Albatros B.III

B.III
Role	reconnaissance
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

• Luftstreitkräfte
• Kaiserliche Marine

Austria-Hungary

• Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops

Units using this aircraft

FEA 6

Specifications

Data from

General characteristics

• Crew: 2

Performance

See also

Related development

• Albatros B.I
• Albatros B.II
• Albatros C.III

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• AEG B.I
• AEG B.II
• AEG B.III
• Aviatik B.I
• Aviatik B.II
• Aviatik B.III
• DFW B.I & II
• LVG B.I, II & III
• Rumpler B.I

Related lists

• Idflieg aircraft designation system
• List of military aircraft of the Central Powers in World War I
• List of military aircraft of Germany by manufacturer

Bibliography

• Gray, Peter; Thetford, Owen (1962). German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putman.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1990). Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I. London: Studio Editions. p. 141.