Invisible silent German aeroplane in 1914

[Dave Homewood]

A news report in the Grey River Argus and Blackball News from the 16th of July 1914 states the following:

"A Geman engineer named Knober living at Munster has invented a more or less invisible aeroplane which is considered in military circles as of considerable value for army purposes. In staed of having the ordinary cloth fabric or other visible material used for wings this particular aeroplane is constructed of a transperant variety of celluloid which is likewise stated to be fireproof. The wings thus made let the light through so that at a height of 3000 feet it is almost impossible to detect the aeroplane at all. The machine is also fitted with a silent motor. A further advantage is that the aviator has an unobstructed view in all directions."

So, was this for real? Or was it propaganda thrown up because of the start of the First World War?

[Romani]

Yes, it was real. There are even pictures. The British conducted similar experiments with celluloid. It worked fine, making the airplane very hard to spot when flying high... in a cloudy day, when sunlight illuminated the airplane, light glared off the celluloid surface making it very visible.

And about the silent motor, don't take it as a literal meaning, just that the exhaust had likely a muffler to reduce noise. They were the first stealth planes of history!

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Romani. I asked the same query today on my own Wings Over New Zealand forum but came here thinking the answer would more likely surface here. However some great replies on the NZ forum including photos of a stealth Taube have surfaced. Amazing.

I cannot post a link because the system won't allow it till I've made 10 posts here, but the thread is in the General Board at

h t t p : / / rnzaf . proboards . com (if you know what I mean...)

Thanks again.

[Gregvan]

As Romani says, the Germans did experiment with aircraft covered in "invisible" Cellon, a type of celluloid. I'm very surprised that the news was reported in July of 1914 - I was not aware that these experiments started that early. I've seen photos of a Fokker Eindecker, an Aviatik C.I 826/16 and even a gigantic R-plane, the Linke-Hofmann R.8/15, covered in Cellon. Most of these can be dated to 1916. So was this news announcement a lucky guess by British 'intelligence', or did these experiments begin earlier than we thought? Now that you mention it, I've seen that Taube too - maybe these experiments did start quite early.

According to Pete Grosz, "it was soon found that the intense reflection from Cellon served to increase visibility rather than decrease it. Another disadvantage was that Cellon shrinks or stretches according to the weather, thereby creating constant changes of trim. It rapidly turned yellow on exposure to sunlight...the Cellon tended to lose tautness in damp conditions and was subject to brittle rupture under stress."

Along with Romani, I wouldn't put too much credence in the 'silent' description.

[Gregvan]

Here's the Fokker Eindecker. The top surfaces of the wings, fuselage and tailplane were covered in Cellon too - they just don't appear that way because of the reflectivity and angle of the sunlight. It's an example of the highly reflective qualities mentioned before, perhaps.

[Piotr]

Here is link to German web page:

Unsichtbare Flugzeuge

BR

Piotr

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks everyone. The photo is great. It would be neat to see something like this recreated today, using safer modern materials of course.

[Sagittarius]

There's an interesting paragraph at Piotr's link:

"Insgesamt war diese Bespannung sehr stabil. Währe es allerdings infolge von Beschuss zu einem auch nur kleinen Loch gekommen, wäre diese Bespannung komplett aufgerissen. Somit wurde die Maschine als nicht sehr sicher eingestuft."

"All in all the wing covering was very stable. However would it be damaged even slightly by gunfire the whole covering would have been torn apart. Due to this the aircraft was classified as not very safe."

[rammjaeger]

So was this news announcement a lucky guess by British 'intelligence', or did these experiments begin earlier than we thought?

Greg,
it was not a real secret because a Cellon Company or Cellon Ltd. in London produced non-flammable sheets of cellon already in 1913 and a Sopwith Tabloid (for Australia) by H. G. Hawker was doped with Cellon in 1914.

Scientists and aviators in U.K., Germany, Russia and Austro-Hungaria worked with Cellon for wings and airframes or at least windows/cockpits and I bet the French knew it too.

VBR
Hannes

[bristol scout]

Originally Posted by rammjaeger

Greg,
it was not a real secret because a Cellon Company or Cellon Ltd. in London produced non-flammable sheets of cellon already in 1913 and a Sopwith Tabloid (for Australia) by H. G. Hawker was doped with Cellon in 1914.

Scientists and aviators in U.K., Germany, Russia and Austro-Hungaria worked with Cellon for wings and airframes or at least windows/cockpits and I bet the French knew it too.

VBR
Hannes

But I think you are mistaking 'Cellon' dope finish on Hawkers Tabloid---with clear 'Cellon' type material (as on the Fokker)---to the best of my knowledge the Tabloid was just clear doped linen finish----typical of the times. Of course some British aircraft used Cellon---as you are aware, in panels---like the Strutter ---- and the French on certain types.

Dave.