Koloman Mayrhofer and Eberhard Fritsch announced that in the late morning of 10th April 2012, after a 94 year break, a WWI designed Albatros fighter has flown again.
On the Schleißheim aerodrome (near Munich) the OEFFAG Albatross D.III s/n 253.24 replica produced by the two friends, started test flights. "We're very happy to reach our goal of making the plane fly" says Koloman, "especially as the replica is historically accurate and is fitted with an original six cylinder Austro Daimler engine, produced in 1917!"
"We would like to thank all the people involved in the project" continued Mayrhofer. "Without their passion and devotion, this 20 years journey wouldn´t have reached its natural end". The text pilot Roger Louis "Tex" Texier, after all the pre-flight inspection controls were done by his C.S. Francis DePenne, performed two flights over the day and afterward declared: "together with Mayrhofer we scheduled to use the first flights just to gain confidence with the aircraft characteristics, but" continued the well experienced test pilot "already on the second flight I felt so connected to the aircraft that I couldn't help by doing some aerobatic manoeuvres". These manoeuvres included a series of touch-and-go, a stall, some tight turns and a Immelmann, that aroused the enthusiasm of the crowd on the ground.
The pilot also gave his first impressions: "the Albatros is really different from all the other WWI aircraft I have flown. The tail surfaces are extremely sensitive, unlike the ailerons; the powerful engine grants good acceleration and climbing characteristics…. it's a real race horse!"
As the flight programme developed, despite bad weather conditions, it was possible to achieve a total of nearly 3 hours flying by the end of the week. The flight test activities of the aircraft are carried under the experimental certification of the LBA (German NAA) supervision, and are scheduled to last until 22nd of July.
AlbatrosErstflug.mp4 video by kolomay - Photobucket
On the Schleißheim aerodrome (near Munich) the OEFFAG Albatross D.III s/n 253.24 replica produced by the two friends, started test flights. "We're very happy to reach our goal of making the plane fly" says Koloman, "especially as the replica is historically accurate and is fitted with an original six cylinder Austro Daimler engine, produced in 1917!"
"We would like to thank all the people involved in the project" continued Mayrhofer. "Without their passion and devotion, this 20 years journey wouldn´t have reached its natural end". The text pilot Roger Louis "Tex" Texier, after all the pre-flight inspection controls were done by his C.S. Francis DePenne, performed two flights over the day and afterward declared: "together with Mayrhofer we scheduled to use the first flights just to gain confidence with the aircraft characteristics, but" continued the well experienced test pilot "already on the second flight I felt so connected to the aircraft that I couldn't help by doing some aerobatic manoeuvres". These manoeuvres included a series of touch-and-go, a stall, some tight turns and a Immelmann, that aroused the enthusiasm of the crowd on the ground.
The pilot also gave his first impressions: "the Albatros is really different from all the other WWI aircraft I have flown. The tail surfaces are extremely sensitive, unlike the ailerons; the powerful engine grants good acceleration and climbing characteristics…. it's a real race horse!"
As the flight programme developed, despite bad weather conditions, it was possible to achieve a total of nearly 3 hours flying by the end of the week. The flight test activities of the aircraft are carried under the experimental certification of the LBA (German NAA) supervision, and are scheduled to last until 22nd of July.
AlbatrosErstflug.mp4 video by kolomay - Photobucket
