what is it?
The Albatros C.VII was a military reconnaissance aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugwerke. It was a revised and re-engined development of the Albatros C.V, which had proved disappointing in service. Developed relatively rapidly during 1916, the C.VII dispensed with the unreliable Mercedes D.IV engine that powered the earlier C.V in favour of the more dependable Benz Bz.IV; this change was accompanied by various modifications to accommodate that powerplant, effectively being a hybrid of the C.V/16 and C.V/17 designs.
How to recognise it: 1 engine · 12.8 m wingspan
base stats
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 110 years ago, in 1916.
- Wingspan of 12.8 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1916
- introduced
- 1916
- retired
- 1918
- status
- retired
- number built
- 400
- role
- reconnaissance aircraft
- makers
- Albatros
- engines
- 1× Benz Bz.IV
- length
- 8.7 m
- wingspan
- 12.8 m
- height
- 3.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,550 kg
- top speed
- 170 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 5,000 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q873113, Wikipedia: Albatros C.VII (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.