Albatros D.II, by Albatros Flugzeugwerke

Main role: Fighter

Engine: Mercedes D.III, 119 kW, 160 hp

Armament: 2 x 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08.15 machine-guns

The Fokker E-series fighters were obsolescent by the spring of 1916, and as part of the German effort to find a successor Albatros developed the D I that first flew in August 1916 with a well streamlined plywood-covered fuselage, equal-chord biplane wings and a Benz Bz.III or Mercedes D.III inline engine whose 112 or 119 kW (150 or 160 hp) allowed the installation of two guns without serious degradation of the fighter’s high performance. The type was soon in service, and proved superior in all important respects to current Allied fighters. The sole criticism levelled at the type was the location of the upper wing, which impaired the pilot’s upward field of vision, and in the definitive D.II the wing was lowered, the D.III engine standardized and, in later aircraft, the fuselage ear-type radiators exchanged for a faired radiator in the upper-wing centre section. (source: The International Encyclopedia of Aircraft, Oriole Publishing, 1991)

Span: 8.5 m (27 ft 10.75 in)

Length: 7.4 m (24 ft 3.25 in)

Height: 

Wing surface: 

Empty weight: 

Max. weight: 888 kg (1958 lb)

 

Cruise speed: 

Max. speed: 175 km/h (109 mph)

Ceiling: 5000 m (16.400 ft)

Endurance: 1.5 hours

Climb rate: 37 minutes to ceiling   

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