J.Herris Albatros Aircraft of WWI. Vol.4: Fighters (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 27)

Albatros D.XIII

   In June 1918 Albatros designers began work on the D.XIII with 170 hp Mercedes D.IIIa, the last Mercedes-powered Albatros fighter. In September assembly of the prototype was underway according to an Idflieg report. For the first time in an Albatros fighter a nose radiator, by Teves & Braun, was used. Albatros was building Fokker D.VII fighters under license and the D.VII likely inspired the nose radiator. An I-strut was used in the single-bay, 'wireless' wing design.
   The best Allied fighters at the front were using Hispano-Suiza V8s with 200-235 hp; achieving competitive performance with only 170 hp from a water-cooled engine was extremely difficult. The top speed and climb to 5,000 meters were taken from an article in Flugsport magazine, but it was not specified whether this was taken from flight-test results or calculated; calculated performance is often optimistic.
   The Albatros factory specification sheet mentions a D.XIIIa but no data is given and it likely was a project only. No photos of the D.XIII are available.

Albatros D.XIV

   The last Albatros fighter was very similar to the D.XIII and powered by a 185 hp BMW.IIIa. Design was underway in September 1918 although the date and details of the first flight of the D.XIV are not available.
   In 1921 a US naval attache visited the Albatros factory twice and reported that two D.XIV fighters (known at the Albatros L46 postwar) were tested at the end of 1918. "The two main beams in wing were made of duraluminum." That is, the wing spars were duraluminum, consistent with Idflieg’s statement that the wing cellule was 'wireless.' Given the very close relationship between the D.XIII and D.XIV designs, this raises the possibility the D.XIII also had duraluminum wing spars, but there is no documentation confirming that.