Another familiar type, the Etrich monoplane, is on the lines of the German bird-shape design. The wing-shaped supporting planes have upturned wing tips at the back, which are flexed up and down for the purpose of lateral stability. The back part of the tail planes is also moveable, and can be flexed for elevating.

The Germans also have large numbers of the well-known Albatross biplanes and various monoplanes of the Taube design, and also many waterplanes of the Albatross type. An interesting feature of these machines is the fact that they are all double seated with the exception of the Argo type of monoplane.

The swiftly dashing scouting monoplane did not at first find favour with the enemy, but the war has brought many sudden and sweeping changes, and, following the much-vaunted Fokker, we learn of a German machine able to attain the astonishing speed of 120 miles an hour!

The Albatross, a much used type of German machine, was first made at Johnnisthal, near Berlin (about 200 of these machines were made in 1913). Mercedes motors are fitted, capable of attaining a high speed.

In the Rumpler monoplane, another well-known German type, the wings are again in the shape of a dove’s wings, the ends being flexible. ‘The stability of the apparatus,’ writes a well-known authority, ‘is assured both by the shape of the wings and their flexibility. It is at once a combination of the inherent stability type and the depending on the warping of surfaces.’

The Rumpler biplane, as in the case of the Aviatik, is remarkable for the space provided for the pilot and observer. In this case also the fuselage is strongly protected. The upper plane varies from that of the majority of German machines; it is not made to move in the centre. There is a short moveable central plane, attached to the fuselage by four tubes. The other planes are fixed to this central plane.

The Rumpler monoplane is shown, together with other German designs, including the Gotha monoplane, in a diagram issued in the early part of the war by the French War Office, bearing the words: German Aeroplanes. Fire on these machines. (See page 41.)