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The Etrich ''Taube'', also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who built versions of the type, such as the Rumpler ''Taube'', was a pre-World War I
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The Taube was very popular prior to the First World War, and it was also used by the air forces of
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. Even the
Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...
operated at least one Taube in 1912. On 1 November 1911,
Giulio Gavotti Giulio Gavotti (17 October 1882 in Genoa–6 October 1939) was an Italian lieutenant and pilot who fought in the Italo-Turkish War. Aerial bombardment On 1 November 1911, he flew his early model Etrich Taube monoplane against Ottoman military i ...
, an Italian aviator, dropped the world's first aerial bomb from his Taube monoplane over the Ain Zara oasis in
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. Once the war began, it quickly proved inadequate as a warplane and was soon replaced by other designs.


Design and development

The Taube was designed in 1909 by
Igo Etrich Ignaz "Igo" Etrich (25 December 1879 – 4 February 1967) was an Austrian flight pioneer, pilot and fixed-wing aircraft developer. Education Etrich was born on Christmas Day 1879 in the Upper Old Town of Trutnov, Bohemia. He attended school in L ...
of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, and first flew in 1910. It was licensed for serial production by
Lohner-Werke Bombardier Transportation Austria GmbH is an Austrian subsidiary company of Bombardier Transportation located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in the 19th century by Jacob Lohner as Lohner-Werke or simply ''Lohner'' as a luxury coachbuilding fir ...
in Austria and by Edmund
Rumpler Rumpler-Luftfahrzeugbau GmbH, Rumpler-Werke, usually known simply as Rumpler was a German aircraft and automobile manufacturer founded in Berlin by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler in 1909 as Rumpler Luftfahrzeugbau.Gunston 1993, p.259 The fir ...
in Germany, now called the ''Etrich-Rumpler-Taube''. Rumpler soon changed the name to ''Rumpler-Taube'', and stopped paying royalties to Etrich, who subsequently abandoned his patent. Despite its name ('' Taube'' means "
dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
"), the ''Taube's'' unique wing form was not modeled after a dove, but was copied from the seeds of ''
Alsomitra macrocarpa ''Alsomitra macrocarpa'' () or the Javan cucumber is a gourd-bearing liana, belonging to the pumpkin family from the tropical Asian forests of the Malay Archipelago and the Indonesian islands. '' Alsomitra'' is a genus of 34 species of vines fo ...
'', which may glide long distances from their parent tree. Similar wing shapes were also used by
Karl Jatho Karl Jatho ( 3 February 1873 – 8 December 1933) was a German inventor and aviation pioneer, performer and public servant of the city of Hanover. Achievements and claims to precedence over the Wright brothers From August through November 1903 ...
and
Frederick Handley Page Sir Frederick Handley Page, CBE, FRAeS (15 November 1885 – 21 April 1962) was an English industrialist who was a pioneer in the aircraft industry and became known as the father of the heavy bomber. His company Handley Page Limited was ...
. Etrich had tried to build a flying wing aircraft based on the Zanonia wing shape, but the more conventional ''Taube'' type, with tail surfaces, was much more successful. Etrich adopted the format of crosswind-capable main landing gear that Louis Blériot had used on his
Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most fa ...
cross-channel monoplane for better ground handling. The wing has three spars and was braced by a cable-braced steel tube truss (called a "bridge", or ''Brücke'' in German) under each wing: at the outer end the uprights of this structure were lengthened to rise above the upper wing surfaces, to form
kingposts A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss Apex (geometry), apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, support ...
to carry bracing and warping wires for the enlarged wingtips. A small landing wheel was sometimes mounted on the lower end of this kingpost, to protect it for landings and to help guard against ground loops. Later Taube-type aircraft from other manufacturers replaced the Bleriot type main gear with a simpler V-strut main gear design, and also omitted the underwing "bridge" structure to reduce drag. Like many contemporary aircraft, especially monoplanes, the Taube used
wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...
rather than
aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
s for lateral (roll) control, and also warped the rear half of the stabilizer to function as the
elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
. Only the vertical, twinned triangular
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...
surfaces were usually hinged.


Operational history

In civilian use, the Taube was used by pilots to win the Munich-Berlin Kathreiner prize. On 8 December 1911, Gino Linnekogel and Suvelick Johannisthal achieved a two-man endurance record for flying a Taube 4 hours and 35 minutes over Germany. The design provided for very stable flight, which made it extremely suitable for observation. The translucent wings made it difficult for ground observers to detect a ''Taube'' at an altitude above 400 meters. The first hostile engagement was by an Italian ''Taube'' in 1911 in
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
, its pilot using pistols and dropping grenades during the
Battle of Ain Zara The Battle of Ain Zara was fought in December 1911 during the Italo-Turkish War between the Kingdom of Italy and Ottoman Empire forces for the control of the oasis of Ain Zara, near Tripoli in modern Libya, where the Ottomans had established a f ...
. The ''Taube'' was also used for bombing in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
in 1912–13, and in late 1914 when German bomblets and
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
leaflets were dropped over
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. ''Taube'' spotter planes detected the advancing Imperial Russian Army in
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
during the World War I
Battle of Tannenberg The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 26 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russ ...
.


World War I

While initially there were two ''Taube'' aircraft assigned to Imperial German units stationed at
Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
, China, only one was available at the start of the war due to an accident. The Rumpler Taube piloted by Lieutenant
Gunther Plüschow Gunther Plüschow (February 8, 1886 – January 28, 1931) was a German aviator, aerial explorer and author from Munich, Bavaria. His feats include the only escape by a German prisoner of war in World War I from Britain back to Germany; he was ...
had to face the attacking Japanese, who had with them a total of eight aircraft. On 2 October 1914, Plüschow's Taube attacked the Japanese warships blockading
Tsingtao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
with two small bombs, but failed to score any hits. On 7 November 1914, shortly before the fall of Qingdao, Plüschow was ordered to fly top secret documents to
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, but was forced to make an emergency landing at
Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives from ...
in
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
, where he was interned by a local Chinese force. Plüschow was rescued by local Chinese civilians under the direction of an American missionary, and successfully reached his destination at Shanghai with his top secret documents, after giving the engine to one of the Chinese civilians who rescued him. Poor rudder and lateral control made the Taube difficult and slow to turn. The aeroplane proved to be a very easy target for the faster and more agile Allied Scouts of the early part of World War I, and just six months into the war, the ''Taube'' had been removed from front line service to be used to train new pilots. Many future German aces would learn to fly in a Rumpler ''Taube''.


Variants

Due to the lack of licence fees, 14 companies built a large number of variations of the initial design, making it difficult for historians to determine the exact manufacturer based on historical photographs. An incomplete list is shown below. The most common version was the Rumpler ''Taube'' with two seats. ;Albatros ''Taube'' :Produced by ''
Albatros Flugzeugwerke Albatros Flugzeugwerke GmbH was a German aircraft manufacturer best known for supplying the German airforces during World War I. The company was based in Johannisthal, Berlin, where it was founded by Walter Huth and Otto Wiener on December 20, 1 ...
'' ;Albatros ''Doppeltaube'' :Biplane version produced by ''Albatros Flugzeugwerke''. ;Aviatik ''Taube'' :Produced by ''Automobil und Aviatik AG'' firm. ;DFW ''Stahltaube'' (''Stahltaube'') :Version with steel frame produced by ''
Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke, usually known as DFW, was a German aircraft manufacturer of the early twentieth century. It was established by Bernhard Meyer and Erich Thiele at Lindenthal in 1910, and initially produced Farman designs under licence, la ...
''. ;Etrich ''Taube'' :Produced by inventor Igo Etrich. ;''Etrich-Rumpler-Taube'' :Initial name of the "Rumpler ''Taube''". ;Gotha ''Taube'' :Produced by ''
Gothaer Waggonfabrik ''Gothaer Waggonfabrik'' (''Gotha'', GWF) was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building. World War I In World War I, Got ...
'' as LE.1, LE.2 and LE.3 (''Land Eindecker'' – "Land Monoplane") and designated A.I by the '' Idflieg''. ;''Harlan-Pfeil-Taube'' ;Halberstadt ''Taube'' III :Produced by
Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke or Halberstadt was a German aircraft manufacturer. It was formed on 9 April 1912 under the name ''Deutsche Bristol Werke Flugzeug-Gesellschaft mbH'' in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony. History The British-German j ...
. ;Jeannin ''Taube'' (Jeannin ''Stahltaube'') :Version with steel tubing fuselage structure. ;Kondor ''Taube'' :Produced by ''Kondor Flugzeugwerke''. ;RFG ''Taube'' :Produced by ''Reise- und Industrieflug GmbH'' (RFG). ;Roland ''Taube'' ;Rumpler 4C ''Taube'' :Produced by Edmund Rumpler's ''
Rumpler Flugzeugwerke Rumpler-Luftfahrzeugbau GmbH, Rumpler-Werke, usually known simply as Rumpler was a German aircraft and automobile manufacturer founded in Berlin by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler in 1909 as Rumpler Luftfahrzeugbau.Gunston 1993, p.259 The fir ...
''. ;Rumpler ''Delfin-Taube'' (Rumpler ''Kabinentaube'' "Delfin") :Version with closed cabin, produced by ''Rumpler Flugzeugwerke''. ;Isobe Rumpler ''Taube''Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London: Putnam, 1990. :A ''Taube'' built in Japan by Onokichi Isobe


Operators

; *
Argentine Air Force "Argentine Wings" , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 August (anniversary) 1 May (Baptism of fire during the Falklands War) , equipment = 139 aircraft , equipment_label = , battles = * Operation Independence * Operation Soberanía * Falkl ...
* Argentine Navy ; *
Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops The Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops or Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops (german: Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen or , hu, Császári és Királyi Légjárócsapatok) were the air force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the e ...
; * Bulgarian Air Force ;
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
* Two units were ordered by Chinese revolutionaries to fight Imperial Qing China, but when they reached
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
in December 1911 with other ''Taube'' airplanes ordered by Imperial German forces stationed in China, the Qing dynasty had already been overthrown and the airplanes were not used in battle. ; * ''
Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
'' * ''
Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...
'' ; *
Corpo Aeronautico Militare The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballo ...
; * ''The Imperial Aeronautic Association'' * ''
Imperial Japanese Army Air Service The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ja, 大日本帝國陸軍航空部隊, Dainippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūbutai, lit=Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps) was the aviation force of the Im ...
(acting)'' ; *
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service ( no, Marinens flyvevesen) was alongside the Norwegian Army Air Service the forerunner to the modern-day Royal Norwegian Air Force. History The RNNAS was established on 1 June 1912,Official Norwegian Defence ...
; *
Ottoman Air Force The Aviation Squadrons of the Ottoman Empire were military aviation units of the Ottoman Army and Navy.Edward J. Erickson, ''Ordered To Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War'', "Appendix D The Ottoman Aviation Inspectorate an ...
; * Swiss Air Force ; *
Romanian Air Corps The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) ( ro, Corpul de Aviație) was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service () and subordina ...
- One Taube with a Mercedes 100 hp engine, delivered from Germany in 1913


Survivors and flyable reproductions

The
Technisches Museum Wien The Vienna Technical Museum (german: Technisches Museum Wien) is located in Vienna (Austria), in the Penzing district, at Mariahilferstraße 212. The decision to establish a technical museum was made in 1908, and construction of the building sta ...
is thought to have the only remaining Etrich-built example of the ''Taube''. It is an early enough example to have a four-cylinder engine, and is potentially a twin to Gavotti's Taube aircraft from 1911, also said to have been powered with a four-cylinder inline engine. Other examples of original Taubes exist, such as one in Norway, which was the last original ''Taube'' to fly under its own power in 1922, over a Norwegian fjord. The Owl's Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine, US, is so far the only museum to attempt the construction of a flyable reproduction of the Etrich Taube in North America. Their example first flew in 1990, and it still flies today with the power of a
Ranger L-440 The Ranger L-440 (company designation 6-440C) are six-cylinder inline inverted air-cooled aero-engines produced by the Ranger Aircraft Engine Division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation of Farmingdale, New York, United States. Th ...
inline-6 "uprighted" air-cooled engine.


Specifications (Rumpler ''Taube'')


See also


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. (1990) ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London: Putnam. *


External links

* Article describing German aircraft types available at the start of World War I, Specific Taube models are o
p. 880
(Albatros)

(D.F.W., Etrich)

(Goedecker, Gotha, Halberstadt, Hansa, Harlan)

(Jatho, Jeannin, Kondor), an

(Rumpler).




Owl's Head Transportation Museum-flyable reproduction 1913 Etrich Taube




* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--NLkK74hNw Video of the Owl's Head reproduction Taube
Christopher Nevinson's 1915 painting, "Pursuing a Taube"
{{Authority control 1910s German fighter aircraft 1910s German bomber aircraft 1910s German military reconnaissance aircraft 1910s German military trainer aircraft 1910s Austro-Hungarian fighter aircraft Military aircraft of World War I Aircraft manufactured in Germany Single-engined tractor aircraft Shoulder-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1910