The Taube was first constructed in 1909-1910 by Austrian

Igo Etrich Ignaz "Igo" Etrich (25 December 1879 – 4 February 1967) was an Austrians, Austrian flight pioneer, pilot and fixed-wing aircraft developer. Education Etrich was born on Christmas Day 1879 in the Upper Old Town of Trutnov, Kingdom of Bohemia, ...

and later developed into a two-seater military aircraft in 1912. Many Taubes were built under licence by a wide array of manufacturers but most were produced by the

Rumpler Flugzeugwerke Rumpler-Luftfahrzeugbau GmbH, Rumpler-Werke, usually known simply as Rumpler was a German aircraft and automobile manufacturer. History Founded in Berlin by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler in 1909 as Rumpler Luftfahrzeugbau.Gunston 1993, p. ...

. By 1912 the design had evolved to a 2-seater reconnaissance aircraft for military use Built by Rumpler as a 2-seat Taube floatplane, ''Start'' was the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

's very first

aeroplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...

, bought in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and arriving in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

on 25 May 1912, at a cost of 30,000

Norwegian kroner The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is the currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including List of possessions of Norway, overseas territories and dependencies). It was t ...

. Funding came from private contributions after a speedy initiative from the commander and officers of the submarine HNoMS ''Kobben'', Norway's first submarine; one of the largest contributors was H.M. King

Haakon VII of Norway Haakon VII (; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was King of Norway from 18 November 1905 until his death in 1957. The future Haakon VII was born in Copenhagen as Prince Carl of Denmark. He was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess ...

. The first flight was made on 1 June 1912Official Norwegian Defense Force website
History of the Royal Norwegian Air Force
by ''Secondløytnant'' Hans Fleischer Dons (who was also second in command on the

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

HNoMS Kobben). He took off from Gannestad in

Borre Municipality Borre is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1988. Borre was merged with Horten in 1988, and the new municipality bore the name Borre until after a public referendum reg ...

, flew over

Karljohansvern Karjohansvern (''Karljohansvern Orlogsstasjon, KJV'') at Horten was the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1850 to 1963. Background In 1818, it was decided to establish a naval base in Horten. It was first called ''Hortens verft'', ...

naval station A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

and

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

before landing in Øra, not far from

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

. The flight was long and took 35 minutes. Dons was congratulated by both the King and the

Government of Norway The Council of State () is a formal body composed of the most senior government minister (government), ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of Norway, Prime Minister, and functions as the collective decision-making organ constituting the Go ...

. Start was officially given as a gift to the navy on 1 August 1912 and is today displayed at the

Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection (''Forsvarets flysamling Gardermoen'') is a military aviation museum located at Gardermoen, north of Oslo in Akershus, Akershus county, Norway. The founding of the Norwegian Aviation Historical Society i ...

Operators

; *

Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service () was alongside the Norwegian Army Air Service the forerunner to the modern-day Royal Norwegian Air Force. History The RNNAS was established on 1 June 1912,Official Norwegian Defence Force websiteThe first ...

Specifications (Rumpler Taube)

References

Royal Norwegian Navy history page

Royal Norwegian Air Force history page

Royal Norwegian Air Force history page
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service {{mil-aviation-stub