Etrich Taube (replica)

The Taube’s wing design is based on the zanonia tree seed pod, which drifts through the air for great distances.
Igo Etrich studied Otto Lilienthal’s gliders, bird wings, and flying foxes before deciding to model his airplane’s wings after the zanonia tree seedpod from Java, based on a theory held by Dr. Fredrich Ahlborn, a German botanist, that the dried zanonia seed was the perfect aerodynamic form.

First produced for sporting purposes, Taubes were later used for observation and training by Germany and Austro-Hungary during World War I. Ironically, the Taube (meaning dove, the symbol of peace) was the first to drop bombs in war—on the Balkans in 1911 and Paris in 1914.