9 July 1913

Franz Oster purchased a Taube monoplane from Rumpler in Berlin in 1912 and shipped it to Tsingtau, China where he reassembled it with the help of Chinese workers. The first flight over that city came on July 9, 1913 and was celebrated with great enthusiasm by the Tsingtau newspapers: "a dazzling flight over Tsingtau was executed this morning by Herr Oster in his new machine…. After a successful start, he soon reached a height of 490 meters and continued in a big circle climbing another 600 meters….The achievement is even more remarkable since Herr Oster built his machine all by himself without any expert help." More exhibition flights followed in the following weeks.