Related Links: Nieuport 17 | Nieuport 28 | Spad VII | Spad XIII | Spad XVI | Fokker D.VII and other German aircraft | Halberstadt CL.IV | Fokker Dr.1 | Albatros D.Va | Caudron G4 trainer | USN Curtiss N-9H trainer | USN Thomas Morse SC-4 | USN Hanriot HD-1 | USN Sopwith Camel | What was the first American fighter plane?

 
Albatros D.Va and other German Planes

Albatros D.Va


Albatros D.Va

If the Germans copied the Nieuport in any way to make the Albatros, then it is not immediately apparent, for the two aircraft share only superficial features. The Nieuport was smaller and looked simpler with its round nose cowling that betrayed its rotary engine. The Albatros had a rounded fuselage and a slightly pointed nose evocative of what the piston driven fighters of World War II would have, for the most part. Bolted inside was a 6 cylinder inline engine rather than the rotary used by the Nieuport. The Fokker's tail's surfaces were larger and rounder, more aesthetically pleasing. Also the Albatros' two wings were far more similar in size, making the aircraft look more like a normal biplane. Perhaps the main resemblance is the pair of V struts joining the upper wing to the lower one. But the D.III mounted twin Spandau guns synchronized to fire through the propeller giving it double the hitting power of the Nieuport.

The Albatros was generally a better fighter than contemporary Nieuports and returned control of the air to the Ger-mans. That said, USAS pilots reported that the later model Nieuport 28 was better than the Albatros fighters they encountered and the anecdotal information of their aerial combats appears to confirm their sentiments.

While Manfred von Richthofen, often better known as the Red Baron, is forever associated with the Fokker Trip-lane, most of his victories came in Albatroses. There were various models of the Albatros culminating in the easy to handle D.Va. Related Links: Nieuport 17 | Nieuport 28 | Spad VII | Spad XIII | Spad XVI | Fokker D.VII and other German aircraft | Halberstadt CL.IV | Fokker Dr.1 | Albatros D.Va | Caudron G4 trainer | USN Curtiss N-9H trainer | USN Thomas Morse SC-4 | USN Hanriot HD-1 | USN Sopwith Camel | What was the first American fighter plane?