Deutsche Flugzeugwerke B-1 "Flying Banana"
Model Airplane News Cover Art for August, 1963
by Jo Kotula
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The DFW B.I (factory designation MD 14), was one of the earliest German aircraft to see service during World War I, and one of the numerous "B-class" unarmed, two-seat observation biplanes of the German military in 1914, but with a distinctive appearance that easily separated it from any other aircraft of its class. Though a biplane, its wing planform was inspired by that of the earlier Rumpler "Taube" (Ger: "Dove") monoplane, designed by Igo Etrich, who also designed a variety of crescent-winged airplanes as follow-ons to the Taube. It was the wing shape that led to the DFW aircraft being named the Fliegende Banane (Ger: "Flying Banana") by its pilots.

Remembered by History as a Wreck

  

Rumpler-Etrich Taube
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This airplane may not have been a big success -- the only extant photos of it are as a wreck. We have included photos of the monoplane "Taube" to give you a feel for the DFW B-1. Here is a video of Taube in action, as there seems to be no footage of the DFW B-1:

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