Albatros D.XI

The Albatros D.XI was a German single‑seat fighter prototype developed by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke in the final months of World War I. First flown in early 1918, the D.XI was intended to replace the aging D.VII series and to incorporate lessons learned from high‑altitude combat. Its airframe combined a conventional wooden fuselage with a streamlined, rounded nose and a short, tapered wing of equal span, a departure from the earlier biplane layout. Powered by a 180 hp Mercedes D.IIIa engine, the aircraft achieved a maximum speed of about 210 km/h (130 mph) and a service ceiling near 6,500 m, providing respectable climb performance. Notable features included a balanced aileron design, a welded steel‑tube fuselage frame for added rigidity, and an optional 7.92 mm LMG 08/15 machine gun mounted on the upper wing decking. Although only a few prototypes were built and the war ended before the D.XI entered mass production, its design influenced post‑war German and Swiss aircraft, demonstrating the transition from biplanes to more aerodynamically efficient monoplanes. The D.XI thus occupies a niche as a bridge between early fighter concepts and the advanced interwar designs that followed.

Albatros

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