Albatros B.II

what is it?

The Albatros B.II, (post-war company designation L.2) was an unarmed two-seat reconnaissance biplane designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugwerke. It was the aircraft that brought Albatros Flugzeugwerke to the world's attention. The design of the B.II, which included an unusually strong fuselage and an atypically flexible trailing edge, drew heavily upon the preceding Albatros B.I. Various measures were incorporated to elevate its usefulness as a reconnaissance aircraft, such as the presence of large square cutouts in the lower wing spars to increase downwards visibility from the observer's position.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · biplane · 12.8 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 120 km/htop speed
• size 1,071 kgmax take-off weight
• built 3,544made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 112 years ago, in 1914.
• 🚗Wingspan of 12.8 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1914

number built

3,544

role

reconnaissance aircraft

origin

German Empire

makers

Albatros

engines

1× Mercedes D.II

length

7.6 m

wingspan

12.8 m

height

3.2 m

max take-off weight

1,071 kg

top speed

120 km/h

range

—

ceiling

3,000 m

wings

biplane

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.