Albatros D.V

The Albatros D.V was a German fighter built by Albatros Flugzeugwerke, the final development of the D.I family and the last Albatros fighter to see operational service with the Luftstreitkräfte in the First World War. Developed from the D.III in early 1917, its most visible change was a new elliptical cross-section fuselage. It was brought into service in May 1917, but early operations were plagued by structural failures of the lower wing and pilots often preferred the D.III, so Albatros produced the strengthened D.Va. Despite its shortcomings and obsolescence, about 900 D.V and 1,612 D.Va were built at Johannisthal and Schneidemühl before production ended in April 1918. A pair of original D.Va survive and some airworthy reproductions have been built.