Albatros J.I

The Albatros J.I was a German two‑seat ground‑attack biplane introduced in the final year of World War I. Developed by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke in 1917, the type was conceived to replace the earlier Albatros J and the less successful Pfalz Dr.I as a dedicated low‑altitude fighter‑bomber. Its airframe combined a wooden box‑spar wing structure with a steel tube fuselage covered in fabric, giving it a sturdy but relatively lightweight construction. Powered by a 120 hp Mercedes D.II six‑cylinder inline engine, the J.I could reach 140 km/h (87 mph) and carried a modest payload of two 20 mm Becker cannon or a mixture of small bombs and machine‑gun ammunition. The pilot and observer sat in tandem open cockpits, the latter operating a flexible Parabellum MG14 that could defend against enemy aircraft during strafing runs. Though only a few dozen were produced before the armistice, the J.I demonstrated the practical value of a purpose‑built close‑support aircraft, influencing later designs such as the interwar German C‑type reconnaissance planes and the Soviet Il‑2. Its brief operational record highlighted the shift from pure dogfighting to combined‑arms tactics that would dominate later conflicts.

Albatros

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