what is it?
The Albatros D.I was an early fighter aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugwerke. It was the first of the Albatros D types which equipped the majority of the German and Austrian fighter squadrons (Jagdstaffeln) for the last two years of the First World War. Despite this, the D.I had a relatively brief operational career, having been rapidly eclipsed by rapid advances in fighter aircraft.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 8.5 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.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1916-06
- introduced
- 1916
- number built
- 50
- role
- fighter
- makers
- Albatros
- engines
- 1× Benz Bz.III / Mercedes D.III
- crew
- 1
- length
- 7.4 m
- wingspan
- 8.5 m
- height
- 3 m
- max take-off weight
- 898 kg
- top speed
- 175 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 Q114039, Wikipedia: Albatros D.I (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.