Etrich Taube The Etrich " Taube , also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who build versions of the type , such as the Rumpler " Taube , was a pre - World War I monoplane aircraft . It was the first mass - produced military plane in Germany . As Imperial Germany ' s first practical military aircraft , the " Taube " ( " dove " ) was used for virtually all military aircraft applications , as a fighter , bomber , surveillance aircraft and trainer from 1910 until the start of World War I in August 1914 . 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 Flying Corps operated at least one Taube in 1912 . On November 1 , 1911 , Giulio Gavotti , an Italian aviator , had dropped the world ' s first aerial bomb from his Taube monoplane over the Ain Zara oasis in Libya . Once the war began , it quickly proved inferior as a serious warplane and as a result was soon replaced by newer and more effective designs . Design and development . The Taube was designed in 1909 by Igo Etrich of Austria - Hungary , with its first flight 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 " . Rumpler soon changed the name to " Rumpler - Taube " , and stopped paying royalties to Etrich , who subsequently abandoned his patent . Despite its name , the " Taube ' s " unique wing form was not modeled after a dove , but was copied from the seeds of " Zanonia macrocarpa " , which float to the ground in a slow spiral caused by a single wing . Similar wing shapes were also used by Karl Jatho . Etrich had tried to build a flying wing aircraft based on the Zanonia wing shape , but the more conventional " Taube " type , with tail controls , was much more successful . 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 , and gained biplane - like strength for the Taube ' s monoplane wing with a cable cross - braced , orthogonal - layout " Brücke " , or " bridge " , beneath each wing panel , which often carried small wire - spoke wheels or skids at its outboard ends , for wingtip protection . Later Taube - type aircraft from other manufacturers would eventually replace the Blériot - style crosswind main gear with a simpler V - strut main gear format , and also omitted the underwing " bridge " structure for somewhat better aerodynamic efficiency . Like many contemporary aircraft , especially monoplanes , the Taube used wing warping rather than ailerons for lateral ( roll ) control , and also warped the rear half of the stabilizer for use as an elevator control surface ' s function . Only the vertical , twinned triangular rudder surfaces were usually hinged . Operational history . The design provided for very stable flight , which made it extremely suitable for observation . In addition , 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 , its pilot using pistols and dropping bombs . The plane was also used for bombing in the Balkans in 1912 – 13 , and in late 1914 when German 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 . 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 . 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 October 2 , 1914 , Plüschow ' s Taube attacked the Japanese warships with two small bombs , but failed to score any hits . On November 7 , 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 mobile Allied fighters 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 license fees , no less than 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 . Survivors and flyable reproductions . The Technisches Museum Wien is thought to have the only known remaining Etrich - built example of the " Taube " in existence , an early enough example to have a four - cylinder engine powering it , 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 USA , is so far the only known 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 200 hp Ranger L - 440 inline - 6 " uprighted " air - cooled engine .