Albatros D V
Early in 1917 the Allies began to field a new generation of high-preformance fighters, and to meet this threat Albatros responded with a drag-reduced development of its current D III fighter featuring a deeper oval-section fuselage, a head rest (often removed as it interfered witht he pilot's reward view), reduction of the gap between the top of the fueslage and the upper wing, revision of the rudder, a different aileron-control system, and a larger spinner that provided a better entry line for the elegantly streamlined fuselage.
The new D V entered service in May 1917 and was soon joined by the slightly different version D Va. Total production figures no longer exist, but more than 1,000 examples of the two similar variants were in service during May 1918 over the Westeren, Italian and Palestinian fronts. Despite its aerodynamic refinement over the D III, the D V was no real match for the best of Allied fighters, and the major production program can only be construed as an effort to beat quality with quantity. Losses to Allied fighters were heavy, and the type also suffered a heavy accident rate as the lower wing had an alarming tendency to break away in highly stressed maneuvres.
