Pfalz A.I/A.II - Various users

Because it's been a while since we posted about a German World War I fighter... today we felt like it was the time for it.
The Pfalz A.I was a German parasol single-seat airplane that was a licensed version of the French Morane-Saulnier L.
It was manufactured by Pfalz, that was a Bavarian company founded in 1913. With the outbreak of the World War I, the company received from the Idflieg, the German Empire's bureau for aviation, an order to develop the type L, under the denomination of A.I, as it was the first aircraft of the company.
It was phisically identical to the Type L but it had different celluliod covering on the wings that rendered them sem-transparent, giving that way, much better upwards visibility. It was powered by a single Oberursel U.0 7-cylinder radial engine that delivered 80hp of power that was also similar to that of the Gnome-Rhône as it was another licensed produced version of that engine.
The Pfalz A.II was a developed version of the A.I that featured an improved engine, it was powered by a 9-cylinder Oberursel U.1 delivering 100hp of power, and some of them were armed with machine guns, making them some improvised fighters.
They were used by the Luftstreitkräfte during the early stages of the World War I in observation and reconnaissance roles in the western front, but also in the opening stages of the Alpine front against Italy when this country entered into the war. Apparently at least one of them ended on Swiss soil and was seized by its authorities. Apparently the Ottoman Empire also used them.

sources:
1. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfalz_A-Typen (translated)
2. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfalz_A.I (translated)
3. https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=1689
4. Salamander Books - The Complete book of fighters

Morane-Saulnier L - Various European users

We keep on going with the various users of the Morane-Saulnier Type L and today we cover its European and Turkish users except for French, British and Russian ones which will have their own post.

• Belgium: The Belgian Aviation Militaire adquired some Morane-Saulnier L prior to the World War I together with the Morane-Saulnier Type G. The type L was employed in the scout role during the early days of the World War I and was outdated and quickly replaced. As we couldn't find graphical evidence of the type L in Belgian service, the colours should be considered as speculative.
• Czechoslovakia: Apparently, the Czechoslovak state had at least one Type L in service, however any further information is unknown and the drawing must be considered as speculative.
• Finland: This country had also some Type L that adquired together with the modified licensed Swedish version Thulin D. Apparently it served its role as scout/trainer in the early Finnish Army Corps of Aviation.
• Holland: Apparently at least one airplane served with the Dutch Aviation corps. However, as we couldn't find any further information, the drawing is speculative.
• Poland: Somehow, the early Polish Air Force got a Type L that was probably used as a trainer during its early days. As we couldn't find further info the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Romania: Prior to World War I the Romanian Army bought a Type L and it served as scout during the war. As there isn't graphical evidence to support the claim, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Ottoman Empire: The Ottoman Aviation Commission bought a Type L before the war and it was used in the early war. It was widely liked and later they bought the German Pfalz copy.
• West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR): Apparently some ex-Russian built Type L served with the ZUNR during their convoluted existance.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_L

2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Martinsyde G.100 & G.102

The Martinsyde G.100 and G.102 were two British fighter/bomber airplanes from the early World War I that gained the nickname of "Elephant" due to their big size and lack of maneouvrability.
It was a design that, for the time, was very big, specially for a single-seater. It was a two bay equal span staggered biplane that was designed by A.A. Fletcher and manufactured by the Martinsyde Company. The first prototype made it to the skies in autumn 1915 powered by a 120hp Austro-Daimler engine.
The initial production version, however, was powered by a 120hp six-cylinder Beardmore engine and was armed with a single Lewis 0.303in mounted on the upper wings. Later an additional Lewis was added mounted in brackets to the port side of the fuselage in order to keep the tail of the airplane defended.
It was gradually replaced by the G.102 that was similar in design but it was powered by a 160hp Beardmore engine.
Initially it was intended to serve as a single-seat escort fighter, but due to its size it was reclassified as a day bomber. It was delivered to the Royal Flying Corps in mid 1916 with a total of 270 machines serving there. They served in France and the Middle East, however only one squadron, the No. 27 RFC was fully equipped with the G.100.
It wasn't very successful as a fighter due to its poor maneouvrability, however, it proved to be useful in the bomber role as it could carry a load of 260lb (120kg) of bombs under the main fuselage. It successfully performed that role from the mid 1916 until late 1917, specially in the Middle East Campaign where it also was used as a reconnaissance airplane given its stability and endurance (it could perform flights of five-and-a-half-hours)

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinsyde_G.100
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Albatros D.V - Foreign users

We keep drawing the Albatros airplanes until it was eventually incorporated into Focke-Wulf, and now it's the turn for the Albatros D.V. This time focusing on the few foreign users.

The Albatros D.V was a German fighter airplane widely used by the Imperial German Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) during the World War I. It was the final development of the Albatros D.I and the last Albatros fighter to be operationally employed. In spite of its obsolescence and faults in many aspects, approximately 2500 D.V were manufactures in both of its variants, the D.V and D.Va.

As this post is dedicated to the foreign users, those are:

• Ottoman Empire: The German Jasta 1F, which operated under Ottoman markings, received at least six airplanes in mid-to-late 1918. As we couldn't only find text references to those airplanes, the drawing must be considered as speculative.
• Turkey: Those ex-Ottoman airplanes were taken over by the Turkish Army which used to equip some fighter squadron which took part in the Turkish Independence war.
• Poland: The Polish authorities bought an Albatros D.V from a German pilot in Gdansk on 13th May 1920 and it was assigned to the newly created Polish Naval Air Squadron based on the city of Puck. It served until November 1922 when it was written-off.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatros_D.V

Albatros D.III - Foreign Users

We come up with this new airplane that played a very important role during the World War I. In this post we are centering into the foreign users.

The Albatros D.III was a German biplane fighter that was widely used by many German aces and it was the preeminent fighter during the period of time that Germany ruled the skies which was known as the "Bloody April".

As this post is about the foreign users for this one, the nations covered in this post are:

• France: On 21st April 1917 the German pilot Lt. Friedrich Wilhelm tried to attack a French artillery observation balloon, but he was shot down by the French lieutenant Languedoc which managed somehow to capture the airplane intact. This airplane would later be sold to the United States which sent it to McCook airfield in Dayton, Ohio in order to perform aerial experiments between 1917 and 1927.
• Lithuania: The Lithuanian air force used many German leftovers in order to equip their newly created air force.
• Ottoman Empire: The Albatros D.III started to be delivered to Ottoman Empire in March 1918 and, in October 1918 a total of 29 D.III had been delivered, 10 of which had no engines at all.
• Turkey: Some of the Albatros employed by the Ottoman Empire were employed by the newly created Turkish Army which used them in their independence war. They were writen off in 1922. The colours of this one are speculative.
• Bulgaria: Some few Albatros D.III were seized from retreating German forces in late 1918. Some sources claim that it was just a pair of airplanes, however it's very hard to know considering that they never were officially  'taken on charge'. It's known, however, that they were used by some Bulgarian pilots for training after some reparations, performed at the workshop of the Bojurishte airfield, were made. As there aren't graphical evidence on these airplanes, the colours should be considered speculative.
• United Kingdom: Originally piloted by the German lieutenant Georg Simon, it was shot down by a Nieuport belonging to the Royal Flying Corps on 4th June 1917 and he was made prisoner. After that his airplane was repainted and showed as a war prize even if the radiator water pipe was missing.
• Poland: The newly created Polish government employed many German leftover airplanes, and also bought some of them, specially those manufactured by OAW and used them in the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1920, mainly in ground attack duties. Some of them were used by the famous Kosciuszko Squadron which was mainly equipped with the Austro-Hungarian improved variant, the Oeffag Va.253.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatros_D.III
2. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/bulgaria/af/types/albatros.htm
3. http://www.traditions-air.fr/unit/avion/avions_ww1_02.htm

Albatros D.II - Foreign Users

We keep going with the Albatros fighter series. This time we deal with the foreign users of the D.II.

The Albatros D.II was a German fighter, an evolution of the D.I intended to solve the poor upward visibility issues by repositioning the upper wing closer to fuselage and slightly forward and re-arranging the cabane struts. Otherwise, it was basically the same aircraft as the D.I.

We have to note that at least three variants of this airplane existed:

• D.II Early production model: The initial production version with the upper repositioned in order to achieve better upward visibility and Windhoff 'Ear' radiators on the sides. 
• D.II Late production model: The late production model had the Windhoff radiators removed and replaced by a Teves und Braun type radiator placed on the center of the upper wing. This was done because the German Inspectorate for flying troops banned the usage of 'ear' radiators due to their position at a lower level than the crankcase of the engine they were intended to cool down. 
• Oeffag Va.53/Oeffag series 53: License built Austrian version of the D.II featuring it's own engine, a 138Kw (185hp) Austro-Daimler engine which was intended to achieve better results than the standard Mercedes D.III. It was manufactured during a brief period of time before switching production to the more advanced Albatros D.III. However, as the Austrian D.III proved, the Austro-Daimler engine, with the cylinder heads covered by a cowling proved to be much more suitable for winter operations.

It was employed by the following nations:

• Austro-Hungarian Empire: As we have said, Oeffag produced 16 examples before switching the production to the Albatros D.III. It should be noted that those 16 airplanes were unarmed since they were intended to be equipped with an fuselage-integrated Schwarzlose machine gun. The fate of those 16 airplanes it's unknown. Most probably they were reconverted into Albatros D.III
• United Kingdom: The Royal Flying Corps manage to capture at least one D.II and used it for testing purposes.
• Lithuania: After the Germans retreated from the baltic area many of the leftover airplanes were pressed into service in the newly created countries. It probably saw action at the Lithuanian war of Independence. (1918-1920)
• Ottoman Empire: The 6.Boluk (6th Squadron) was composed entirely by German pilots. It was equipped with D.II until the armistice and it saw action in the famous battle of Gallipolli.
• Poland: As Lithuania, some leftovers were taken over and pressed into service with the newly created Polish Air Force. Although liked by the pilots, it was outdated and, just as the Albatros D.III, it was used in the ground attack role during the Polish-Soviet war.