The Albatros L.77v was a German two-seat reconnaissance-fighter biplane manufactured under license for Albatros Flugzeugwerke by the Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke.
They were completed in 1928 and were heavily based on the previous L.76 design which was an unarmed two-seater reconnaissance biplane.
It was powered by a 600hp BMW VI water cooled V12 engine, and like its predecessor it was covered by a fabric-covered welded-steel fuselage and wooden dual-spar wings with plywood skin supported by N-type struts.
It was armed by a pair 7,92mm forward-firing machine-guns and complemented by another ring-mounted one in the observer position.
The airplanes tested in Germany were flown unarmed due to the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty but the ones used in Lipetsk, USSR, were flown with armament, which some sources claim that at least one airplane was flow with a free-mounted 20mm cannon and other claim that it could carry 2 50Kg bombs.
Anyway, one of the L.77v was destroyed while performing flying tests in March 1929, while the rest were sent to Lipetsk for armament evaluation. In December 1929 they were taken back to the Staaken test centre, in Berlin and were written-off in October 1931.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatros_L_77v
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. http://www.aviastar.org/air/germany/albatros_l-77v.php
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