Albatros J.I

Infantry close support was pioneered by the German Army Air Service in 1916 with the introduction of the Infantrie-flieger (infantry contact patrol) units for the battle of Verdun. Albatros developed the L.40 to serve in this roll. Unfortunately, the tactical advantage of armoring the crew against ground attack was mitigated by the use of an under-powered engine. Worse still, the engine itself was not armored, and any puncture of the radiator would spray the crew with scalding hot water. Despite these disadvantages, the J.I enjoyed a good reputation in its ground support role.

The pilot sits forward and fires the forward machine guns in strafing attacks. The observer sits behind him and also acts as gunner for the rear MG.

The plane was exported to Poland after the war.

The plane has an endurance of 2.5 hours. It burns 7.45 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel and ammo costs $21.

Albatros J.I (L.40)

Subassemblies: Light Fighter chassis +3; Medium Fighter wings with Biplane option +2; 2 fixed wheels +0.

Powertrain: 149-kW HP gasoline engine with 149-kW old prop and 30-gallon fuel tank [Body].

Occ.: 2 XCS Body

Cargo: 10.4 Body

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C

Wings: 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C 2/2C

Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Crew: 0/+0 0/+50 0/+0 0/+0 0/+50

Weaponry:

2xAircraft LMG/7.92 mm LMG 08/15 [Body:F] (500 rounds each).

Aircraft LMG/7.92 mm LMG 14 Parabellum [Body:B] (500 rounds).

Equipment:

Body: Casemate and high-angle mount for the rear MG.

Statistics:

Size: 29'x46'x11' Payload: 0.45 tons Lwt.: 1.99 tons

Volume: 144 Maint.: 67 hours Cost: $8,879

HT: 8 HPs: 50 Body, 160 each Wing, 8 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 87 aAccel: 2 aDecel: 29 aMR: 7 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 41 mph. Take-Off Run 240 yards. Landing Runs 168 yards.

gSpeed: 138 gAccel: 7 gDecel: 10 gMR: 1.25 gSR: 2

Ground Pressure: Very High. 1/8 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 461 sf. Design loaded weight was 4,047 lbs.; it was decreased 2% to the historical. The fuel capacity was based on a rough calculation between endurance and gas consumption, as no historical value could be located. MG load outs are a guess. The historical weight of the cockpit armor was 1,078 lbs.; it was bolted to the sides and bottom of the fuselage around the crew area. Five "units" of armored crewstation (200 lbs. each) were purchased and divided evenly among the L, R, and U locations of both crew stations. Design payload was 670 lbs; the historical value has been substituted. Design aSpeed was 93 mph. Performance calculations were based on historical values for wing area and loaded weight. The two front Body LMGs point forward and down at a 45-degree angle for ground attack.

Variants:

The L.42 (J.II) extended the armor protection to the engine. Four planes were built. They were later fitted with another pair of identical weapons in a conventional installation.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS

© 2008 by Jim Antonicic