Halberstadt D.II
The Halberstadt D.II entered service in June 1916 at a time when the Fokker E.III Eindeckers had lost air supremacy to the Allies. Their good flying characteristics made them more popular than their contemporaries of the Fokker D.I-IV. Like other early German fighter types, the D.II was at first supplied in ones and twos to the ordinary reconnaissance units or Fliegertruppe of the Luftstreitkräfte, then gathered into small specialised fighter units – the Kampfeinsitzerkommandos.
When the first true fighter Jagdstaffeln were formed in mid-1916, the Halberstadt was initially the best fighter available, and was used by Oswald Boelcke to demonstrate his famous pioneering air fighting tactics (the Dicta Boelcke) to the new units. As the new Albatros fighters came into service the Halberstadts were quickly replaced, although a few survived into early 1917. Even Manfred von Richthofen flew a Halberstadt D.II for a few weeks in March 1917, after the spar of the lower wing of his Albatros D.III cracked in combat. He scored 6 of his 80 victories with the type. The Halberstadt was also supplied to the Ottoman Empire, serving in the Middle East theater.
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CREDITS:
Captain Kurt: Model, textures. panel and air files.
Wolfi: Pilot figure was developed from his freeware Japanese pilot .fsc source file.
Kelticheart: Prop spinning texture
Martin Klein" Gauges are by Martin Klein (with a couple of texture change outs by Captain Kurt)
The Halberstadt D.II entered service in June 1916 at a time when the Fokker E.III Eindeckers had lost air supremacy to the Allies. Their good flying characteristics made them more popular than their contemporaries of the Fokker D.I-IV. Like other early German fighter types, the D.II was at first supplied in ones and twos to the ordinary reconnaissance units or Fliegertruppe of the Luftstreitkräfte, then gathered into small specialised fighter units – the Kampfeinsitzerkommandos.
When the first true fighter Jagdstaffeln were formed in mid-1916, the Halberstadt was initially the best fighter available, and was used by Oswald Boelcke to demonstrate his famous pioneering air fighting tactics (the Dicta Boelcke) to the new units. As the new Albatros fighters came into service the Halberstadts were quickly replaced, although a few survived into early 1917. Even Manfred von Richthofen flew a Halberstadt D.II for a few weeks in March 1917, after the spar of the lower wing of his Albatros D.III cracked in combat. He scored 6 of his 80 victories with the type. The Halberstadt was also supplied to the Ottoman Empire, serving in the Middle East theater.
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CREDITS:
Captain Kurt: Model, textures. panel and air files.
Wolfi: Pilot figure was developed from his freeware Japanese pilot .fsc source file.
Kelticheart: Prop spinning texture
Martin Klein" Gauges are by Martin Klein (with a couple of texture change outs by Captain Kurt)