by the Luftstreitkräfte during the First World War. The D.III was the first major original design from Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Though generally considered inferior to contemporary Albatros and Fokker fighters, the D.III was widely used by the Jagdstaffeln...
left the
Luftstreitkräfte with no viable alternative to the D.Va until the
Fokker D.VIIThe Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 1,700 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...
entered service in the summer of 1918. Production ceased in April 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 use until the
ArmisticeThe armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front...
.
Survivors and modern reproductions
Today, two D.Va aircraft survive in museums. Serial D.7161/17 is displayed at the
National Air and Space MuseumThe National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. It maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world...
in Washington D.C., and serial D.5390/17 is displayed at the
Australian War MemorialThe Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
in Canberra, Australia.
A small number of Albatros D.V reproductions have been constructed in recent years. One of the most notable flyable examples, finished in the colors of
Eduard Ritter von SchleichEduard Ritter von Schleich , née Eduard-Maria Joseph Schleich was a high scoring Bavarian flying ace of World War I. He was credited with 35 aerial victories at the end of the war...
, is operated by the
Old Rhinebeck AerodromeThe Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a museum of World War I aircraft and antique automobiles that is located in Red Hook, New York, USA.-History:...
. It is powered by a modified six-cylinder Fairchild Ranger engine, fitted after the original liquid-cooled
Mercedes D.IIThe Mercedes D.II was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler during the early stages of World War I. Producing about 110 to 120 hp, it was at the low-end of the power range of contemporary engines, and was generally outperformed by rotaries whose power-to-weight ratio...
engine sheared its crankshaft.
Operators
German Empire
- Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
- Polish Air Force
Polish Air Force is the air force branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until 1 July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...
(postwar)
Specifications (D.V)
The
Albatros D.V was a
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
used by the
LuftstreitkräfteThe Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
(Imperial German Air Service) during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family, and the last Albatros fighter to see operational service. Despite its well-known shortcomings and general obsolescence, approximately 900 D.V and 1,612 D.Va aircraft were built before production halted in early 1918. The D.Va continued in operational service until the end of the war.
Development and production
In April 1917, Albatros received an order from the
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
(
Inspektion der Fliegertruppen) for an improved version of the
D.IIIThe Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...
. The prototype flew later that month.
The resulting D.V closely resembled the D.III and used the same 127 kW (170 hp)
Mercedes D.IIIThe Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
a engine. The most notable difference was a new
fuselageThe fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
which was 32 kg (70 lb) lighter than that of the D.III. The elliptical cross-section required an additional longeron on each side of the fuselage. The prototype D.V retained the standard rudder of the Johannisthal-built D.III, but production examples used the enlarged
rudderA rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft,or other conveyance that moves through a fluid . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
featured on D.IIIs built by Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW). The D.V also featured a larger spinner and ventral fin.
The upper wing of the D.V was repositioned 4.75 inches closer to the fuselage, while the lower wings attached to the fuselage without a fairing. The wings themselves were almost identical to those of the standard D.III, except for a revised linkage of the
aileronFor the band with a similar name, see The AileronsAilerons are hinged control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll...
cables. For this reason,
Idflieg conducted structural tests on the fuselage but not the wings of the new aircraft.
Early examples of the D.V featured a large headrest, which was usually removed in service because it interfered with the pilot's field of view. The headrest was eventually deleted from production. Aircraft deployed in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
used two wing
radiatorRadiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, chiefly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
s to cope with the warmer climate.
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
issued production contracts for 200 D.V aircraft in April 1917, followed by additional orders of 400 in May and 300 in July. Initial production of the D.V was exclusively undertaken by the Johannisthal factory, while the Schneidemühl factory produced the D.III through the remainder of 1917.
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. The outboard sections of the upper wing also suffered failures, requiring additional wire bracing. Furthermore, the D.V offered very little improvement in performance. This caused considerable dismay among frontline pilots, many of whom preferred the older D.III.
Manfred von RichthofenManfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.Richthofen was a member of an...
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." British tests of a captured D.V revealed that the aircraft was slow to maneuver, heavy on the controls, and tiring to fly.
Albatros responded with the
D.Va, which featured stronger wing spars, heavier wing ribs, and a reinforced fuselage. The D.Va also 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. The D.Va was also fitted with a small brace connecting the
interplane strutAn interplane strut is an aircraft airframe component designed to transmit lift and landing loads between wing panels on biplanes and other aircraft with multi-wing designs. They also maintain the correct angle of incidence for the connected wing panels and are often braced with wires...
s to the leading edge of the lower wing. These modifications made the D.Va 23 kg (50 lb) heavier than the D.III, while failing to entirely cure the structural problems of the type. Use of the high-compression 130 kW (180 hp) Mercedes D.IIIaü engine offset the increased weight of the D.Va.
Idflieg placed orders for 262 D.Va aircraft in August 1917, followed by additional orders for 250 in September and 550 in October. Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke, which had been engaged in production of the D.III, received orders for 600 D.Va aircraft in October.
Deliveries of the D.Va commenced in October 1917. The structural problems of the
Fokker Dr.IThe Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...
and the mediocre performance of the
Pfalz D.IIIThe Pfalz D.III was a fighter aircraft used by the Luftstreitkräfte during the First World War. The D.III was the first major original design from Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Though generally considered inferior to contemporary Albatros and Fokker fighters, the D.III was widely used by the Jagdstaffeln...
left the
Luftstreitkräfte with no viable alternative to the D.Va until the
Fokker D.VIIThe Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 1,700 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...
entered service in the summer of 1918. Production ceased in April 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 use until the
ArmisticeThe armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front...
.
Survivors and modern reproductions
Today, two D.Va aircraft survive in museums. Serial D.7161/17 is displayed at the
National Air and Space MuseumThe National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. It maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world...
in Washington D.C., and serial D.5390/17 is displayed at the
Australian War MemorialThe Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
in Canberra, Australia.
A small number of Albatros D.V reproductions have been constructed in recent years. One of the most notable flyable examples, finished in the colors of
Eduard Ritter von SchleichEduard Ritter von Schleich , née Eduard-Maria Joseph Schleich was a high scoring Bavarian flying ace of World War I. He was credited with 35 aerial victories at the end of the war...
, is operated by the
Old Rhinebeck AerodromeThe Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a museum of World War I aircraft and antique automobiles that is located in Red Hook, New York, USA.-History:...
. It is powered by a modified six-cylinder Fairchild Ranger engine, fitted after the original liquid-cooled
Mercedes D.IIThe Mercedes D.II was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler during the early stages of World War I. Producing about 110 to 120 hp, it was at the low-end of the power range of contemporary engines, and was generally outperformed by rotaries whose power-to-weight ratio...
engine sheared its crankshaft.
Operators
German Empire
- Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
{{POL}}
- Polish Air Force
Polish Air Force is the air force branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until 1 July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...
(postwar)
Specifications (D.V)
{{aero-specs}}
The
Albatros D.V was a
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
used by the
LuftstreitkräfteThe Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
(Imperial German Air Service) during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family, and the last Albatros fighter to see operational service. Despite its well-known shortcomings and general obsolescence, approximately 900 D.V and 1,612 D.Va aircraft were built before production halted in early 1918. The D.Va continued in operational service until the end of the war.
Development and production
In April 1917, Albatros received an order from the
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
(
Inspektion der Fliegertruppen) for an improved version of the
D.IIIThe Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...
. The prototype flew later that month.
The resulting D.V closely resembled the D.III and used the same 127 kW (170 hp)
Mercedes D.IIIThe Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
a engine. The most notable difference was a new
fuselageThe fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
which was 32 kg (70 lb) lighter than that of the D.III. The elliptical cross-section required an additional longeron on each side of the fuselage. The prototype D.V retained the standard rudder of the Johannisthal-built D.III, but production examples used the enlarged
rudderA rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft,or other conveyance that moves through a fluid . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
featured on D.IIIs built by Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW). The D.V also featured a larger spinner and ventral fin.
The upper wing of the D.V was repositioned 4.75 inches closer to the fuselage, while the lower wings attached to the fuselage without a fairing. The wings themselves were almost identical to those of the standard D.III, except for a revised linkage of the
aileronFor the band with a similar name, see The AileronsAilerons are hinged control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll...
cables. For this reason,
Idflieg conducted structural tests on the fuselage but not the wings of the new aircraft.
Early examples of the D.V featured a large headrest, which was usually removed in service because it interfered with the pilot's field of view. The headrest was eventually deleted from production. Aircraft deployed in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
used two wing
radiatorRadiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, chiefly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
s to cope with the warmer climate.
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
issued production contracts for 200 D.V aircraft in April 1917, followed by additional orders of 400 in May and 300 in July. Initial production of the D.V was exclusively undertaken by the Johannisthal factory, while the Schneidemühl factory produced the D.III through the remainder of 1917.
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. The outboard sections of the upper wing also suffered failures, requiring additional wire bracing. Furthermore, the D.V offered very little improvement in performance. This caused considerable dismay among frontline pilots, many of whom preferred the older D.III.
Manfred von RichthofenManfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.Richthofen was a member of an...
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." British tests of a captured D.V revealed that the aircraft was slow to maneuver, heavy on the controls, and tiring to fly.
Albatros responded with the
D.Va, which featured stronger wing spars, heavier wing ribs, and a reinforced fuselage. The D.Va also 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. The D.Va was also fitted with a small brace connecting the
interplane strutAn interplane strut is an aircraft airframe component designed to transmit lift and landing loads between wing panels on biplanes and other aircraft with multi-wing designs. They also maintain the correct angle of incidence for the connected wing panels and are often braced with wires...
s to the leading edge of the lower wing. These modifications made the D.Va 23 kg (50 lb) heavier than the D.III, while failing to entirely cure the structural problems of the type. Use of the high-compression 130 kW (180 hp) Mercedes D.IIIaü engine offset the increased weight of the D.Va.
Idflieg placed orders for 262 D.Va aircraft in August 1917, followed by additional orders for 250 in September and 550 in October. Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke, which had been engaged in production of the D.III, received orders for 600 D.Va aircraft in October.
Deliveries of the D.Va commenced in October 1917. The structural problems of the
Fokker Dr.IThe Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...
and the mediocre performance of the
Pfalz D.IIIThe Pfalz D.III was a fighter aircraft used by the Luftstreitkräfte during the First World War. The D.III was the first major original design from Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Though generally considered inferior to contemporary Albatros and Fokker fighters, the D.III was widely used by the Jagdstaffeln...
left the
Luftstreitkräfte with no viable alternative to the D.Va until the
Fokker D.VIIThe Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 1,700 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...
entered service in the summer of 1918. Production ceased in April 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 use until the
ArmisticeThe armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front...
.
Survivors and modern reproductions
Today, two D.Va aircraft survive in museums. Serial D.7161/17 is displayed at the
National Air and Space MuseumThe National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. It maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world...
in Washington D.C., and serial D.5390/17 is displayed at the
Australian War MemorialThe Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
in Canberra, Australia.
A small number of Albatros D.V reproductions have been constructed in recent years. One of the most notable flyable examples, finished in the colors of
Eduard Ritter von SchleichEduard Ritter von Schleich , née Eduard-Maria Joseph Schleich was a high scoring Bavarian flying ace of World War I. He was credited with 35 aerial victories at the end of the war...
, is operated by the
Old Rhinebeck AerodromeThe Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a museum of World War I aircraft and antique automobiles that is located in Red Hook, New York, USA.-History:...
. It is powered by a modified six-cylinder Fairchild Ranger engine, fitted after the original liquid-cooled
Mercedes D.IIThe Mercedes D.II was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler during the early stages of World War I. Producing about 110 to 120 hp, it was at the low-end of the power range of contemporary engines, and was generally outperformed by rotaries whose power-to-weight ratio...
engine sheared its crankshaft.
Operators
German Empire
- Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
{{POL}}
- Polish Air Force
Polish Air Force is the air force branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until 1 July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...
(postwar)
Specifications (D.V)
{{aero-specs}}
{{aircraft specifications
|plane or copter?= plane
|jet or prop?= prop
|ref=
|crew=one, pilot
|capacity=
|length main= 7.33 m
|length alt= 24 ft 1 in
|span main= 9.04 m
|span alt= 29 ft 8 in
|height main= 2.70 m
|height alt= 8 ft 10 in
|area main= 21.20 m²
|area alt= 228.5 ft²
|airfoil=
|empty weight main= 687 kg
|empty weight alt= 1,515 lb
|loaded weight main= 937 kg
|loaded weight alt= 2,066 lb
|useful load main=
|useful load alt=
|max takeoff weight main=
|max takeoff weight alt=
|more general=
|engine (prop)=
Mercedes D.IIIThe Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
aü
|type of prop=6-cylinder water-cooled inline engine
|number of props=1
|power main= 134 kW
|power alt= 180 hp
|power original=
|max speed main= 187 km/h at sea level
|max speed alt= 101 kn, 116 mph
|cruise speed main=
|cruise speed alt=
|stall speed main=
|stall speed alt=
|never exceed speed main=
|never exceed speed alt=
The
Albatros D.V was a
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
used by the
LuftstreitkräfteThe Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
(Imperial German Air Service) during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family, and the last Albatros fighter to see operational service. Despite its well-known shortcomings and general obsolescence, approximately 900 D.V and 1,612 D.Va aircraft were built before production halted in early 1918. The D.Va continued in operational service until the end of the war.
Development and production
In April 1917, Albatros received an order from the
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
(
Inspektion der Fliegertruppen) for an improved version of the
D.IIIThe Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...
. The prototype flew later that month.
The resulting D.V closely resembled the D.III and used the same 127 kW (170 hp)
Mercedes D.IIIThe Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
a engine. The most notable difference was a new
fuselageThe fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
which was 32 kg (70 lb) lighter than that of the D.III. The elliptical cross-section required an additional longeron on each side of the fuselage. The prototype D.V retained the standard rudder of the Johannisthal-built D.III, but production examples used the enlarged
rudderA rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft,or other conveyance that moves through a fluid . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
featured on D.IIIs built by Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW). The D.V also featured a larger spinner and ventral fin.
The upper wing of the D.V was repositioned 4.75 inches closer to the fuselage, while the lower wings attached to the fuselage without a fairing. The wings themselves were almost identical to those of the standard D.III, except for a revised linkage of the
aileronFor the band with a similar name, see The AileronsAilerons are hinged control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll...
cables. For this reason,
Idflieg conducted structural tests on the fuselage but not the wings of the new aircraft.
Early examples of the D.V featured a large headrest, which was usually removed in service because it interfered with the pilot's field of view. The headrest was eventually deleted from production. Aircraft deployed in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
used two wing
radiatorRadiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, chiefly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
s to cope with the warmer climate.
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
issued production contracts for 200 D.V aircraft in April 1917, followed by additional orders of 400 in May and 300 in July. Initial production of the D.V was exclusively undertaken by the Johannisthal factory, while the Schneidemühl factory produced the D.III through the remainder of 1917.
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. The outboard sections of the upper wing also suffered failures, requiring additional wire bracing. Furthermore, the D.V offered very little improvement in performance. This caused considerable dismay among frontline pilots, many of whom preferred the older D.III.
Manfred von RichthofenManfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.Richthofen was a member of an...
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." British tests of a captured D.V revealed that the aircraft was slow to maneuver, heavy on the controls, and tiring to fly.
Albatros responded with the
D.Va, which featured stronger wing spars, heavier wing ribs, and a reinforced fuselage. The D.Va also 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. The D.Va was also fitted with a small brace connecting the
interplane strutAn interplane strut is an aircraft airframe component designed to transmit lift and landing loads between wing panels on biplanes and other aircraft with multi-wing designs. They also maintain the correct angle of incidence for the connected wing panels and are often braced with wires...
s to the leading edge of the lower wing. These modifications made the D.Va 23 kg (50 lb) heavier than the D.III, while failing to entirely cure the structural problems of the type. Use of the high-compression 130 kW (180 hp) Mercedes D.IIIaü engine offset the increased weight of the D.Va.
Idflieg placed orders for 262 D.Va aircraft in August 1917, followed by additional orders for 250 in September and 550 in October. Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke, which had been engaged in production of the D.III, received orders for 600 D.Va aircraft in October.
Deliveries of the D.Va commenced in October 1917. The structural problems of the
Fokker Dr.IThe Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...
and the mediocre performance of the
Pfalz D.IIIThe Pfalz D.III was a fighter aircraft used by the Luftstreitkräfte during the First World War. The D.III was the first major original design from Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Though generally considered inferior to contemporary Albatros and Fokker fighters, the D.III was widely used by the Jagdstaffeln...
left the
Luftstreitkräfte with no viable alternative to the D.Va until the
Fokker D.VIIThe Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 1,700 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...
entered service in the summer of 1918. Production ceased in April 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 use until the
ArmisticeThe armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front...
.
Survivors and modern reproductions
Today, two D.Va aircraft survive in museums. Serial D.7161/17 is displayed at the
National Air and Space MuseumThe National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. It maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world...
in Washington D.C., and serial D.5390/17 is displayed at the
Australian War MemorialThe Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
in Canberra, Australia.
A small number of Albatros D.V reproductions have been constructed in recent years. One of the most notable flyable examples, finished in the colors of
Eduard Ritter von SchleichEduard Ritter von Schleich , née Eduard-Maria Joseph Schleich was a high scoring Bavarian flying ace of World War I. He was credited with 35 aerial victories at the end of the war...
, is operated by the
Old Rhinebeck AerodromeThe Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a museum of World War I aircraft and antique automobiles that is located in Red Hook, New York, USA.-History:...
. It is powered by a modified six-cylinder Fairchild Ranger engine, fitted after the original liquid-cooled
Mercedes D.IIThe Mercedes D.II was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler during the early stages of World War I. Producing about 110 to 120 hp, it was at the low-end of the power range of contemporary engines, and was generally outperformed by rotaries whose power-to-weight ratio...
engine sheared its crankshaft.
Operators
German Empire
- Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
{{POL}}
- Polish Air Force
Polish Air Force is the air force branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until 1 July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...
(postwar)
Specifications (D.V)
{{aero-specs}}
{{aircraft specifications
|plane or copter?= plane
|jet or prop?= prop
|ref=
|crew=one, pilot
|capacity=
|length main= 7.33 m
|length alt= 24 ft 1 in
|span main= 9.04 m
|span alt= 29 ft 8 in
|height main= 2.70 m
|height alt= 8 ft 10 in
|area main= 21.20 m²
|area alt= 228.5 ft²
|airfoil=
|empty weight main= 687 kg
|empty weight alt= 1,515 lb
|loaded weight main= 937 kg
|loaded weight alt= 2,066 lb
|useful load main=
|useful load alt=
|max takeoff weight main=
|max takeoff weight alt=
|more general=
|engine (prop)=
Mercedes D.IIIThe Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
aü
|type of prop=6-cylinder water-cooled inline engine
|number of props=1
|power main= 134 kW
|power alt= 180 hp
|power original=
|max speed main= 187 km/h at sea level
|max speed alt= 101 kn, 116 mph
|cruise speed main=
|cruise speed alt=
|stall speed main=
|stall speed alt=
|never exceed speed main=
|never exceed speed alt=
The
Albatros D.V was a
fighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are small, fast, and maneuverable...
used by the
LuftstreitkräfteThe Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
(Imperial German Air Service) during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family, and the last Albatros fighter to see operational service. Despite its well-known shortcomings and general obsolescence, approximately 900 D.V and 1,612 D.Va aircraft were built before production halted in early 1918. The D.Va continued in operational service until the end of the war.
Development and production
In April 1917, Albatros received an order from the
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
(
Inspektion der Fliegertruppen) for an improved version of the
D.IIIThe Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...
. The prototype flew later that month.
The resulting D.V closely resembled the D.III and used the same 127 kW (170 hp)
Mercedes D.IIIThe Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
a engine. The most notable difference was a new
fuselageThe fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
which was 32 kg (70 lb) lighter than that of the D.III. The elliptical cross-section required an additional longeron on each side of the fuselage. The prototype D.V retained the standard rudder of the Johannisthal-built D.III, but production examples used the enlarged
rudderA rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft,or other conveyance that moves through a fluid . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
featured on D.IIIs built by Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (OAW). The D.V also featured a larger spinner and ventral fin.
The upper wing of the D.V was repositioned 4.75 inches closer to the fuselage, while the lower wings attached to the fuselage without a fairing. The wings themselves were almost identical to those of the standard D.III, except for a revised linkage of the
aileronFor the band with a similar name, see The AileronsAilerons are hinged control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll...
cables. For this reason,
Idflieg conducted structural tests on the fuselage but not the wings of the new aircraft.
Early examples of the D.V featured a large headrest, which was usually removed in service because it interfered with the pilot's field of view. The headrest was eventually deleted from production. Aircraft deployed in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
used two wing
radiatorRadiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, chiefly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
s to cope with the warmer climate.
IdfliegThe Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
issued production contracts for 200 D.V aircraft in April 1917, followed by additional orders of 400 in May and 300 in July. Initial production of the D.V was exclusively undertaken by the Johannisthal factory, while the Schneidemühl factory produced the D.III through the remainder of 1917.
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. The outboard sections of the upper wing also suffered failures, requiring additional wire bracing. Furthermore, the D.V offered very little improvement in performance. This caused considerable dismay among frontline pilots, many of whom preferred the older D.III.
Manfred von RichthofenManfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.Richthofen was a member of an...
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." British tests of a captured D.V revealed that the aircraft was slow to maneuver, heavy on the controls, and tiring to fly.
Albatros responded with the
D.Va, which featured stronger wing spars, heavier wing ribs, and a reinforced fuselage. The D.Va also 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. The D.Va was also fitted with a small brace connecting the
interplane strutAn interplane strut is an aircraft airframe component designed to transmit lift and landing loads between wing panels on biplanes and other aircraft with multi-wing designs. They also maintain the correct angle of incidence for the connected wing panels and are often braced with wires...
s to the leading edge of the lower wing. These modifications made the D.Va 23 kg (50 lb) heavier than the D.III, while failing to entirely cure the structural problems of the type. Use of the high-compression 130 kW (180 hp) Mercedes D.IIIaü engine offset the increased weight of the D.Va.
Idflieg placed orders for 262 D.Va aircraft in August 1917, followed by additional orders for 250 in September and 550 in October. Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke, which had been engaged in production of the D.III, received orders for 600 D.Va aircraft in October.
Deliveries of the D.Va commenced in October 1917. The structural problems of the
Fokker Dr.IThe Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...
and the mediocre performance of the
Pfalz D.IIIThe Pfalz D.III was a fighter aircraft used by the Luftstreitkräfte during the First World War. The D.III was the first major original design from Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Though generally considered inferior to contemporary Albatros and Fokker fighters, the D.III was widely used by the Jagdstaffeln...
left the
Luftstreitkräfte with no viable alternative to the D.Va until the
Fokker D.VIIThe Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 1,700 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...
entered service in the summer of 1918. Production ceased in April 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 use until the
ArmisticeThe armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front...
.
Survivors and modern reproductions
Today, two D.Va aircraft survive in museums. Serial D.7161/17 is displayed at the
National Air and Space MuseumThe National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, and is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums. It maintains the largest collection of aircraft and spacecraft in the world...
in Washington D.C., and serial D.5390/17 is displayed at the
Australian War MemorialThe Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
in Canberra, Australia.
A small number of Albatros D.V reproductions have been constructed in recent years. One of the most notable flyable examples, finished in the colors of
Eduard Ritter von SchleichEduard Ritter von Schleich , née Eduard-Maria Joseph Schleich was a high scoring Bavarian flying ace of World War I. He was credited with 35 aerial victories at the end of the war...
, is operated by the
Old Rhinebeck AerodromeThe Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a museum of World War I aircraft and antique automobiles that is located in Red Hook, New York, USA.-History:...
. It is powered by a modified six-cylinder Fairchild Ranger engine, fitted after the original liquid-cooled
Mercedes D.IIThe Mercedes D.II was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler during the early stages of World War I. Producing about 110 to 120 hp, it was at the low-end of the power range of contemporary engines, and was generally outperformed by rotaries whose power-to-weight ratio...
engine sheared its crankshaft.
Operators
German Empire
- Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the German military during World War I...
{{POL}}
- Polish Air Force
Polish Air Force is the air force branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until 1 July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...
(postwar)
Specifications (D.V)
{{aero-specs}}
{{aircraft specifications
|plane or copter?= plane
|jet or prop?= prop
|ref=
|crew=one, pilot
|capacity=
|length main= 7.33 m
|length alt= 24 ft 1 in
|span main= 9.04 m
|span alt= 29 ft 8 in
|height main= 2.70 m
|height alt= 8 ft 10 in
|area main= 21.20 m²
|area alt= 228.5 ft²
|airfoil=
|empty weight main= 687 kg
|empty weight alt= 1,515 lb
|loaded weight main= 937 kg
|loaded weight alt= 2,066 lb
|useful load main=
|useful load alt=
|max takeoff weight main=
|max takeoff weight alt=
|more general=
|engine (prop)=
Mercedes D.IIIThe Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
aü
|type of prop=6-cylinder water-cooled inline engine
|number of props=1
|power main= 134 kW
|power alt= 180 hp
|power original=
|max speed main= 187 km/h at sea level
|max speed alt= 101 kn, 116 mph
|cruise speed main=
|cruise speed alt=
|stall speed main=
|stall speed alt=
|never exceed speed main=
|never exceed speed alt=
|range alt=
|ceiling main= 3,000 m
|ceiling alt= 9,840 ft
|climb rate main=
|climb rate alt=
|loading main= 44 kg/m²
|loading alt=
|thrust/weight=
|power/mass main=
|power/mass alt=
|more performance=
- Time to climb: 4.35 min to 1,000 m (3,600 ft)
- Endurance: 2 hours
|armament=
- 2 × forward-firing 7.92 mm (.312 in) LMG 08/15 machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rifle bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute...
s
|avionics=
}}
See also
{{aircontent
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|lists=
|see also=
}}