View source for Etrich Taube

{{short description|1910 German multi-role aircraft family}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{{Infobox aircraft
  |name = Etrich-Rumpler ''Taube''
  |image =Rumpler Taube monoplane.jpg
  |caption =
  |type = Bomber, surveillance, and trainer
  |manufacturer = Various
  |designer = [[Igo Etrich]]
  |first_flight = [[1910 in aviation|1910]]
  |introduction =
  |retired =
  |status =
  |primary_user = ''[[Luftstreitkräfte]]''
  |more_users =
  |produced =
  |number_built =
  |unit cost =
  |variants =
}}
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]] aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in [[Germany]].

The Taube was very popular prior to the First World War, and it was also used by the air forces of [[Italy]] and [[Austria-Hungary]]. Even the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] operated at least one Taube in 1912. On 1 November 1911, [[Giulio Gavotti]], an Italian aviator, dropped the world's first aerial bomb from his Taube monoplane over the Ain Zara oasis in [[Libya]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13294524 |title=Libya 1911: How an Italian pilot began the air war era |work=BBC News |first=Alan |last=Johnston |date=10 May 2011}}</ref> Once the war began, it quickly proved inadequate as a  warplane and was soon replaced by other designs.

==Design and development==
[[File:TaubePrototypeIgoEtrich1907.jpg|thumb|right|The Etrich-Wels glider prototype, with Igo Etrich in the cockpit]]
The Taube was designed in 1909 by [[Igo Etrich]] of [[Austria-Hungary]], and first flew in 1910. It was licensed for serial production by [[Lohner-Werke]] in Austria and by Edmund [[Rumpler]] in Germany, now called the ''Etrich-Rumpler-Taube''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khs.at/aviaticum/6.htm |title=Lohner Etrich-F Taube OE-CET |publisher=Virtual Aviation Museum |access-date=2011-04-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khs.at/aviaticum/7.htm |title=Lohner Etrich-F Taube OE-CET |publisher=Virtual Aviation Museum |access-date=2011-04-25}}</ref> Rumpler soon changed the name to ''Rumpler-Taube'', and stopped paying royalties to Etrich, who subsequently abandoned his patent.

Despite its name (''[[wikt:Taube#German|Taube]]'' means "[[Columbidae|dove]]"), the ''Taube's'' unique wing form was not modeled after a dove, but was copied from the seeds of ''[[Alsomitra macrocarpa]]'', which may glide long distances from their parent tree.{{sfn|Wilkins|2019|p=12}} 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.{{sfn|Wilkins|2019|pp=13-15}}

Etrich adopted the format of crosswind-capable main landing gear that [[Louis Blériot]] had used on his [[Blériot XI]] 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 [[King post|kingposts]] 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 loop (aviation)|ground loops]].<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1911/1911%20-%200974.html The Etrich Monoplane] [[Flight International|''Flight'']], 11 November 1911, p.276</ref>

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]] rather than [[aileron]]s for lateral (roll) control, and also warped the rear half of the [[tailplane|stabilizer]] to function as the [[elevator (aircraft)|elevator]]. Only the vertical, twinned triangular [[Rudder#Aircraft rudders|rudder]] surfaces were usually hinged.

==Operational history==
[[File:RumplerTaubeDesign1911.jpg|thumb|right|Design drawing of ''Taube'' from 1911]]
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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Contact! The Story of the Early Aviators|author=Henry Villard|page=183}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The American year book, Volume 2|author1=Simon Newton Dexter North |author2=Francis Graham Wickware |author3=Albert Bushnell Hart |page=719}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Naughton |first1=Russell |title=Igo Etrich (1879 - 1967) and his 'Taube' |url=http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/etrich_taube.htm |publisher=Monash University |date=1 January 2002}}</ref> The first [[Italo-Turkish War|hostile engagement]] was by an Italian ''Taube'' in 1911 in [[Libya]], [[Giulio Gavotti|its pilot]] using pistols and dropping {{convert|2|kg|abbr=on}} grenades during the [[Battle of Ain Zara]]. The ''Taube'' was also used for bombing in the [[Balkans]] in 1912–13, and in late 1914 when German {{convert|3|kg|abbr=on}} bomblets and [[propaganda]] leaflets were dropped over [[Paris]]. ''Taube'' spotter planes detected the advancing Imperial Russian Army in [[East Prussia]] during the World War I [[Battle of Tannenberg (1914)|Battle of Tannenberg]].

[[File:GermanFightingMonoplane1917.jpg|right|thumb| Front page of the ''New York Times'' Mid-Week Pictorial, 1 January 1917, captioned "A German Fighting Monoplane Flying Very Near the Ground Photographed from Directly Underneath."]]

==World War I==
While initially there were two ''Taube'' aircraft assigned to Imperial German units stationed at [[Qingdao]], China, only one was available at the start of the war due to an accident. The Rumpler Taube piloted by Lieutenant [[Gunther Plüschow]] 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 [[Siege of Tsingtao|Tsingtao]] 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]], but was forced to make an emergency landing at [[Lianyungang]] in [[Jiangsu]], 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.

[[File:Jeannin Stahltaube 1.jpg|thumb|Jeannin Stahltaube, [[German Museum of Technology|Deutsches Technikmuseum]], Berlin]]
[[File:Jeannin Stahltaube 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Jeannin Stahltaube]]
[[File:Albatros Doppeltaube - Aero and Hydro Vol. 1 p 109.png|thumb|Line drawing of Albatros Doppeltaube from Aero and Hydro magazine]]

;Albatros ''Taube''
:Produced by ''[[Albatros Flugzeugwerke]]''
;Albatros ''Doppeltaube''
:Biplane version produced by ''Albatros Flugzeugwerke''.
;Aviatik ''Taube''
:Produced by [[Aviatik|''Automobil und Aviatik AG'']] firm.
;DFW ''Stahltaube'' (''Stahltaube'')
:Version with steel frame produced by ''[[Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke]]''.
;Etrich ''Taube''
:Produced by inventor Igo Etrich.
;''Etrich-Rumpler-Taube''
:Initial name of the "Rumpler ''Taube''".
;Gotha ''Taube''
:Produced by ''[[Gothaer Waggonfabrik]]'' 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]].
;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 ''Delfin-Taube'' (Rumpler ''Kabinentaube'' "Delfin")
:Version with closed cabin, produced by ''Rumpler Flugzeugwerke''.
;Isobe Rumpler ''Taube''<ref name="Mikesh">Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London: Putnam, 1990. {{ISBN|0-85177-840-2}}</ref>
:A ''Taube'' built in Japan by Onokichi Isobe

==Operators==
;{{ARG}}
* [[Argentine Air Force]]
* [[Argentine Navy]]
;{{flag|Austria-Hungary}}
* [[Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops]]
;{{BUL}}
* [[Bulgarian Air Force]]
;{{flagicon|Republic of China (1912–1949)|1912}} [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]]
* Two units were ordered by Chinese revolutionaries to fight Imperial Qing China, but when they reached [[Shanghai]] 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.
;{{flag|German Empire}}
* ''[[Luftstreitkräfte]]''
* ''[[Kaiserliche Marine]]''
;{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}
* [[Corpo Aeronautico Militare]]
;{{flag|Empire of Japan}}
* ''The Imperial Aeronautic Association''<ref>[http://www.aero.or.jp/english.html 財団法人 日本航空協会 Japan Aeronautic Association], [http://www.kahaku.go.jp/event/2013/12hikou/ ミニ企画展「日本航空協会創立100周年記念展 帝国飛行協会と航空スポーツ」- 国立科学博物館 (JAA 100th anniversary exhibition – National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo)]</ref>
* ''[[Imperial Japanese Army Air Service]] (acting)''<ref>[[Siege of Tsingtao]]</ref>
;{{flag|Norway}}
* [[Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service]]
;{{ROU}}
* [[Romanian Air Corps]] - One Taube with a [[Mercedes D.I|Mercedes 100 hp engine]], delivered from Germany in 1913<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://amnr.defense.ro/app/webroot/fileslib/upload/files/Revista_Document/Revista_061_2013.pdf|title=Din Istoria Aripilor Româneşti 1910-1916|magazine=Revista Document. Buletinul Arhivelor Militare Române nr.3(61)/2013|language=ro|author=Valeriu Avram|page=10|access-date=2021-10-04|archive-date=2021-10-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004225335/https://amnr.defense.ro/app/webroot/fileslib/upload/files/Revista_Document/Revista_061_2013.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
;{{flag|Ottoman Empire}}
* [[Ottoman Air Force]]
;{{SUI}}
* [[Swiss Air Force]]

==Survivors and flyable reproductions==

The [[Technisches Museum Wien]] has the only remaining Etrich-built ''Taube'', which has a four-cylinder engine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.technischesmuseum.at/language/en-us/home/sammlung-forschung/sammlungsbereiche/ojekt-detail/articleid/371/urlmaster/false |title=Etrich-II Taube, built in 1910 |publisher=Technisches Museum Wien |access-date=2011-04-25}}</ref>  

Other original Taubes exist, such as one in Norway, which was the last original ''Taube'' to fly under its own power, in 1922.

The Owl's Head Transportation Museum in [[Owls Head, Maine]], US has a reproduction which has been flying since 1990, using a {{cvt|200|hp|kW}} [[Ranger L-440]] inline-6 air-cooled engine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohtm.org/etrich.html |title=1913 Etrich Taube (Replica) |publisher=Owls Head Transportation Museum |access-date=2011-04-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410085520/http://www.ohtm.org/etrich.html |archive-date=2011-04-10 }}</ref>

==Specifications (late model Rumpler ''Taube'')==
[[File:2007 Austria 25 Euro Austrian Aviation back.jpg|thumb|[[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Austria)#2007 coinage|Austrian Aviation commemorative coin]]]]
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Wilkins{{sfn|Wilkins|2019|p=24}}
|prime units?=met
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|crew=2
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=[[Mercedes D.I]]
|eng1 type=6-cyl. water-cooled piston engine
|perfhide=
|ceiling m=
|span ft=46|wing area sqft=300|length ft=27|max takeoff weight lb=1840|eng1 hp=100|endurance=4 hours|max speed mph=74|lift lb=400|time to altitude=792 m (2,600 ft) in 6 mins|prop name=Reschke tractor|prop dia m=2.6|prop blade number=2}}
==See also==
{{aircontent|
|related=*[[Etrich Sport-Taube]]
* [[Etrich Luft-Limousine]]
|similar aircraft=
|sequence=
|lists=
|see also=
* [[History of aviation]]
}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |last1=Herris |first1=Jack |title=Gotha Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes |date=2013 |publisher=Aeronaut Books |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-1-935881-14-8|series=Great War Aviation Centennial Series|volume=6}}
*{{cite book |last1=Herris |first1=Jack |title=Rumpler Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes |date=2014 |publisher=Aeronaut Books |location=n.p. |isbn=978-1-935881-21-6|series=Great War Aviation Centennial Series|volume=11}}
* Mikesh, Robert and Shorzoe Abe. (1990) ''Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941''. London: [[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]]. {{ISBN|0-85177-840-2}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Neulen|first1=Hans Werner|title=Les aigles isoles du Kaiser|journal=Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et Son Histoire|date=November 1999 |issue=80 |pages=24–31 |trans-title=The Kaiser's Isolated Eagles|language=French |issn=1243-8650}}
* {{cite journal |date=August 21, 1914 |title=Aircraft 'Made in Germany' |format=PDF |journal=[[Flight (magazine)|Flight]] |volume=VI |issue=34 |id=No. 295 |pages=877 etc. |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1914/1914%20-%200877.html |access-date=June 13, 2011 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Wilkins |first=Mark C |title=German Fighter Aircraft in World War I |date=2019 |publisher=Casemate |isbn=978-1612006192}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Etrich Taube}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--NLkK74hNw Video of the Owl's Head reproduction Taube]

{{Gotha aircraft}}
{{World War I Aircraft of the Central Powers}}
{{lone designation|system=[[KuKLFT]] A-class aircraft designations|designation=[[Igo Etrich|Etrich]]: A.I • A.II}}
{{Idflieg A-class designations}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1910s German fighter aircraft]]
[[Category:1910s German bomber aircraft]]
[[Category:1910s German military reconnaissance aircraft]]
[[Category:1910s German military trainer aircraft]]
[[Category:1910s Austro-Hungarian fighter aircraft]]
[[Category:Military aircraft of World War I]]
[[Category:Aircraft manufactured in Germany]]
[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:Shoulder-wing aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1910]]