RNAS Albatros BII

[DaveF]

Hi folks,

Apparently an Albatros BII was used by the RNAS throughout WW1, having been impressed at the start of the War (I beleive the serial was 890). Can anyone point me in the direction of more information?

I know the RFC/RAF at Farnborough used one, possibly A374, as well.

Regards

David

Hello Dave,

I'm presently building a 1/72 model of this plane, which was indeed numbered 890. *It was stationed for most of the war at Grain, remaining in service until April 1918. *Interestingly, it was involved as a chase plane in the second ever sortie by the Gemany navy against the British mainland on Christmas Day 1914. *Another noteworthy incident ocurred in April 1915 when the German Army (Feldflieger Abteilung No.41) flew its first sortie against England... with another Albatros BII. *This evidently caused some confusion among the British defense who mistakenly, at first, believed it to be their own plane.

Two illustrated references are:

Cole and Cheeseman, "The Air Defense of Great * *Britain", Putnam Aeronautical, London, 1984

Sturtivant and Page, "Royal Aircrafts Serials and Units 1911-1919", Air-Britain Publications, Kent, 1992

Hope this helps,
Paul

[wingstrutdotcom]

I would be interested in seeing photos of these captured examples. I did the Albatros B II series profiles that currently appear in this Quarter Cross & Cockade . Captured examples can be of enough interest to me to do a profile of the plane.

In reading that post on the model you really need exact source photos of the specifc plane to model with accuracy as there are so many variations ranging from powerplant, radiator panel configurations, exhaust manifolds, paint (if any), the list goes on. Really some of the most difficult profiles I have done because of the variations. :

I will probably post my examples on my website after 4th of July after the Journals has some time to distribute.

Hello Wingstrut,
Rather than being captured, I believe this particular plane was actually purchased for testing at Farnborough before the outbreak of hostilities (c. March 1914). According to Sturtivant and Page, it was wrecked and repaired several times and was fitted with floats for a while. The photos I've seen show it retaining an early exhast manifold and a straight, rather than tapering, rudder. It also evidently went through a few different paint schemes, including, presumably, PC10.

[DaveF]

Hello Dave,

I'm presently building a 1/72 model of this plane, which was indeed numbered 890. *

Snap! So presumably, in that period, it would have carried red ring roundels......

Thanks for the info