The Great Albatros Model Cook-up

News

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The Albatros Cook-Up now has a title and an icon courtesy of Diego Fernetti. A fullsize jpg of the Albatros is available for viewing title_large.jpg

Introduction

Welcome to the Great Model Albatros cook-up. This will be an ongoing project of the W.W.I Modeler's list. The idea for this online project is to combine the talents of many of the members of the online list to build Aircraft of a specific family from World War 1. Some of the most recognizable of the aircraft of the period were the products of Albatros Gesellschaft fur Flugzeugunternehmungen (Albatros). These also just happen to be widely available in model form in the two most common scales of 1/72 and 1/48.

Actually to be completely truthful I think many of the list members are just amazed at their good fortune of late with the arrival of excellent models of the aircraft built by Albatros, that they just had to show the world what these most elegant of W.W.I aircraft looked like. The online build is open to all members of the W.W.I list and will be a completely co-operative project. The project will include many list-members some building the models, but also a great number supplying the information and or references that are required to build accurate models of these beautifull aircraft. The ending date for all aircraft to be finished will be the end of September 2000. It is hoped that the end results of the project produce a wonderful example of the elegance and beauty of aircraft from this sometimes forgotten period at the dawn of aviation. We might also just show a few non-modelers how easy these aircraft are to build and how easy it is to become hooked on building them.

Albatros Series

The Albatros-Flugzeugwerke factory opened it's doors at Johannistahl in 1910. By 1914 the company was designing and building B and C Class aircraft. In early 1916 the Fokker EIII was being superceded by faster, more powerful entente biplanes and the Albatros's answer was Thelen and Schubert design, the DI Scout. The fuselage was a semi-monocoque construction giving lightweight and high strength. The Albatros DII followed the DI closely and included some structural changes to improve pilot visibility.

The Albatros DIII incorporated the sesquiplane lower wing, similar to the French Nieuport aircraft, a "half-wing" with one spar. The Albatros despite improving maneuverability had decreased the strength of the lower wing. The Albatros DIII was to achieve great success in 1917. The DIV was an experimental platform for a geared Mercedes engine. The Albatros DV featured a redesigned fuselage with the same wing structure of the DIII. The DVa was developed from the DV and featured in later production aircraft a 180 Hp engine.

Other Albatros factory aircraft include the Dr1 triplane, which was Albatros's attempt at the design and the W.4 floatplane which were similar to the DI Scout. The Austrian factory Oeffag produced DII and DIII Scouts for the Austro-Hungary through January 1917 to October 1918. The great variety of Albatros Types and the colorful markings of the aces, pilots and Jasta's that flew them make the Albatros an ideal aircraft for a scale study.

Albatros Builds

• Albatros C.III
• Albatros C.V
• Albatros C.XIII
• Albatros D.I
• Albatros D.II
• Albatros D.II (OEF)
• Albatros D.III
• Albatros D.III (OAW)
• Albatros D.III (OEF)
• Albatros D.IV
• Albatros D.V
• Albatros D.Va
• Albatros Dr.1
• Albatros W.4
• Captured Albatros
• Modeling choices broken down By Jasta

Albatros Modelling Reference

• Aftermarket accessories
• Modelling hints
• Museum Albatros

References

Books

Albatros Fighters In Action, squadron/signal publications. Aircraft No.46
Datafile No. 1, Albatros D.III, Albatros Publications Ltd.
Datafile No. 3, Albatros D.DV, Albatros Publications Ltd.
Datafile No. 11, Albatros D.II, Albatros Publications Ltd.
Datafile No. 19, Albatros D.III(OEF), Albatros Publications Ltd.
Mini Datafile No. 1, Albatros W4, Albatros Publications Ltd.
Datafile Special Albatros Fighters, Albatros Publications Ltd.
Datafile Special Albatros Experimentals, Albatros Publications Ltd.
Albatros Aces of World War 1, Osprey Aviation.
Albatros DII & DIII Oeffag, Japo Publications.
Profile No. 127 Albatros DI - DIII.
Famous Aircraft of the National Air and Space Museum Volume 4 "Albatros D.Va German Fighter of World War I".
Albatros Scouts Described, Kookaburra Technical Publications
The Daimler Mercedes D.IIIa Aircraft Engine, A Guide for Modellers by Paul Buttler

Links

World War I Modeling Page
Vaso Hochmut's A-H Albatroses
The Aero Conservancy - Includes 4 specific Objects from Albatros Aircraft.