A2A Aircraft Factory - Albatros D.III

NOTE: This product is licensed for Microsoft Flight Simulator X ONLY

The history of the Albatros begins in spring 1916 when the German Air Force (Luftstreitkräfte) HQ ordered several factories to design a new single seater biplane capable of competing with the new Entente scouts such as the Nieuport 11.c1, Nieuport 17.c1 and the D.H.2. The new Allied designs, combined with new tactics, managed to completely wipe from the air the monoplane-type Fokker E.III and to create air superiority over the Western Front.

New planes were desperately needed and Fokker, Halberstadt and Albatros soon presented new scout planes such as the Fokker D.II, Halberstadt D.II and Albatros D.I. The last aircraft was especially well designed; powered by the 160HP Mercedes D.III inline engine and heavily armed with twin Spandau machine guns, the Albatros quickly earned the reputation of a very good scout. HQ quickly ordered a series of 50 D.Is which were pushed into newly created Jastas (Jagdstaffelns) in September 1916.

The Albatros Werke soon released another version, the Albatros D.II, which had a smaller gap between the upper and lower wing and few other improvements. This version gave the German Air Force some breathing room and their squadrons started to become very effective.
 
The Austro-Hungarian Army ordered 50 Oeffag D.IIs, but after completing 15 planes (numbers 53.02 - 53.16), the factory cancelled production and switched to the new design, marked as D.III. This version was inspired by the new design from the German Albatros Werke – the Albatros D.III which was introduced in December 1916 and became a deadly adversary to the Entente planes in the spring of 1917. The plane received a completely new wing, inspired by the French Nieuport 17.c1 sesquiplane design, which improved the climb and turn ratio over the older D.I and D.II versions.
 
After the war the Oeffag planes were used by the air forces of Poland and Czechoslovakia. One was used in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes as a trainer. Some were used in civil aviation. Sadly, no Oeffag-built Albatros survived to the present day, but two Oeffag Ba.253 replicas have been constructed by Mr. Koloman Mayrhofer, one of which is on display in the Aviaticum Museum in Wiener Neustadt near Vienna, Austria. Both planes use many original parts, such as gauges and Austro-Daimler engines.

Features

• High resolution textures
• High quality, naturally animated pilot figure
• 3D gauges
• Six historical paint schemes
• Detailed manual
• All the cockpit instruments are clickable
• Separate pop-up panel which enables wheel chocks and engine cover which keeps the engine from overcooling in cold weather