Rumpler Taube
When Igo Etrich of Austria began work on his aircraft design for the German Rumpler company, he wanted an aircraft capable of stable and long-distance (for the time) flight. With this in mind, he copied the shape of winged seeds from the Javan Cucumber. This gave the aircraft superb lift, though not much in the way of maneuverability, as it lacked movable control surfaces other than the rudder. When Rumpler's designers saw it, they named it the Taube (Dove) for the shape of its wings.
The Taube was intended for military use, and was the first mass-produced fighter in Germany. It would be used in the world's first aerial bombing mission in 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War in Libya--bombs in this case consisted of grenades thrown out by the pilot. When World War I broke out, the Taube's endurance and steady flight characteristics made it perfect as a reconnaissance aircraft, especially as its thin, translucent fabric made it hard to see against the sky--an early form of stealth. However, the Taube could not turn very well, and once true fighters began appearing over the Western Front, the Luftstreitskrafte quickly relegated the Taube to training units. Because so many were produced by so many companies, it is not known how many Taubes were produced; only one original aircraft is known to survive today.
This Taube is a reproduction, built in 1984; the engine, however, is an original.
Rumpler Taube
When Igo Etrich of Austria began work on his aircraft design for the German Rumpler company, he wanted an aircraft capable of stable and long-distance (for the time) flight. With this in mind, he copied the shape of winged seeds from the Javan Cucumber. This gave the aircraft superb lift, though not much in the way of maneuverability, as it lacked movable control surfaces other than the rudder. When Rumpler's designers saw it, they named it the Taube (Dove) for the shape of its wings.
The Taube was intended for military use, and was the first mass-produced fighter in Germany. It would be used in the world's first aerial bombing mission in 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War in Libya--bombs in this case consisted of grenades thrown out by the pilot. When World War I broke out, the Taube's endurance and steady flight characteristics made it perfect as a reconnaissance aircraft, especially as its thin, translucent fabric made it hard to see against the sky--an early form of stealth. However, the Taube could not turn very well, and once true fighters began appearing over the Western Front, the Luftstreitskrafte quickly relegated the Taube to training units. Because so many were produced by so many companies, it is not known how many Taubes were produced; only one original aircraft is known to survive today.
This Taube is a reproduction, built in 1984; the engine, however, is an original.