D. I, D. II, D. III, D. v & D. Va. Why is there no D. IV? Was there ever one planned and designed?

Hi...
As far as i know, at least one D IV existed. It was experimental only. Im not sure if it was really a new construction. I think the combined features of the others together. The DIV was mainly a testbed for a geared engine.
This is a little bit of information, i've found at the moment. When i've more time, i try to find a little more.

Regards

Jan

Greetings all;

Jan has it pretty well nailed down. Here is what I have in text. "...The Albatros D.IV was was never intended to be a production machine. It was solely manufactured to test the geared a 160hp Mercedes D.III engine. Because the thrust-line of the engine was raised due to the gearing of the propeller, the cylinder heads were completely buried in the nose of the aircraft. Vibration was very pronounced (tests were stopped due to possible damage to the airframe). A three and four blade propeller were tried, but with practically the same results. It was "thought" that it also was engined with the "straight- eight" Mercedes D.IV 220 HP engine, but this is incorrect. This is due to the fact that the Mercedes D.IV engine was way too long to fit in the airframe..."

Three machines were ordered, but it seems that only one machine was built.

Thanks for the answers Jan (awesome name btw! :-) ) and Stephen.
Much appreciated!

Are there any pictures? I would like to take a loomat this beast...

The only pictures i found, are not of the real thing, but of a model. Its a conversion of a old revell-kit. Look here.
Im not sure how accurate the build is. But there are some infos about the orginal in the text.
It seems to me, that no pictures exist, or they are lost.

The only available, original image in the publc domain can be found in several places. Most notably the Squadron "In Action" book on Albatros Fighters.

Here is a 1/72 conversion from the same website Jan quotes.

Gentlemen:
The Alb.D.IV was ordered and built. Its engine was a geared version of the 160 Ps Mercedes D.III. The six cylinder geared 160 Ps, like its big brother the 220 Ps eight cylinder Mercedes D.IV in the Alb.C.V, was able to be set completely inside the nose of the Alb.D.IV.
The Alb. had a more streamlined fuselage like the Alb.D.V but used the wings simular to the Alb.D.II but of longr span of 9005mm.
Because of problems with the engine and lack of improvement in performance the Alb.D.IV project was terminated.
Blue skies,
Dan-San