AIRCRAFT COLOURS AND MARKINGS OF THE FIRST
WORLD WAR ERA
Albatros B.I
The Albatros B.I was built in two basic versions, Mercedes and Benz powered.
The early B.I was powered by the Mercedes D.I engine and featured a rounded
rudder. This was soon changed to a triangular shape. Later, a Benz engine
was installed, and to provide for the proper centre of gravity, the fuselage
was extended 56cm. The exhaust on the Mercedes exited on the right, while
that of the Benz on the left.
Produced at the same time as the B.II, the only difference between the
two types was the former had three sets of struts to each wing, while
the latter had two. Roughly 250 B.Is were built with many surviving into
1918 as trainers. Besides the German Air Service, the B.I was also used
by the Dutch, Austro-Hungarian and Russian air services - albeit, the
last mentioned was a captured example
The Albatros B.I belonged to the era before colourful markings and was
finished in overall clear - plain varnished fuselage and clear doped wings
was the order of the day. Crosses were often seen on both surfaces of
upper and lower wings as well as the fin/rudder. They could be either
directly painted on the fabric, or on white fields. Serials were often
left off of factory aircraft.
The Albatros B.I is featured in Datafile No.87.

Albatros B.I
Wunderlich/Oblt Schulz
F.Fl.Abt 2
August 1916
Source: Albatros B.I Datafile |
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Albatros B.I
F.Fl.Abt 2
Source:Albatros B.I Datafile
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