The Albatros D.III was a German World War I fighter, which was developed by Albatros Flugzeugwerke. It was the most built aircraft of World War I. Nearly all fighter squadrons were equipped with different Albatros aircraft in the year 1917, also the squadron of Manfred von Richthofen. The aircraft was also used by Austria-Hungary, where it was license built with some changes and called Oeffag D.III.
Development[]
The D.III biplane D.III (after the War it was called L20) had narrower wings than its predecessors D.I and D.II. Chief-engineer Robert Thelen used with this design a feature of French Nieuport aircraft and achieved better pilot visibility, manoeuvrability and rate of climb. The parallel struts were replaced by “V” shaped interplane struts.
The D.III was equipped with synchronised twin-machine guns, giving it the same firepower as its predecessors, making it still superior to other fighters.
The aircraft was built by the Albatros-Werke in Berlin-Johannistal and the East German Albatros-Werke in Schneidemühl. 400 Albatros D.III aircraft were ordered after an official type test on 26th September 1916, which was the largest German production contract to date. Additional orders for 50 aircraft were placed in February and March 1917.