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.
23-485: L18 , L-18 or L.18 may refer to: Vehicles [ edit ] Aircraft Albatros L 18 , a German biplane Lockheed L-18 Lodestar , an American passenger aircraft L18, a United States Navy L-class blimp Piper L-18 , an American light aircraft Ships HMS L18 , a submarine of the Royal Navy HMS ; Flamingo (L18) ,
46-439: A radio set dependent upon mission role. The wings had a greater span than that of the C.III while the chord of the lower wing was increased to match the upper wing, but otherwise followed the same general configuration. The undercarriage of the C.V was of a conventional design, its structure largely comprising steel tubing, in conjunction with an externally-spring tailskid mounted on inverted pyramidal struts. Engine cooling
69-453: A steel tube structure and fabric covering. The elevator , while remaining unbalanced, was redesigned to use a one-piece control system without any division. Armament comprised a forward-firing machine gun that was aligned with a gun synchronizer in addition to the single 7.92 mm (0.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun on a rotating mounting that was operated by the observer ; it could also carry bombs and be furnished with
92-477: A higher performance successor later on; accordingly, the use of as many standard components and subassemblies of the C.V was encouraged while the most substantial change was the adoption of the Benz Bz.IV engine, an established and dependable powerplant. One of the main visual distinguishing differences between the C.V and the C.VII was the cylinder block of the engine; on the latter aircraft, this protruded above
115-474: A hybrid of the C.V/16 and C.V/17 designs. While considered to be a stop-gap aircraft, it incorporated various refinements to areas such as the flight control surfaces, which resulted in the C.VII possessing excellent handling qualities. Introduced to service with the Luftstreitkräfte during late 1916, it proved itself to be less troublesome than its predecessor. At one point, the C.VII comprised
138-715: A sloop of the Royal Navy HMS Talybont (L18) , a destroyer of the Royal Navy INS ; Cheetah (L18) , a tank landing ship of the Indian Navy Soviet submarine L-18 , a Leninets -class submarine Other uses [ edit ] 60S ribosomal protein L18 Fallbrook Community Airpark , in San Diego County, California Lectionary 18 , a 12th-century, Greek manuscript of
161-412: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Albatros L 18 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
184-448: The ailerons of the upper wing were also altered, adopting large rectangular balanced sections. Balanced elevators were also adopted along with an internally-sprung tailskid. The redesigned aircraft, which had the factory designation of C.V/17 , possessed improved performance and superior handling characteristics. The C.V was Albatros' first revision of their B- and C-type reconnaissance aircraft since Ernst Heinkel 's departure from
207-417: The C.I; specifically, the upper wing was almost identical to that of the C.V/17 while the lower wing was the more angular design used on the C.V/16 . The empennage and undercarriage were similarly derived. The flying controls also had no innovation over their predecessor. The Luftstreitkräfte commenced operations with the C.VII during late 1916. It quickly proved to be a well-received aircraft and
230-467: The C.V drew greatly upon the company's previous aircraft, it featured greater use of balanced flight control surfaces and a new tail design. These changes also resulted in a heavier aircraft than its predecessors. Initially internally designated C.V/16 , initial flight testing found that the aircraft's performance was lacking, particularly in terms of the flight controls being cumbersome and demanding, thus redesign work commenced. The resulting aircraft, which
253-463: The C.V was largely reminiscent of the Albatros C.III and various other prior aircraft by the company, consisting of slab-sided plywood construction; deviations included the somewhat more spacious arrangement and the use of an integral vertical fin , which was also covered with plywood. For the first time on an operational Albatros-designed twin-seat aircraft, a balanced rudder was used, which had
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#1732781191173276-456: The C.V without an engine, thus forcing an early end of production of the type. It was replaced by the Albatros C.VII while existing C.Vs were quickly withdrawn from service due to the engine issues. The availability of a powerful new eight-cylinder engine in the form of the Mercedes D.IV was a major impetus for the development of the C.V. Albatros Flugzeugwerke had quickly determined that
299-588: The First World War General characteristics Performance Armament K = Kampfflugzeug (battleplane), renamed as G-class, L = bomber midway between K/G and R-classes Albatros C.V The Albatros C.V was a military reconnaissance aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugwerke . It was developed to make use of the newly-available Mercedes D.IV eight-cylinder engine . While
322-737: The New Testament Mitochondrial ribosomal protein L18 Nissan L18 engine , an automobile engine [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title formed as a letter–number combination. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=L18&oldid=1104046948 " Category : Letter–number combination disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
345-514: The bulk of all reconnaissance aircraft being operated by Germany during the First World War , roughly 350 aircraft were in service at the peak of operations. It saw action on all fronts of the conflict. Work commenced on what would become the C.VII as soon as Albatros became aware that production of the troublesome Mercedes D.IV engine was facing termination, which impacted the company's existing Albatros C.V reconnaissance aircraft as it
368-417: The design, the original configuration being referred to as the C.V/16 . Albatros elected to reorientate the exhaust manifold from a horizontal to a sideways position, while a new aerofoil -shaped radiator arrangement installed within the center-section of the upper wing. Perhaps the most substantial element of the redesign was the adoption of an entirely new lower wing, which had an elliptical tip profile;
391-459: The firm to join rival aircraft manufacturer Hansa-Brandenburg . The Luftstreitkräfte introduced the revised C.V, but quickly became dissatisfied with its performance, being unable to match the reliability of the Albatros D.III . This was largely attributable to the continuous and serious issues of its Mercedes D.IV engine, which frequently suffered from crankshaft failures amongst other troubles. Unable to overcome this pitfall, production of
414-401: The increased weight and length of the engine made it unpractical to install upon its existing airframes without a redesign. Numerous changes from its immediate predecessors were enacted by the design team, such as the decision to almost entirely enclose the engine with removable panels; further aerodynamic improvements were achieved via the addition of a sizable blunt spinner . The fuselage of
437-512: The inspection panels. Engine cooling used radiators attached to the sides of the fuselage just forward of the lower wing's leading edge . The forward fuselage had to be redesigned to properly accommodate the Bz.IV engine and its ancillary components. The fuselage structure largely conformed with the company's established practices, making extensive use of plywood and not using any internal bracing. The wings were directly derived from both versions of
460-419: Was designated C.V/17 by the company, showed improved handling and thus proceeded into quantity production. The Luftstreitkräfte promptly accepted delivery of the type, using it active combat during the First World War . However, the unreliable Mercedes D.IV engine hurt aircraft availability and its manufacturer was unable to resolve the engine issues. Instead, production of the power plant stopped, leaving
483-423: Was often praised for its favourable handling qualities, being fairly comfortable and untiring to operate while also not exhibiting challenging characteristics during the landing phase as some of its competing two-seaters did. By the end of 1916, the C.VII had become a staple of both the aerial reconnaissance and artillery spotting roles; it was operated on all fronts of the war. Data from German Aircraft of
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#1732781191173506-434: Was originally achieved via radiators fitted to the sides of the forward fuselage just above the leading edge of the lower wing; their presence somewhat detracted from the overall cleanliness of the airframe. Primarily due to the increased weight and size of the C.V, early flight testing found that the aircraft was demanding and somewhat cumbersome to fly, to the extent that the design team opted to make numerous changes to
529-413: Was solely powered by the D.IV - without a compatible engine, production could not be continued. Albatros's design team hastily drew up multiple proposals as alternative options; one of these, internationally designated C.VI , was considered to be a retrograde step and ultimately not pursued for production. What would become the C.VII was largely considered to be a stop-gap measure while the company designed
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