Here it is... 

• The first strategic bomber ever used in combat. The "Terror Weapon" of the first World War.

• The first "Stealth" bomber. When painted with clear nitrate dope over linen, the plane was virtually transparent and was almost impossible to see against a clear sunny sky. It was the "invisible" bomber of W.W.I.

• The first plane to bomb Paris.  (It was so "reliable" the Parisians called it the "Six-O'clock-Taube" and in the afternoons would sit out in the outdoor restaurants and bars making bets as to where the two pathetic little 6 pound bombs the Taube carried would fall.)

• The first plane to bomb London.

• The plane that flew escort for the Zeppelin raids over England.

• The plane that set an altitude record of 23,000 feet in 1913.

• The plane that was so stable that the pilots used to climb out of the cockpit and lie on the wing and wave to the people on the ground while making great big circles around the field. (Theirs musta been made out of solid brass and clanked when they walked!!)

• Over 54 different variants were made and it flew throughout the whole war.

The Honest To God basis and inspiration for the Taube wing was the "flying seed" from the common tree. I've cut the seed pod from two of them in two and put the together in the image below.. Scary ain't it?

(To go to page 2, click here )

From the January 1918 issue of National Geographic came this photo sent to me by Butch Witlock, a fellow Nieuport builder.

(To go to page 2, click here )