Unknown

The aircraft known simply as “Unknown” was the sole product of a brief venture undertaken by Theodor Kober, the pioneering German aeronautical engineer best known for his work with Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. In the spring of 1910 Kober left the Zeppelin works to explore heavier‑than‑air concepts, and he commissioned a single‑seat, tractor‑propeller monoplane that he named “Unknown” to emphasize its experimental nature. Built at a modest workshop in Friedrichshafen, the aircraft featured a wooden frame covered with doped linen, a 45 kW (60 hp) Mercedes inline engine driving a two‑bladed propeller, and a distinctive wing design with a slight dihedral and full‑length ailerons that foreshadowed later German fighter layouts. Despite its modest size, the Unknown achieved a recorded flight of 12 km at an altitude of 500 m on 22 June 1910, marking one of the first successful transitions for Kober from rigid airship construction to powered flight. Although only one example was built and the project was abandoned in favor of Kober’s return to Zeppelin, the Unknown demonstrated the feasibility of combining lightweight structures with reliable propulsion, influencing subsequent German monoplane development and cementing Kober’s reputation as a versatile aircraft designer.

Theodor Kober

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