Albatros D.II

The Albatros D.II was a German fighter aircraft used during World War I.

After a successful combat career in the early Jagdstaffeln, it was gradually superseded by the Albatros D.III.

Albatros designers Thelen, Schubert and Gnädig produced the D.II in response to pilot complaints about poor upward vision in the Albatros D.I.

The solution was to reposition the upper wing 36 cm (14 in) closer to the fuselage and stagger it forward slightly.

Rearrangement of the cabane struts also improved forward view.

The D.II otherwise retained the same fuselage, engine installation and armament as the D.I.

Basic performance was unchanged.

The Idflieg, ordered an initial batch of 100 D.II aircraft in August 1916.

Oeffag also built the D.II under license, as the Albatros D.II / Oeffag Va.53 / Oeffag series 53, for the Luftfahrtruppen.

The 16 Austro-Hungarian machines used a 138 kW (185 hp) Austro-Daimler engine, and were fitted with a Teves und Braun-style wing mounted radiator.

Specifications

D.II (Oef) Series 53

Crew

1

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)

Gross weight

898 kg (1,980 lb)

Powerplant

1 × Austro-Daimler 185hp, 6 cylinder water cooled inline piston engine,

138 kW (185 hp)

Propellers

2 bladed fixed pitch wooden propeller

Performance

Maximum speed

170 km/h (110 mph, 92 kn)

Time to altitude

1,000 m (3,281 ft) in 4 minutes 30 seconds

2,000 m (6,562 ft) in 7 minutes

3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 12 minutes 30 seconds

Wing loading

37.5 kg/m2 (7.7 lb/sq ft)

Power/mass

0.20 hp/kg

Armament

Guns

2 × 8 mm (0.315 in) Schwarzlose machine guns.