D.III 636/17. How many colours were used on the wings?

Ross_Moorhouse · 17 September 2006, 06:17 AM

Can anyone tell me how many colours were used on the wings of Alb D.III 636/17? This aircraft served in Palestine with FA-300.

Also would the underside of the fuselage been painted?

TA.

Gregvan · 17 September 2006, 08:32 AM

Hi Ross,

I cannot say for sure, but I am fairly sure this famous D.III would have borne the factory camouflage of three uppersurface colors on the wings and tailplane/elevator: dark olive green, Venetian Red (reddish or chestnut brown) and a light green (mixture of pale Brunswick green & white). Although these three colours do not show up distinctly on the available photos I can quickly find, this is often the case in various lighting conditions.

I think very little modification was done to this machine before it was captured. The rudder was clear-doped fabric and the fuselage appears to have been natural-varnished plywood, with no painting on the underside. There seems to have been a metal cover over the fuselage at the rear section of the machine guns. There was a rack for flare cartridges on the right side of the cockpit, and apparently a downward-firing flare pistol was installed just above a protective metal plate applied to the fuselage. See the "Albatros D.III" special by P M Grosz, from Ray Rimell.

Greg VanWyngarden

Ross_Moorhouse · 17 September 2006, 02:37 PM

Hi Greg.

Thank you very much for this information. This photo is new to me. So too about the metal panels and the fitting of the flare pistol. But now that you have mentioned these things, when I look at the photos I have I can see them.

Again thanks mate.

Dan_San_Abbott · 17 September 2006, 03:36 PM

Ross_Moorhouse:
The two orders issued to the Albatros Werke in 1917, each of fifty machines, D.600/17 - D.649/17 ordered in February 1917 and delivered in April 1917 D.750/17 - D.799/17 ordered in March 1917and delivered in May 1917. Both orders were camouflage in two colors, dark green and light green with skie blue under sides of the wings, tailplane and wheel covers.
These two orders were finished in the transition period prior to the use of lilac in place of the rust brown color.
The German wheels have been replaced with 700 x 100 S.E.5a wheels. One of the 760 x 100 German wheel was damaged on landing.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

Ross_Moorhouse · 17 September 2006, 04:14 PM

I was wondering about the wheel sizes. Thought they looked too small to be the orginals.