Two B Types to Identify

[musec]

Hello All,

Currently on ebay at Flieger. Flugzeug. Kommando KONITZ. -- Blanco. | eBay are images of two B type aircraft. The serial numbers may be B.158/?? and B.98/?? respectively. Can anyone read them better than myself and identify the two aircraft shown?

Regards,

Clint

[YavorD]

Two Albatros machines, not sure about numbers ...
Regards,
Yavor

['14-'18aviationcollector]

Hi Clint,

As Yavor said, they are Albatros biplanes. I would say that they are probably Albatros B.I's or very early B.II's, due to the fact that the serial numbers are relatively low, although they are certainly not the very early 3 bay Albatros B.I's, but probably too low to be from the first batch of B.II's. I can't rule B.II's out though, because I have not been able to find information relating to the first batch of B.II's. The documentation does not seem to exist any more, or has not been published. The earliest serial number I have for a B.II is B. 210 / '16, a licence built B.II constructed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG. Data relating to the first production batch built by Albatros and OAW seems to be missing, or is not available, but it is estimated that 80 B.II's were constructed in the first Albatros built batch. The first serial number of the second Albatros / OAW built B.II is B. 870 / '14, which, if correct was built two years before the earliest serial number I have for a B.II! It is not unusual for serial numbers not to be sequential, but it is very unusual that the B.II seems to have been constructed during at least three years of the duration of the war, as well as after the war, up to 1926 for the Swedish Air Force.

Regards,

David.

[musec]

Hello,

Thank you both very much for your responses. So it would appear that both aircraft are either Albatros B.I or B.II.A shame that the serial numbers are not clearer in the photographs. I assume both are /14 following the serial number after reading David's reply.

Regards,

Clint

['14-'18aviationcollector]

Hi Clint,

You are very welcome! I am by no means certain that the photographs are of Albatros B.I's or B.II's, but they certainly look like B.I's or B.II's to me, and the serial numbers appear to fit as a semi educated guess. As you said, I would also like to see which year these aeroplanes were built, but I was also unable to read the year at the end of the serial number. I was very surprised to read, whilst I was conducting some basic research into the Albatros B.I and B.II that the B.II and B.IIa were built in 1914, (presumably 1915 as well), 1916 and 1917 by quite a few different companies. The serial numbers seem to start again at the beginning of each year, so if my observation is correct, it is necessary to know the year each aeroplane was made in order to differentiate individual aeroplanes with the same serial number. For example, from the list of serial numbers, it appears that there was a B.870 / '14, a B.870 / '15 and a B.870 / '17!

There were even copies built, such as the Lebed XI, which was built from parts cannibalised from captured German and Austrian B.II's, and the Sk 1, a Swedish built version of the B.II built between 1918 and 1926. Most of the information I have on the Albatros B.II is from an excellent book I bought on eBay a few years ago. It is called "Albatros B.II" and was written by Piotr Mrozowski. I am sure he is a member here, so he would be the best person to tell us if we are on the right track or not. The book is Aero Photogallery #1 and has some excellent photos of the two remaining B.II's - one in Poland and the other one, a Swedish built Sk 1, built in 1926.

I think a lot of members here find the same thing from comments I have read, but German B types can be very similar in appearance to each other. From what I have seen, both B.I's and B.II's seem to have had a mixture of the different radiator styles, along with a number of other differences, such as internal and external aileron control cables. I was not aware of this fact before I bought the book - although I am sure I bought the book because I would like to learn more about German B types, particularly Albatros B types, but the B.II seems to have been produced over such an unusual span of years, and by different manufacturers (as well as being copied by other companies) because it was a trainer. Some sources state that it was a reconnaissance biplane as well. Although trainers and reconnaissance aeroplanes are not as glamorous as fighters, they are just as important, and arguably infinitely more important than fighters. Fighters were built to protect reconnaissance and bombing aeroplanes, and trainers were required to teach pilots how to fly fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aeroplanes. The fact that it was built for so many years during the war, and up to 1926 in Sweden indicates that it must have been quite an exceptional aeroplane.

There is an original B.I still in existence, and from photos it looks very similar to the B.II to me. The B.II was certainly based on the B.I but I don't have drawings or other structural information which is accurate enough to show me how extensively they shared common parts and dimensions.

Regards,

David.