S.E. 5a and Albatros D.III – theBritish and German I World War fighters

The history of the S.E. 5a fighter is closely related to the “Hispano-Suiza” engine, as H. P. Foland and J. Kenworthy designed the aircraft for it. The prototype took off for its first flight in November 1916. The fighter received their baptism of fire already on April 22, and already on the 26th of the same month Albert Balis single-handedly attacked 6 enemy planes and shot down two of them, returning to his airfield without even a scratch. Only 60 S.E.5s with 112 kW “Hispano-Suiza” engines were produced. Due to the constantfailures of these engines in the fighters S.E. 5, 147 kW engines were installed on the fighter and the improved version was named S.E. 5a. These fighters were produced by as many, as eight different factories, and a total of over 5,000 aircraft of all versions were produced. All the best fighter pilots of the Entente had to hang with these planes.

The Albatros D.III was the main fighter of Kaiser Germany in 1917. The prototype took to the air for the first time in September 1916 and was the result of further development of the Albatros D. I and D. II. In the first half of 1917 it was the best fighter on the Western Front, causing considerable losses to the Allied air force. A total of 1,340 Albatros D.IIIs and about 600 license Albatros D. III (Oef) of the Austro-Hungarian factorywere produced.

Not very complex, but well detailed models of two fighters: S.E. 5a of 56 Squadron, piloted by British ace Captain McCudden in October 1917 and Albatros D. III of 11 Jasta Summer 1917. The models are quite well designed and thoughtfully constructed to suit the needs of less experienced modelers. Therefore, these models are intended for modelers of any experience, only beginners and less experienced modelers are recommended to glue them under the supervision of a more experienced colleague, and these should not be the first more complex models You glue. True, S.E. 5a can be like that, because of its relatively simple fuselage and uncomplicated wing connection system.