Albatros L 77v
# Albatros L 77v

The Albatros L 77v was a German tandem two-seat reconnaissance fighter sesquiplane, four examples of which were built under license for Albatros Flugzeugwerke by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1928. Based upon the L 76 Aeolus reconnaissance trainer, the aircraft was powered by a 450 kW (600 hp) BMW VI 5.5 water-cooled V12 engine.

Like the L 76, the L 77v had a fabric-covered welded-steel fuselage and wooden dual-spar wings with plywood skins supported by N-type struts. It was armed with twin 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine guns in fixed forward-firing positions and a third on a ring mounting in the rear cockpit.

Three of the aircraft saw service performing armament trials in Lipetsk in the Soviet Union; these included one aircraft testing a free-mounted 20 mm cannon. The fourth aircraft had been destroyed while undergoing tests in March 1929. Between December 1929 and their retirement in October 1931, the surviving L 77vs were based at the Staaken Erprobungsstelle (Test Centre).

## Specifications (L 77v)

General characteristics

* Crew: two, pilot and observer
* Length: 8.45 m (27 ft 9 in)
* Wingspan: 12.76 m (41 ft 10 in)
* Height: 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in)
* Wing area: 27.8 $m^2$ (299 sq ft)
* Powerplant: 1 × BMW VI , 450 kW (600 hp)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 220 km/h (140 mph, 120 kn)

Armament

* 2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine guns
* 1 × flexible 7.92 (.312 in) mm machine gun for observer
* 2 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs
