Albatros D.III - GERMANY


Albatros D.III - GERMANY
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The Albatros D.I and D.II had proved to be superior to any of the available Allied types. German fighter pilots therefore, congratulated themselves in January 1917, when a third and even better Albatros Scout arrived at the front; the D.III.

Some of the first D.IIIs were supplied to Jasta 11, commanded by Baron Manfred von Richthofen. On January 24th, 1917, when von Richthofen was attacking an F.E.2b, a dangerous crack appeared in the lower wing of his machine. He was able to land safely, but his trust in Albatros designs was temporarily shaken, and he flew a Halberstadt D.II for a time. On the same day two pilots of the Jasta Boelcke were killed through similar wing failures. The source of the trouble lay in the single spar of the lower wing; it was positioned too far back from the leading-edge and tended to twist under stress. The D.III had inherited the structural weakness of the Nieuport Scout!

In spite of this drawback, the D.III had a better rate of climb than its predecessors, and its pilots ran up considerable personal scores. January to May 1917 were successful months for the Jagdstaffeln.