The Albatros D.II was a single-seat biplane fighter use by the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War 1. The Albatros D.II was used by many famous air aces including Oswald Boelcke and Manfred von Richthofen.
History
The Albatros D.II was designer by Robert Thelen as the successor to the Albatros D.I based on feedback from pilots about the poor upward vision in the D.I. The D.II would see the upper wing moved closer to the fuselage and staggered forward which fixed the issue.
The D.II entered service in September of 1916 over the Western Front being flown by the pilots of Jagdstaffel 2 and 11 under the command of Oswald Boelcke and Manfred von Richthofen. The D.II’s would be part of the early equipment used by Jasta 2 which was commanded by Boelcke. Throughout the war the D.II would see great success against the enemy pilots flying the British Airco DH.2 and Nieuport 17’s.
Oswald Boelcke, aerial ace with 40 confirmed victories, would fly the D.II and write his eight rules of aerial combat, the Boelcke Dicta, this would revolutionise aerial combat and the fundamentals it dictated can still be found in modern day air to air combat tactics. For this Boelcke is widely regarded as the “Father of Air Combat”. Boelcke would make the final 13 of his 40 aerial victories before his death on the evening of the 28th of October 1916 where on a mission he and his best friend and fellow ace Erwin Bohme. Boelcke and 5 of his pilots of Jasta 2 attacked a pair of Airco DH.2’s from Number 24 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. Boelcke and Bohme chased a DH.2 flown by Captain Arthur Knight whilst the other DH.2, flown by Captain Alfred McKay was pursued by Manfred von Richthofen. McKay evaded Richthofen by crossing behind Knight which cut off Boelcke and Bohme, both of which pulled up in order to avoid a collision with McKay however each were hidden by their wings. Boelcke’s left wing hit the undercarriage of Bohme’s D.II and ripped the fabric off the wing causing Boelcke to spiral down but he ended up gliding into the ground near a Germany artillery battery near Bapaume. Boelcke died of a skull fracture as he was not wearing his helmet nor had his safety belt fastened correctly.
The D.II would be retired from service in early 1917 when it was replaced by the Albatros D.III. The D.II would be used by the other countries of the Central Powers such as Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. The D.II even saw service after the war with the Polish air force.
Specifications
Size
- Length: 7.35 m (24 ft 1 in)
- Upper wingspan: 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
- Lower wingspan: 8 m (26 ft 3 in)
- Height: 2.71 m (8 ft 11 in)
- Wing area: 24 m2 (260 sq ft)
Weight
- Empty weight: 645 kg (1,422 lb)
- Gross weight: 898 kg (1,980 lb)
Engine
- 1 × Austro-Daimler 185hp 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 138 kW (185 hp)
Performance
-
Maximum speed: 170 km/h (110 mph, 92 kn)
-
Time to altitude:
-
1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 4 minutes 30 seconds
-
2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 7 minutes
-
3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 12 minutes 30 seconds
Armament
- Guns: 2 × 8 mm Schwarzlose machine guns
- Yes
- No
- Standard TT (Lower than reserve tier, 0.0-0.7)
- Standard TT (Replacing current reserve tier, move everything else up 1 BR)
- Premium
- Event
- Separate WW1 TT
- I said I don’t want it
- 0.0
- 0.3
- 0.7
- New reserve tier (everything else would go up 1 BR)
- I don’t want it
