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Following on from the earlier topic Anemometers and Airspeed Indicators I emailed the Australian War Memorial, asking them what instruments their display Albatross was equipped with. The following was their answer: Only two Albatros D.Va aircraft survive today; the Memorial’s D.5390/17, and D.7161/17 held by the National Air and Space Museum in the USA. Of the two, the Australian one is by far the most intact and original. Although some instruments and fittings were missing from the AWM aircraft when the most recent project began, the original cabin structure survived almost completely intact. This meant that we could search for screw holes, brackets or other traces when checking to see if a particular instrument was originally fitted. Although no cockpit photos of D.5390/17 taken in 1917 are known, there is a report prepared the day after capture - on 18 December - by Captain Ross of 3 Squadron AFC (known at the time as 69 Squadron RFC). This document recorded a range of details including the engine and gun numbers, together with some major equipment fitted in the cockpit. According to the list the aircraft carried Bosch starting magneto No.48092, Revolutions Indicator (tachometer) No.84949 by Wilhelm Morill (should be Morell) of Leipzig, and finally a petrol gauge and an oil pressure gauge by Maximall of Berlin. The document also indicated that a clock had been souvenired before the aircraft was recovered. It’s also worth noting that a British airspeed indicator and strut-mounted pitot head were also fitted to the aircraft, and that these were removed some time after c.1955. Determining which instruments were fitted Given all this, the Memorial decided to re-fit the Albatros’ cockpit to its condition at the time of capture on 17 December 1917. By 2008 - when the most recent preservation works commenced - of the items listed in 1917 only the magneto switch, and the petrol and oil pressure gauges remained in position. The cockpit and airframe structure was very carefully checked to see if anything was missing or had been overlooked. There was no trace of mountings for the bungees used to attach an altimeter in either of the two known possible locations. There was no trace of any mounting for the clock mentioned by Captain Ross. This may have been a fob watch type carried by the pilot. The bracket for the tachometer was still in position on the tubular rear gun mounting structure. The brackets for the Bosch starting magneto were located on the left side. Although damaged, there was no doubt about their purpose. The compass, gimbal mounting and timber attachment block were missing from the known location low down of the right side of the cockpit. On D.5390/17 numerous small steel nails used to secure the timber block were intact and still projected out from the ply. Given that this is not mentioned by Ross, most likely the compass and associated parts were removed from the aircraft before 3 Squadron collected it. Both ‘vee’ inter-wing struts were checked for any mounting holes or marks to indicate that an anemometer-type airspeed indicator had been fitted, with no result. Photos taken on 18 December 1917 do not show a strut-mounted instrument or any trace of it. As currently displayed, the aircraft has: The correct type Bosch starting magneto, a spare item drawn from the AWM collection. The original Bosch magneto switch assembly. The correct type compass and mounting, spare items drawn from the AWM collection. The correct type tachometer by Morell, a spare item drawn from the AWM collection. It is calibrated from 4-14, and has the correct ratio – 1:2 – for an in-line engine. The original petrol gauge and an oil pressure gauge by Maximall of Berlin. Seems that in this case the number and type of instruments fitted was sparse indeed.