Albatros D.I

The Albatros D.I helped the Germany regain control of the skies.

The Albatros series of aircraft is a good study in how aircraft design evolved throughout World War One. The "D" series saw no fewer than five in the D.I, D.II, D.III, D.V and ultimately the D.Va. Such was the newfound weapon of aircraft over the battlefield that the system changed on an almost monthly basis, limiting production life to most models to a mere number of months before ultimately being replaced by the newer, faster and more powerful advancements in the series.

The Albatros D.I was initially designed and produced to counter the Nieuport and de Havilland series of "Fighting Scout" aircraft. Air superiority teetered in the balance, favoring one side first, then another as technology would seem to outdate predecessors with regular fashion. The Allied Fighting Scouts were responsible for ending the dreaded "Fokker Scourge", effectively giving back air superiority to the Allies in 1916. The D.I was a step in the right direction for Imperial German hopes of winning superiority back by 1917.

By now, the Albatros D.I was undergoing some revolutionary design treatments including the use of an aerodynamically shaped fuselage. Initial D.I's were modeled after the Albatros "C" series of aircraft, including some of the internal working components and overall building methodology used in production.

D.I's were powered with a variety of powerplants that included the Mercedes D.III and the Benz Bz.III, both quite powerful in their own right. At the time of the D.I's production, these two engines were by far the most powerful powerplants ever fitted into an aircraft of this type, allowing the system to achieve an advantage in rate-of-climb.

The Albatros D.I also made use of the highly-touted synchronized dual machine guns, firing through the propeller system. This ingenuity made the Albatros D.I a new favored among the top fliers in the German Aerodrome squadrons.

In the end, the Albatros D.I would prove decisive in the winning back of air superiority over France. Further development of the Albatros D.I system would lead directly to the Albatros D.II, detailed elsewhere on this site.