B.III

Role	reconnaissance Type of aircraft
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Albatros Flugzeugwerke, Oeffag, OAW
Designer	Ernst Heinkel
Developed from	Albatros B.II

The Albatros B.III, (post-war company designation L.5), was a German World War I reconnaissance biplane, built by Albatros Flugzeugwerke as the Albatros LDD.

Development and design

The Albatros B.III was the last of the company's unarmed reconnaissance two-seaters and was a precursor to the most important of their armed reconnaissance biplanes, the C.III.

The changes from the previous versions were fairly minor. It introduced what would become the typical Albatros tail when the rudder was rounded off. It was otherwise similar to the B.II. The B.III was produced in small numbers during 1915, but it was already clear that reconnaissance aircraft needed to be armed. Albatros then produced the C.I, which was based on the earlier B.II, and then moved onto the C.III. With some additional detail changes the Albatros C.III was basically an armed version of the B.III, although few parts remained interchangeable between the two aircraft.

Variants

Albatros L.5 - post-war manufacturers' retroactive designation

Operators

German Empire

Austria-Hungary

Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops

Units using this aircraft

FEA 6

Specifications

Data from ^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in)
Wingspan: 11 m (36 ft 1 in)
Height: 3.15 m (10 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 40.12 m² (432 sq ft)
Empty weight: 723 kg (1,594 lb)
Gross weight: 1,071 kg (2,361 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.II inline piston or 1 Daimler D I, D II, Argus As II or Bz III , 90 kW (120 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 120 km/h (75 mph, 65 kn)
Endurance: 4 hours
Service ceiling: 3,000 m (9,840 ft)

Armament

None

References

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albatros B.III.

Gray, Peter; Thetford, Owen (1962). German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putman.
Klaauw, Bart van der (March–April 1999). "Unexpected Windfalls: Accidentally or Deliberately, More than 100 Aircraft 'arrived' in Dutch Territory During the Great War". Air Enthusiast (80): 54–59. ISSN 0143-5450.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1990). Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I. London: Studio Editions. p. 141.

Albatros aircraft

Early aircraft

Military Idflieg
designations

B type unarmed reconnaissance biplanes	B.I B.II B.III
C type armed reconnaissance biplanes	C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VII C.VIIII N C.IX C.X C.XI C.XII C.XIII C.XIV C.XV
D type Doppeldecker fighters	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII D.VIII D.IX D.X D.XI D.XII D.XIII D.XIV D.XV
Dr type Dreidecker triplane fighters	Dr.I Dr.II
G type Grossflugzeug bombers	G.I G.II G.III G.IV
J type close support	J.I J.II J.III

Company
designations

Landflugzeug (Landplanes)	LDD L.1 L.2 L.3 L.4 L.5 L.6 L.7 L.8 L.9 L.10 L.11 L.12 L.13 L.14 L.15 L.16 L.17 L.18 L.19 L.20 L.21 L.22 L.23 L.24 L.25 L.26 L.27 L.28 L.29 L.30 L.31 L.32 L.33 L.34 L.35 L.36 L.37 L.38 L.39 L.40 L.41 L.42 L.43 L.44 L.45 L.46 L.47 L.48 L.49 L.50 L.51 L.52 L.53 L.54 L.55 L.56 L.57 L.58 L.59 L.60 L.65 L.66 L.67 L.68 L.69 L.70 L.71 L.72 L.73 L.74 L.75 L.76 L.77 L.78 L.79 L.80 L.81 L.82 L.83 L.84 L.100 L.101 L.102 L.103
Wasserflugzeug (Seaplanes)	W.1 W.2 W.3 W.4 W.5 W.8 WMZ
Höhenflugzeug (High Altitude)	H.1

v t e Idflieg B-class aircraft designations
AEG	B.I B.II B.III
Albatros	B.I B.II B.III
Aviatik	B.I B.II B.III
DFW	B.I B.II
Euler	B.I B.II B.III
Germania	B.I
Gotha	B.I B.II
Halberstadt	B.I B.II B.III
Kondor	B.I
LVG	B.I B.II B.III
NFW	B.I
Otto	B.I
Rumpler	B.I
Sablatnig	B.I
Siemens-Schuckert	B.I