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Old Man · 9 January 2006, 02:02 AM

At the start of the war, even when German aircrew carried side-arms, they were supposed to be used only for self defense in case of a forced landing.

Bombs were certainly carried at times, and they were not only hand dropped: racks were in existance, mostly I believe of the sort that held the missile in a cage upright, nose pointed down.

I do recall reading of a proposal originating before the war for equipping a Taube with a machine-gun, and the argument being advanced that the monoplane design offered dvantages for field of fire, but do not recall if any experiment was actually carried out. I have two books touching on the subject, and will hunt them up and try and provide more detail tomorrow.

On a side note, I believe that the Rumpler Taube was not so predominant in German service at the start of the war as is popularly supposed. Rumpler had great advantages of publicity due to a long legal battle with Etrich, an Austrian, over the design, and the name took on a generic quality in the public imagination. In any case, the Taubes did not last long in front-line service after the war began, and indeed were even before it started in the way of being phased out of active service.

9 January 2006, 02:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
Old Man Forum Ace Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 984	The Standard Armament Was No Armament, Sir At the start of the war, even when German aircrew carried side-arms, they were supposed to be used only for self defense in case of a forced landing. Bombs were certainly carried at times, and they were not only hand dropped: racks were in existance, mostly I believe of the sort that held the missile in a cage upright, nose pointed down. I do recall reading of a proposal originating before the war for equipping a Taube with a machine-gun, and the argument being advanced that the monoplane design offered dvantages for field of fire, but do not recall if any experiment was actually carried out. I have two books touching on the subject, and will hunt them up and try and provide more detail tomorrow. On a side note, I believe that the Rumpler Taube was not so predominant in German service at the start of the war as is popularly supposed. Rumpler had great advantages of publicity due to a long legal battle with Etrich, an Austrian, over the design, and the name took on a generic quality in the public imagination. In any case, the Taubes did not last long in front-line service after the war began, and indeed were even before it started in the way of being phased out of active service.