Development of Military Aviation in Germany Prior to World War I

From OnAirpower.org

[edit] Notes

Within the Prussian Military there were three main organizations, each independent of the other, that influenced the development of aviation: the Prussian War Ministry, the General Staff, and the Inspectorate of Transport Troops. The War Ministry controlled the budget, and hence had the largest direct influence on the development of aviation. Its Engineering Department oversaw aviation-related issues. The Prussian General Staff assigned responsibilities for overseeing aviation to its Engineering and Fortress Department. The Inspectorate of Transport Troops had a Research Unit and an Airship Battalion, both of which had been working on balloon and airship development since the 1890s^[1].

The Prussian Army's first opportunity to experiment with heavier-than-air flight came in 1906 when the Wright Brothers offered to sell one of their machines to the Prussian War Ministry. The War Ministry rejected the offer, since they believed that the airship--which at the time surpassed the airplane in range, speed, and payload capacity--was the key to airpower^[1].

Developments in France and America nevertheless prompted the War Ministry to commission the Motor Airship Study Company, a private firm that had been working with the Army on airship development, to study aircraft projects. The General Staff took more direct action by encouraging the Ludwig Loewe armaments company to acquire the rights to the Wright Brothers' patents, but no agreement was reached. In August, 1907, the Wrights again offered their airplane to the Prussian War Ministry through the Motor Airship Study Company for either a flat fee of one million marks or for a license fee on each airplane produced for the next seventeen years. The War Ministry viewed the price as excessive for the military value that the machine offered, and again rejected the offer^[1].