Albatros D.II & D.III

The Albatross D.II was the successor to the very similar Albatross D.I, the main difference being the ‘N’-shaped struts between the upper wings and the fuselage on the D.II. The D.II appeared on the Western Front in 1916, and formed the equipment of Jagdstaffeln 2 and 11, commanded by Oswald Boelcke and Manfred von Richthofen, respectively.
It soon established an ascendancy over Allied fighters, Boelcke shooting down 11 machines in 16 days.

The Albatross D.III was the first of the Albatross ‘V’-strutters and the most effective of all the Albatross fighter designs produced during the 1st World War. The type was a development of the the D.II, the lower wing’s chord much reduced in comparison to the upper wing and an improved Mercede’s engine increased high-altitude performance.

The D.III entered service with the Jagdstaffeln from January 1917, and within a few weeks all 37 Jastas on the Western Front were armed with Albatross fighters.

The D.III was operated by the German Air Service in Palestine and Macedonia and used by the Austro-Hungarian Air Arm. The Polish Air force aquired some D.III’s in 1919.

Manufactured initially by Albatross, production was moved in Spring 1917 to the OAW subsidiary, to allow Albatross to concentrate on D.V production. The most noticeable difference between the aircraft was the shape of the rudder, which was larger on OAW manufactured aircraft, as depicted in this model. Powered by a 6 cylinder 160hp Mercedes water cooled engine.