Albatros D.II

The Albatros D.II was a German fighter aircraft of the First World War that had a successful combat career in the early Jagdstaffeln before the D.III gradually superseded it. Robert Thelen, Schubert and Gnädig designed it in response to pilot complaints about poor upward vision in the D.I. The Idflieg, the inspectorate of flying troops, ordered an initial batch of 100 in August 1916; Albatros built 200 and LVG a further 75 under licence, and Oeffag built it as the Oeffag series 53 for the Austro-Hungarian Luftfahrtruppen. Service numbers peaked in January 1917 with 214 machines, and it was still flying that November alongside the D.III and D.V. Manfred von Richthofen flew a D.II in his dogfight with Lanoe Hawker on 23 November 1916.