By example, if the first contract the government awarded for "C" type
a/c was for 200 C-II's to Albatros, then the a/c produced under that
contract would have been numbered 1/16 through 200/16. If the second
contract for "C" type a/c was for 100 a/c from DFW, those a/c would
be numbered 201/16 through 300/16. Now, a/c number 201/16 might have
actually been built and/or delivered before Albatros 200/16 (or, even
before Albatros's 1/16) if DFW was more diligent or efficient in meeting
their contract. Obviously, there could have been several contracts
awarded on the same day so which manufacturer got the lower numbers
would have been mostly a matter of chance and not necessarily indicative
of the actual order of manufacture.
Apparently, by 1917, the Germans started the numbering system with 100
(or 101) rather than with 1 so that a/c 105/17 would have been the
fifth (or sixth) of that type contracted for in 1917 rather than the
105th aircraft.
Cheers!
--
Bill Shatzer - bshatzer@ednet1.osl.or.gov - aw177@FreeNet.Carleton.ca