Albatros Flugzeugwerke - Albatros D.III

joshje100 · April 20, 2025, 5:41pm

The Albatros D.III was a single-seat biplane fighter used by the Imperial German Air Service over the skies of the Western Front during World War 1. Being flown by many top aces including Karl Emil Schafer, Wilhelm Frankl, Kurt Wolff, and the legendary Manfred von Richthofen better known as The Red Baron.

History

Following the success of the Albatros D.I and D.II the D.III would start development in mid 1916 with it’s maiden flight believed to have occurred sometime from late August to early September of 1916. The D.III was relatively the same as it’s previous versions however from the request of some pilots a sesquiplane wing arrangement was adopted. This meant that the upper wingspan was extended whilst the lower wing was designed with a single main spar to hold the top wing in-place which took the form of a “V” which led to it’s nickname amongst British aviators, the “V-Strutter”.

The D.III would enter service in December 1916 where it was praised by it’s pilots on it’s manoeuvrability and rate of climb. Soon however 2 serious faults would be identified, the first being if the radiator was to be punctured it could scald the pilot mid-flight. This was solved by offsetting the radiator further right to avoid the pilot. Some D.III’s that were being operated in warmer climates would be fitted with 2 radiators instead to cope with said warmer climate. The second and more serious fault was that failures started to occur on the lower wing ribs and leading edge which could cause serious damage. A Jasta 6 pilot reported that on a flight on the 23rd of January 1917 the D.III suffered a failure on the lower right wing spar. Just a day later famous ace Manfred von Richthofen would experience a crack in the lower wing spar of his new D.III. After this all D.III would be grounded pending a fix to this issue. Albatros would then reinforce the lower wing on all subsequent production models.

Many famous aces flew the D.III, perhaps the most famous would be Manfred von Richthofen, otherwise known as The Red Baron. However he had not yet earned that famous name. Richthofen would fly the D.III while scoring his 16th kill when he would be awarded the highest military honour in Germany at the time, The Blue Max. Richthofen would also later be given command of his own squadron, Jasta 11. It was after taking command of Jasta 11 when he would decide to paint his D.III the distinctive scarlet red colour that gave him his famous nickname, Der rote Kampfflieger, The Red Baron.

The D.III would be flown to great success during April 1917 over Arras, otherwise known as Bloody April, the largest loss of Allied pilots of the war. The D.III and other German aircraft outmatched the Allied Sopwith Pup, Nieuport 17 and Airco DH.2 fighters. British loses amounted to 275 aircraft lost whereas German losses came to 66 lost aircraft.

During November 1917 there would be 446 D.III’s in service with the German Imperial Air Service on the Western Front. After production stopped however the D.III remained in service nearly to the end of the war when by the 31st of August 1918, 54 would still be in service.

The D.III also saw service with Austro-Hungary where they were renamed as Albatros D.III (Oeffag). These aircraft were modified in various ways including a new engine and new guns. The D.III also say service after the war with many being bought by Poland and were used during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1920. These were used primarily in ground attack roles and rarely saw air-to-air combat.

No surviving D.III’s remain but there are 2 reproductions of the D.III (Oeffag) series 253. Both being fitted with vintage Austro-Daimler engines. One is flown and operated by a non-profit organization and the second is on static display at the Flugmuseum AVIATICUM, near Weiner-Neustadt, Austria

Specifications

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