Stunning German Photo Album

[Stig Jarlevik]

Hi Clint

The main problem all of us face is that we have no dates listed anywhere.
We don't know if the Halberstadts are survivors into the 1917-18 period.
We don't know if the /18 is an indication of 1918 or not. Logic says they are, but we have no 100% proof of that.

As said earlier, I would say it is impossible to be certain of any year/date when it comes to aircraft used by schools. Even if school aircraft crashed often, they were most likely rebuilt just as fast and no doubt lasted quite a bit longer than frontline aircraft, so it is no use just saying "Oh Halberstadt B.I, it must be very early training days in the beginning of the war", because we don't know that.

I am pretty convinced the ex manufacturers schools were using C-models as well. The further on in time we get, the difference between a B-type compared to the C-type became more and more pronounced. The latter became heavier and heavier, more marginal when it came to control, and much more specialized.
BTW there were no civil schools during the war. As soon as the short transition period was over, they were all controlled by the Army and Navy.
In the present case, Kees (and I) are very convinced the C-types using the /18 numbers and seen here are used by a training unit.

Whatever is the truth here, we certainly can agree, it is a most interesting album and it has raised a number of interesting questions with a very healthy and interesting discussion in its footsteps.

Cheers
Stig