I'm a old Alb DIII hand and probably have more hours in it then any other aircraft. When I was new to the type I had difficulty vs Nieuports especially and went to the Alb Master Olham, Think Albs were all he ever flew. Asked for some tips and I assembled them into Dicta Olham.
I would say practice as much as possible and pay attention to Number 4. Just keep them off your tail and you will eventually get a shot in. And yea. Even with all that you still sometimes wonder how the Germans did so well with it. The Early model was especially deadly (to you) in the old days before it was tweaked a bit. Not all real life factors can be brought into a game apparently. You are not the terror of the Western Front in the Alb series and have to fly smart.
DICTA OLHAM
1) Nose below horizon rather than above (will gain and keep you more energy)
2) Fly away from a furball rather than into it (there may still be a single E/A following you -
fighting that single plane will be a much easier task than controlling everything around you in the furball)
3) You can never outrun a SPAD or an S.E.5a; so when they fly away from you, use the time for getting into
a better position for their return, for flying closer to your wingmen - or for running away
4) If you cannot outturn Nupes, Pups, Tripes or Camels, use vertical combat more.
Fly kind of 45° ellipses; gaining energy on the down way; using hammerhead or similar manoeuvres on the upper point
5) And as soon as you feel you are getting dizzy from it all, try to get out of it - check six and try to offset yourself a bit,
until you have full overview; then regard and valuate the situation, before you attack again.
There's no use for a dizzy, disorientated combat pilot in a turmoil - he only calls for a collision.
6) And a funny, but seriously funny note: give up any ideas, that you could win the war single-handedly.
All those who fiercely tried that, were dead before the war was over.
7) With all these underpowered aircraft, it is essential to fly them as they can be flown -
not as you want to fly them.
8) When opponent comes down on you from higher up, peppers you and then goes into a climbing curve.
Then you cannot follow his climbing curve without the same energy. If you had been in level
flight before (not coming out of a dive) then you just don't have the energy to follow him up.
What you could do is, to follow his curve - but not climbing. So you remain below him while
he climbs - but you fly the same curve (left or right) and so you keep the distance between
you and him as short as you can.
If you keep that distance as short as possible, he cannot so well make another strike -
his way to you is so short, that he cannot line up and fire long enough.
This is often the most you can do.
