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Russ,
It seems that the Jastas were contesting for the initiative shortly after receiving enough Albatri. I've read that in December 1916, of the 27 British planes shot down, 17 fell on the British side. And then of course German claims increased every month until April 1917. Possession of the initiative seems to have hung in the balance for a few months. The Germans, at some point realized, after all they weren't fools, that the British were not going to back down regardless of losses. Could it be that the Germans felt they could not fight at such a level of offensive effort? As Old Man pointed out some time ago, the Jastas were conceived as intercepters, not intruders. Rightly or wrongly, the Germans believed that contesting the initiative was beyound them and prudently adopted a defensive stance, trying to get the most victories for the least losses.
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