I hope you all are having a great weekend. Today I am going to go back to the topic of experimental Albatros aircraft. During the later years of the war Albatros Flugzeugwerke worked feverishly to produce a viable aircraft to enter mass production. Most of their new designs never entered production. The company's fighter designs were eclipsed by new lighter more cost effective aircraft produced by Fokker Flugzeug-Werke GmbH. Albatros was still one of the major producers two seat aircraft in the late days of the war, however they never able to design mass produced single seat fighter again.
Some purists will take me to task for this profile. The only pictures I have found were black and white photos. In them the aircraft surface looked decidedly crude. I admit I have smoothed the lines of the plane and the color is conjectural. It may be a case of fools rush in where angels fear to tread. But at least I gave it a try. If anyone has more information please contact me so it is not so much of a stab in the dark.
First flown in August 1917, the D.VII was powered by a 195 hp Benz Bz Illb V-eight cylinder water-cooled engine. Strut-linked ailerons were carried by all wings and armament comprised two synchronized 0.312 in (7.92 mm) LMG 08/15 machine guns. The characteristics of the D.VII offered an insufficient increase in performance to warrant further development beyond initial prototype stage.
References
- Albatros D.VII. The Virtual Aviation Museum Retrieved 08:15, March 24, 2011, from http://www.luftfahrtmuseum.com/htmi/itf/albd7.htm/li>
- Albatros D.VII. The Aerodrome Forum. Retrieved 08:10, March 24, 2011, from http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/aircraft/30987-albatros-dvii.html
- Albatros D.VII. (2011, January 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:29, March 24, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Albatros_D.VII&oldid=409267682
- Albatros D.VII.1917 The Virtual Aircraft Museum Retrieved 06:49, March 22, 2011, from http://www.aviastar.org/air/germany/albatros_d-7.php
- Green, W. & Swanborough, G. The Complete Book of Fighters
(1994). London: Salamander Books. ISBN 1-85833-777-1
- Grosz, Peter M. Albatros Experimentals- Forgotten Fighters 1
. Windsock Datafile Specials Albatros Productions Limited (1 Jan 1992) ISBN-10: 0948414456 ISBN-13: 978-0948414459
- Grey and Thetford's German Aircraft of the First World War
. Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of Ame (April 1990) ISBN-10: 0933852711 ISBN-13: 978-0933852716
2 comments:
The colour may be conjectural but I like it. Do you know of any other models that may have used it? Did Kempf not fly a DR I in a similar green or was that darker?
Some planes used the dark green I have seen profiles with dark green including: Pfalz D.VIII, Albatros J.I, AGO S.I, and some Junkers J.I. Off the top of my head I think Kempf flew a Dr.I with the standard dark green/brown over the pale blue in streaked patterns running vertically.
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