The D.V entered service in May 1917 and, just like it's predecessor, it suffered from structural malfunctions specially in the lower wing. In fact, accounts from the pilots suggest that it was more prone to failing than the D.III. Same thing happened with the outboard sections of the upper wings, which was solved by adding more wire bracing.
Besides, the performance offered by the D.V was very small in comparisson with the one offered by the D.III, which caused dismay in the German pilots, making them reluctant to fly these one and sticking to their old D.III.
In fact, the famous German Top Ace, Manfred von Richtofen loathed the new aircraft by stating in a letter that this new aircraft was "so obsolete and so ridiculously inferior the the English that one can't do anything with this aircraft". When the British captured a D.V, the flying tests showed it to be slow to maneouver, heavy to control and tiring to fly.
In order to improve the design and cope with those significant problems and bad reputation, Albatros designed the D.Va which had a reinforced fuselage, heavier wing ribs and stronger wing spars and was powered by a high-compression version of the Mercedes D.IIIa engine. Because of that, the D.Va was significantly heavier than the D.III and still didn't solve completely the structural problems of the model.
It used the same wing configuration of the D.III up to the point that they were interchangeable.
The idflieg ordered the production of 262 D.Va in August 1917 which was followed by additional 250 in September and 550 in October. Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke (East-German Albatros Works) which had been producing D.III until then, received an order to produce 600 D.Va airplanes in October of the same year.
It was started to be supplied in October 1917 and, due to the initial structural problems of the Fokker Dr.I and considering that the Pfalz D.III didn't perform as well as expected the Luftstreitkräfte had not real alternative to the D.Va, until mid-1918 when the Fokker D.VII entered into service. Its production stopped in April 1918 and, in May 1918 131 D.V and 928 D.Va airplanes were in service in the Western Front. Those numbers were reduced as the D.V and the D.Va were being gradually replaced by the much better Fokker D.VII and some other ones, but it remained in active service until the end of the war.
The Jastas (Squadrons) covered in this post are:
- Jasta 76b
- Jasta 17
- Jasta 32b
- Jasta 7
- Seefrosta 1
- Jasta 57
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatros_D.V
2. Salamander Books - The Complete book of fighters
3. Osprey - Aircraf fo the Aces 77 - Albatros Aces of World War I (2)
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