First aircraft used for surveillance was the Etrich-Rumpler Taube ( the picture is shown below of this description) during world war 1. The Etrich-Rumpler Taube known as the Rumpler Taube. It is also the first mass-produced military plane is Germany. The taube which also means dove was used for virtually all military aircraft applications, it has a role of a fighter, bomber, surveillance aircraft and trainer from 1910 until the start of World War 1 in August 1914.
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| The Rumpler Taube |
The Etrich-Rumpler Taube was invented by Igo Etrich and produced by Edmund Rumpler, but when Etrich withdrew from the partnership in became known as the Rumpler Taube. Controls of the taube were partly similar to other early aircraft. The trailing edges of the wings had cables attached to them as it were pulled downward to create drag, lowering the wing to make the aircraft turn. The wing coverings of the Taube allowed light to pass through them, making the aircraft difficult to see when passing overhead, especially on a bright day. The taube's unique wing form was not modeled after a dove, but was copied from the idea of Zanonia macrocarpa, which float to the ground in a slow spiral caused by a single wing. 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.
The first bombing engagement was by an Italian Taube in 1911 in Libya, its pilot using pistols and dropping 2 kg bombs. The plane was also used for bombing in the Balkans in 1912/13, and in late 1914 when German 3 kg bomblets and propaganda leaflets were dropped over Paris. In civilian use, the Taube was used by pilots to win the Munich-Berlin Kathreiner prize. On 8th December of 1911, Gino Linnekogel and Suvelick Johannisthal achieved an two man endurance record for flying a Taube 4 Hours and 35 minutes over Germany.
