Etrich-Rumpler Taube (1910)

"The Rumpty"

We encounter the Rumpty in Gallipoli in 1915, when Cubby's platoon is hunted down by this antiquated but elegant flying machine. Designed by Igo Etrich in 1909, it first flew in 1910. Promising performance (for the time) led to orders from Lohner-Werke and Rumpler, who both purchased licences to build the machine. The latter soon changed the plane's name from Etrich-Rumpler to simply Rumpler Taube, and ceased paying royalties to Etrich soon after. Eventually, with the lapse of Etrich's patent, the Taube was made by fourteen manufacturers, all without recompensing its designer.

Taube is German for "Dove, and a glance at the aircraft's plan view makes the reason obvious. The initial wing design was inspired by the seeds of the Javan cucumber, which can glide long distances when dropped from the parent tree. Etrich's first attempts were unsuccessful until he added a stabilising tail. The resulting format is essentially similar to that used by modern aircraft.

The Taube comes from an era when the "science" of flying consisted essentially of observing birds, as can be seen from the fan-shaped tail and scalloped wings.

The world's first bomb to be released from an aeroplane was dropped by Giulio Gavotti from an Etrich Taube.

By 1915 the Taube was already obsolete as a war machine, but its stability made it an excellent - if vulnerable - reconnaissance platform. It's in this capacity that it briefly takes the stage in The Larks. That one is almost certainly a Rumpler version, though the Taube was built by many manufacturers, including major German aircraft companies such as Albatros, Aviatik, Gotha and Halberstadt. Whatever their parent, they were almost always known as Rumplers or popularly (by the Allies at least) as "Rumpties"

My Picture

I confess that this one was slightly rushed and almost certainly inaccurate. The Taube was made by a great many manfucturers, all of whom seem to have made their own modifications. Many appear to have a six-cylinder engine, but I believe the original fitment was a four-cylinder Mercedes. This is the unit I've selected, but I had some difficulty finding good illustrations of its left-hand side. The routing of the exhausts is anyone's guess, so I've pointed them skyward and hoped for the best. The forward cowling is also a best-guess job.

The undercart also raised questions. Many appear to have no springing at all, which must have been tough on airframes. Photographs of D-ETRI, a flyable example, show some form of bungee arrangement above the wing; I've based my version on this.

I have no excuses to offer regarding the flying and static wires. They were rushed to make way for other work. One day I'll try to return and improve them.