A Brief History
On October 23, 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War, history saw the first use of airplanes for warfare purposes when an Italian airplane flew over Turkish positions as the first aerial reconnaissance mission by an airplane in history. Only 9 days later, on November 1, 1911, an Italian airplane dropped a bomb on Turkish troops, the first aerial bombardment in history. During this same conflict Italian pilots fired the first shots in anger from these planes, but only from pistols. All three of these milestones occurred in what is now Libya.
Digging Deeper
The aircraft involved was an Etrich Taube (“Dove”) single engine monoplane. Designed and built by Ignaz “Igo” Etrich, the Taube was first flown in 1910 and had become the common European military all purpose aircraft of the pre-World War I era, flown by several European countries and made in various locations. Etrich was born in Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire in 1879, and considered his nationality Austrian.
The Taube had nearly translucent wings, making it difficult to see from the ground when it was above 1200 feet or so, and its stable flight made for a good observation platform. Generally a one seat airplane, the Taube was manufactured by various companies in various countries and was modified in some (notably by Rumpler) to carry 2 people. Capable of an altitude of only 2000 meters and a speed of merely 62 mph, the Taube had no fixed armament. Should one desire to shoot from the plane, it would be with handheld pistols or rifles, and bombs were handheld devices as well. The engine driving the single propeller had an anemic 86 horsepower (which is 1 more than my 1985 Ford Mustang 4 cylinder!) The layout had the propeller in front of the front mounted engine, what in those days they called “tractor” type airplanes. Range was only 87 miles.
From this humble beginning World War I saw incredibly fast improvement and refinement of warplanes, with speeds doubling and special purpose planes built for reconnaissance, bombing, and shooting each other down. Machine guns were fixed onto the planes as were bomb racks, and multi-engine planes appeared. Of course during World War II warplane development continued at a feverish pace, resulting in the first jet and rocket powered airplanes to see combat, and the first nuclear bomb dropping aircraft. Today we may take warplanes for granted, but to illustrate just how recent this all is, I personally knew people that were born well before the Wright Brothers first flew an airplane! (My Grandparents and Great aunts and uncles.)
Question for students (and subscribers): Have you ever flown in a warplane? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="14823 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=14823">12 Comments
It’s amazing to think in 100 years the advancements we’ve made in military plane technology going from these single engine little planes to cargo planes and things like the fighter jets.
Just think how bulky and awkward those rifles/pistols must of been to carry with you and to shoot with all the way up in the sky. Early airplane history is kind strange due to the things that people did to use the planes to fight.
i dont think a pistol shooting at war craft basically could effect much, but that’s all to show how we still improved as of years.
The war places must have really only benefited for dropping bombs because shooting a pistol wouldn’t have done much and it wasn’t good for transportation if it only held 1-2 people.
Air crafts will forever and always make me nervous. I’m impressed that soldiers would actually get on them. I don’t trust them
I’ve never flown on an airplane!
The fact that they tried to shoot down a plane with a pistol shows how desperate they were.
Just take a moment to think of what the pistols and riffles look like now, then of what they looked like back then.
I can’t believe how quickly the airplane was turned into a war machine after the Wright brothers invented the airplane.
It is funny that soldiers used hand held weapons in these planes at one point.
It’s amazing before World War I we had aircraft.
I have actually never been on an airplane! It amazes me how advanced our knowledge and technology have become to create all of these planes, jets, etc.
I find this one of the most important pieces in the change of war times because they have come such a long way in inventions being introduced in combat.