Question about Albatros versions

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Olham54

The Bordeaux-Red Baron
To the OFF-Team:
In a "Quick Flight", I have just flown the Albatros D V (uprated), and - my god - that seemed a much better plane to me than the D Va or the D Va 200 !

So I thought, I'd create a new pilot, flying in a Jasta, that uses it. But I couldn't find one. I found D III 170, D V, D Va and D Va 200.

Shredward, Pol, Winder, OvS - which Jasta uses the D V (uprated), and when exactly? Or is it only available for historical aces? I hope, not! I want THIS lady - she's perfect. Heavy enough, that she lies still in curves and at shooting, but elegant though, due to more power. The engine seems to pull her anywere, without stalling. A superb fighter!

So, what must I do to get into her cockpit?
 
Believe it or not, but I knew, someone would post something like this about the last sentence. But I didn't think it would be you, womenfly2.
But seeing you're in a man's world here, I understand, you tried to compete. Still more elegant though, as you're still a lady - I don't want to imagine all the posts by men, that may follow. I knew, I should have changed it...
 
Olham54 said:
Believe it or not, but I knew, someone would post something like this about the last sentence. But I didn't think it would be you, womenfly2.
But seeing you're in a man's world here, I understand, you tried to compete. Still more elegant though, as you're still a lady - I don't want to imagine all the posts by men, that may follow. I knew, I should have changed it...
Click to expand...

Well, I work in engineering surrounded all day with men, I am the only ME in the company and woman in engineering, all the guy's are EE's.

I will never figure out how you guys can go from such technical talk on a project to sex in the blink of an eye, really. I have heard it all ..... needed to give you a hint on what works on me.

Just could not resist, Now ..... :focus:
LOL,
WF2
 
Olham54 said:
To the OFF-Team:
In a "Quick Flight", I have just flown the Albatros D V (uprated), and - my god - that seemed a much better plane to me than the D Va or the D Va 200 !
So I thought, I'd create a new pilot, flying in a Jasta, that uses it. But I couldn't find one. I found D III 170, D V, D Va and D Va 200.
Click to expand...

You could try reading OFF Tips & Cheats #10

It might aid you in your search, or it may not ?
 
Okay, Gimpy you win. I understand, you have a list showing, were and when the "Albatros D V (uprated)" was used, and you could and would mail it to me?
Okay, so I will PM you my E-mail adress and see, what happens - would be great. Thank you.
Olham

Hey, WomenFly2
I know what you mean - a friend of mine's like that; no matter what subject I talk about, it all ends there. You must be pretty tough to deal with that day after day. But they sure have accepted you a lot - otherwise they wouln't do that.
Cheers; Olham
 
Olham54 said:
To the OFF-Team:
In a "Quick Flight", I have just flown the Albatros D V (uprated), and - my god - that seemed a much better plane to me than the D Va or the D Va 200 !

So I thought, I'd create a new pilot, flying in a Jasta, that uses it. But I couldn't find one. I found D III 170, D V, D Va and D Va 200.

Shredward, Pol, Winder, OvS - which Jasta uses the D V (uprated), and when exactly? Or is it only available for historical aces? I hope, not! I want THIS lady - she's perfect. Heavy enough, that she lies still in curves and at shooting, but elegant though, due to more power. The engine seems to pull her anywere, without stalling. A superb fighter!

So, what must I do to get into her cockpit?
Click to expand...


The Uprated D.V is basically the early D.V without the headrest. In Phase 3 it will be readily available in many Jastas. Unfortunately, I don't know the allocations in Phase 2. It was the predecessor to the D.Va. The D.Va 200 will be seen in most of the Southern Jastas.

OvS
 
Hi, OvS!
GIMPY will send me a list of the Jasta's, were it was introduced; thank you all.
Hope, the ice is melting your side of the pool? Perhaps some should send pictures - from places, were it's a rather untypical weather.
Here, we have problems, getting the gas delivered from Russia. Germany buys 30 % of it's gas from there, but they say, the Ukraine would steal it from the pipe. Problems everywere - hope, yours aren't too big right now.
Good night. Olham
 
Hey. . : olham54 . . when you wake-up you forgot to include your Email address in that PM.

I'm bad at Guessing:ernae:
 
Olham54 said:
Hi, OvS!
GIMPY will send me a list of the Jasta's, were it was introduced; thank you all.
Hope, the ice is melting your side of the pool? Perhaps some should send pictures - from places, were it's a rather untypical weather.
Here, we have problems, getting the gas delivered from Russia. Germany buys 30 % of it's gas from there, but they say, the Ukraine would steal it from the pipe. Problems everywere - hope, yours aren't too big right now.
Good night. Olham
Click to expand...

Nah.... we're OK here. Gas prices go up and down like a stock now. Up 10, down 7, up 5 down 8 up 15 down 11.... it's f'n annoying.

But Obama has a 'plan' and he'll fix it all... or so they all believe. Oops!!! :focus:

OvS
 
Well, WF2, I'm an architect who works with a lot of engineers. The most impressive female engineer I worked with was a structural engineer by day and a lead singer in a swing band at night. She was a big fan of dry martinis too!
 
womenfly2 said:
I will never figure out how you guys can go from such technical talk on a project to sex in the blink of an eye,
WF2
Click to expand...

Well, WM2, if the blink comes from you, and uses only one eye, no wonder the guy goes to thinking of sex, pretty sharpish. :)
 
Just to get :focus:

I did some research again about the D V. I checked both WIKIPEDIA sites, English and German, and found more info in the German version (on the S.E. 5, it might be the other way round ?).
For everyone, who wants to do a research: the German version shows more pics, and the production serial numbers (!). Also, the text contains a little more info.

Now I know, that the plane I was flying yesterday, was a D V, headrest removed (so that's what "uprated" seems to mean). I had wondered about the two vertical wires/cables in front of me (to be honest, I had thought, they were a targeting/aiming help). They are the cables to stear the ailerons on the upper wings.
In the Albatros D Va, those cables were led through the lower wing again.
This could become a dramatic difference, when the lower wing would break away in a steep dive - a weak spot of the Albatros. I think, I remember, that CATFISH wrote something about that recently, but can't find it).

For that reason alone, I would prefer the D V; and it performed great against S.E. 5a Vipers. But MvR said, that this plane was "not good for anything", and the D III was even better.
What do the experts say - what's the best plane: D III, D III (170), D V, D Va, or D Va (200) ?
 
When the D.Va's D.IIIa Daimler Mercedes engine was upgraded to the overcompressed D.IIIau in the Spring of 1918 (new pistons and a new altitude compensating carburettor) it gained considerably in power (up from about 180 hp to about 200 hp), but even more importantly in higher altitude performance. Before that the D.Va (and the D.V before that) had problems in operational use getting much above 15,000 feet (there are accounts of Pups, with their rotary 80hp Le Rhone, running rings around them between 15,000 - 18,000 ft). I am guessing that the D.Va 200 would be the D.Va with Austro-Daimler engine: in performance, I think (I am writing from memory) this engine was somewhere between the D.IIIa and D.IIIau, although lower compression and with no altitude compensating carburettor (so good up to 12,000-15,000 ft, but falling off fast after that). I am not sure how they compare in OFF, though, as I habitually fly Allied :)

Bletchley
 
Hello,
i guess the OFF team and others will know better than me, however that's what i think of the Albatros versions, to distinguish them without photos. There may be more i don't know of, or that i forgot.

Please, if someone would be so kind as to just correct my mistakes, or add features like engines used in the resp. planes, adding those i don't know of, and writing anything about the plane that would describe its particular features ? Anyone ? I also miss a thorough research or describing about the types ...

(remember a "D" is for a "Doppeldecker" or biplane, a Dr for a Dreidecker, or triplane):

Albatros D.I
only a few (20?) built, at that time the Halberstadt and Fokker biplanes "ruled" the german skies. A bit like the D.II, but worse visibility from pilot's seat.

Albatros D.II
almost square fuselage section, both wings almost rectangular and same size, two vertical outer struts, two radiators lurking out right and left from the fuselage.

Albatros D.III
almost square fuselage section, lower wing smaller than the upper one, both a bit "arrow" shaped with diagonal tips. Outer struts V-shaped (lower wing prone to wobble and brake off at higher speeds due to the lower strut joint acting like a hinge). Radiator moved to the upper wing's center.

Albatros D.IIIa
almost square fuselage section, lower wing smaller than the upper one, both a bit "arrow" shaped with diagonal tips. Outer struts V-shaped.
Radiator moved to the upper wing's center.

Albatros D.V
fuselage now round at the underside, almost circular/elongated circular section, streamlined headrest added, wings and struts look like the D.III and D.IIIa, upper wing again lowered for better visibility from pilot's seat. Outer struts V-shaped. Radiator moved sideways, most probably for preventing the pilot to be sprayed by boiling water in case of radiator leaks (or was it the D.IIIa?)
Aileron control cables led through the upper wings, visible via the two triangular-shaped "levers" in front of the ailerons (only Albatros with this feature).

Albatros D.V uprated - like the D.V, but headrest removed (rear visibility? weight?) - aileron cable still led through upper wing?

Albatros D.Va like the D.V but aileron cables led through the lower wings again, like in the types I - IIIa.

Albatros Dr.I
looks like a D.V, but with 3 wings - the lower wing is situated under the fuselage, leaving a small space in between.


Then there are more types, for some companies built the "Albatros" under license (OAW=Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke), or improved/changed the type (layout, engine etc.) altogether (built by the OeFFAG=Oesterreichische Flugzeug Fabrik Aktiengesellschaft), additionally the fitted engines were changed or improved all the time.

Please feel free to correct mistakes and add features/engines/whatever you know off, e.g. Bletchley wrote about a self-adapting altitude-carburettor (more info?), which would mean no manual mixture control for the plane featuring this engine (?)

thanks and greetings,
Catfish
 
olham54: upon rereading your post, I don't see any difference between the DV and the upgraded DV on the list so I don't know of what assistance it will be in your quest, but if you want it, I got it :engel016:
 
Catfish said:
Bletchley wrote about a self-adapting altitude-carburettor (more info?), which would mean no manual mixture control for the plane featuring this engine (?) Catfish
Click to expand...

Hello Catfish,

None of the carburettors of the Great War were self-adapting for altitude changes (a carburettor of this type, the Stromberg, with a pressure-sensitive device was not available until the 1920s). The carburettors on stationary engines were self-adapting to changes in load (as the throttle lever was advanced, the increased flow of air sucked more fuel into the engine), but the early war stationary engines had no mixture lever to adjust this for changes in altitude - so these engines had an increasingly rich mixture and reduction in engine power as air at altitude got progressively thinner. From the mid part of the war the Allies introduced a new type of carburettor that allowed the pilot to manually adjust the amount of fuel going in to the engine (a mixture control lever, used just the same as in OFF), but although the Germans used the same type of carburettor in one of their engines (the Basse-Selve that powered the high-flying Rumpler recon aircraft) they were otherwise developing an entirely different type of high altitude engine that relied upon either very high compression and/or overdimensioned engines. To overcome the attendant problem of 'knocking' at compression ratios of over 5.3:1 (the effective limit at that time with the fuels that they had, and a limit that was rarely, if ever, exceeded by the Allied high compression engines) they added Benzol to the petroleum fuel. Benzol was a by-product of the coking industry, and was one of the early anti-knock additives (and unlike pure benzene it also had trace quantities of other hydrocarbons, such as toluene, that helped to prevent the benzene from freezing and separating out at altitudes of over 20,000 ft). These new engines were introduced to some operational fighters units in time for the March/April 1918 Offensive (and somewhat earlier, in the form of the high compression Maybach Mb.IVa around late 1917 or early 1918, for the very high-flying Rumplers), as the upgraded or re-fitted Daimler Mercedes D.IIIa (the D.IIIau). This engine had no mixture lever, but an extension to the movement of the throttle lever into an 'altitude' range on the throttle quadrant (holding the fuel constant as more air was let through). There was no 'gate' to prevent pilots from extending the throttle into this range at low altitudes, only a warning notice above the throttle lever that this would seriously damage the engine. The overcompressed version of the Benz Bz IV (and probably Bz III as well) had a button that had to be pressed by the pilot before the lever could be advanced into this 'high altitude' range (so introducing a physical 'gate' to prevent accidental over-revving of the engine at low altitude). The slightly later BMW IIIa engine (Fokker D.VIII F) was a very high compression engine (with a compression ratio of 6.4:1, from memory) and overdimensioned (built for full power use only at higher altitudes, but not necessarily a high compression engine, like the British Galloway Atlantic) - it was not adapted to be a high altitude engine, like the D.IIIau: it was designed that way. It had a new carburettor with five throttles worked by two separate throttle levers, the second throttle lever being the 'over-gas' control for high altitude use (limited to use above 3 km, but again pilots could, and did, use it for short periods to get a power boost at low altitudes - but only in dire emergency).

So, basically, only the Allied aircraft, and some Rumplers, actually had a mixture control lever :wave:

Bletchley
 
Hallo, CATFISH
Thanks for the details, but the most of them I knew already.
What I wanted to know, is, which of the versions was the best plane in combat?
To make it more specific: I'd like to find the best Albatros for air combat between ground level and 5000 feet. It should:
- climb fast enough
- be the most manoeuverable of all versions
- stall least of all versions

Maybe, you are the only other pilot flying Albatros - perhaps you can tell your experiences?
 
Hello Olham,
i think the "best" Albatros in real life depended on the time it was used in - at first the D.II ruled the skies with the D.III against those DH2s and Pups, until ... . And the later DV being faster and more sturdy was at the same time less manoeuverable than the III. In OFF phase 2 it "feels" as if the DV is almost as agile as the D.III, so i would use the V here. All not "objective" but more how it feels ...
Then the Oeffag Albatros was much better, with its changed struts (no breaking lower wings any more) and improved fuselage and engine, but there is no such Albatros in Phase 2 or 3. Don't know whether it was even used in bigger numbers on the western front.

In real life i would have had to take was what given to me - if i were free to choose i would have taken a Siemens-Schuckert, or a Rumpler high-altitude observer - i would have preferred to survive in real life ... and the Albatros was, while being a generally good all-purpose plane, not up for a war against the later SPADs and Snipes.

The DR.I was also a good plane, but the production of total loss engines fuel and oil-wise was not an option after lacking castor fuel in Germany, so planes with inline-engines were preferred. I have read about the german "Ersatz" fuels, and some people even stated they would have been better than the castor oils, but i did not find real evidence. German papers seem to have been either burnt, or "exported" to the Entente nations - now and then they show up at eBay and bought by "enthusiasts" rather than giving them to museums and public organisations *sigh*.

But back to topic:
.. didn't i make mistakes in the outer appearance of the Albatros types ?

Greetings.
Catfish
 
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