Albatros D.III

Albatros D.IIIIn 1916 German aerial domination, once held sway by rotary engined Fokker and Pfalz E type wing warping monoplanes, had been lost to the more nimble French Nieuports and British DH 2s which not only out flew the German fighters but were present in greater numbers. Born from experience calls from German fighter pilots requested that, rather than compete with the maneuverability of these adversaries, new single engine machines should be equipped with

In 1916 German aerial domination, once held sway by rotary-engined Fokker and Pfalz E-type wing-warping monoplanes, had been lost to the more nimble French Nieuports and British DH 2s which not only out-flew the German fighters but were present in greater numbers. Born-from-experience calls from German fighter pilots requested that, rather than compete with the maneuverability of these adversaries, new single-engine machines should be equipped with higher horsepower engines and armed with two rather than the then-standard single machine gun. The Robert Thelen-led Albatros design bureau set to work on what became the Albatros D.I and D.II and by April 1916, they had developed a sleek yet rugged machine that featured the usual Albatros semi-monocoque wooden construction and employed a 160hp Mercedes D.III engine with power enough to equip the aeroplane with two forward-firing machine guns. In all, 500 D.IIIs and 840 D.III(OAW)s were produced and saw heavy service throughout 1917.