The Albatros B.I, (post-war company designation L.1) was a German military reconnaissance aircraft designed in 1913 and which saw service during World War I.[1]
Design and development
The B.I was a two-seat biplane of conventional configuration that seated the observer and the pilot in separate cockpits in tandem. The wings were originally of three-bay design, but were later changed to a two-bay, unstaggered configuration; featuring a typical aileron control cable system for German aircraft of the time, that allowed for a horizontal control horn that fitted into a structural pocket in the wing structure at neutral. A floatplane version was developed as the Albatros W.I.
Production by Phönix Flugzeug-Werke AG at Vienna for the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops.
B.I(Ph) series 25
Production by Phönix Flugzeug-Werke AG at Vienna, with the KNV (Knoller Verspannung) for the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops; 48 ordered, reduced to 16 due to delays and persistent problems.
Operational history
The B.Is were withdrawn from front line service in 1915 but some examples served as trainers for the remainder of the war.
^Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 51.
^Treadwell, Terry C. (2010). German & Austro-Hungarian aircraft manufacturers 1908–1918. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. pp. 236–244. ISBN 978-1-4456-0102-1.
^Valeriu Avram (2013). "Din Istoria Aripilor Românești 1910-1916" (PDF). Buletinul Arhivelor Militare Române (in Romanian). No. 61/2013. pp. 2–17. ISSN 1454-0924.
^Gray, Peter; Owen Thetford (1970). German aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. p. 252. ISBN 0-370-00103-6.
Bibliography
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albatros B.I.
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.