O.Thetford, P.Gray German Aircraft of the First World War (Putnam)

Albatros (O.A.W.) C I
   Two C type machines produced by the Albatros Schneidemuhl factory. The C I, of which two are thought to have been built during 1915, was powered with 150 h.p. Benz. The C II, built in 1916, was fitted with the geared straight eight Mercedes D IV.

J.Herris Albatros Aircraft of WWI. Vol 1: Early Two-Seaters (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 24)

Albatros (PAW) C.I

   The OAW facility, co-located with the Albatros Militar Fliegerschule GmbH, was originally intended solely for producing designs of the main factory. Regardless of its inception as solely a production facility, OAW did build two different C-type prototypes as a further outlet for their creativity.
   Seven examples of the first type, initially known as the OAW C.I and later often referred to as the Albatros (OAW) C.I, were built with serials C.8/15 - C.14/15. It had typical Albatros construction.
   The OAW C.I was a large, 3-bay biplane powered by a 150 hp Benz Bz.III. It appears to have used the basic wing from the Albatros B.I with enlarged wing-root cuts for greater field of view downward and featured a large triangular fin and rudder similar to the standard Albatros C.I. Appearing early in 1915, it was an early, fairly unsophisticated biplane. However, it was a practical design that evolved in production despite the small number that were built. The above photo of C9/15, the second aircraft built, shows is primitive side radiators, while C13/15, the sixth aircraft built, has a more advanced, leading edge radiator.
   Despite the small number built, there were several variations in the exhaust manifolds fitted. Some exhausted downward and there were at least two manifold configurations that exhausted upward.
   The crew members were located close together for mutual cooperation during flight, and the cockpit was especially large and roomy. A large windscreen was fitted for the pilot on the first aircraft built but the others do not appear to have had this. However, there was a large combing in front of the pilot's cockpit that provided limited protection from the wing blast. In fact, the combing was so high pilots had to stretch to see over or around it when looking forward. The observer had a flexible machine gun; however, there was no fixed gun for the pilot.
   Photographs in this section show the OAW C.I apparently in operational use and also in training service, with one photo of the latter taken after April 1918 based on the partially visible national insignia.


Albatros (OAW) C.II

   The OAW facility followed their C.I design with a more refined design. The OAW C.II was more compact, having a two-bay design instead of the three-bay C.I. Equally significant was the much more powerful engine in the C.II, which used the rare 220 hp Mercedes D.IV eight-cylinder engine in place of the 150 hp Benz used in the C.I.
   Like the earlier OAW C.I the C.II was a practical design that evolved despite the few built. The first C.II prototype had unbalanced control surfaces. However, it was a large aircraft and a subsequent prototype had aerodynamically balanced rudder and elevators to reduce the pilot's control forces to make the aircraft more agile and less tiring to fly. Also like the C.I, the crew members in the C.II were located close together for mutual cooperation during flight and the pilot enjoyed a large, spacious cockpit.