Gotha WD.8
| WD.8 | |
|---|---|
| |
| A forward oblique view of the WD.8 | |
| Role | Maritime reconnaissance aircraft |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Gothaer Waggonfabrik |
| First flight | 1916 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Gotha WD.8 (Wasser Doppeldecker - "Water Biplane") was a single-engine maritime patrol floatplane developed during World War I by Gothaer Waggonfabrik for the Imperial German Navy's (Kaiserliche Marine) Naval Air Service (Marine-Fliegerabteilung). The WD.8 was a single-engine version of the WD.7 developed for comparative purposes. The single prototype built was deemed "totally unsuitable" by the Naval Air Service and was later sold to the Ottoman Empire.
Design and description[edit]
The airframe of the WD.7 was used to create the WD.8 reconnaissance floatplane, substituting a single water-cooled 240-horsepower (180 kW) Maybach Mb.IVa straight-six engine in the nose for the two wing-mounted 120-horsepower (89 kW) engines of the earlier aircraft.
History[edit]
Specifications[edit]
Data from Gotha Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes;[1] German Aircraft of the First World War[2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)
- Upper wingspan: 16 m (52 ft 6 in)
- Lower wingspan: 14.8 m (48 ft 7 in)
- Height: 4.1 m (13 ft 5 in)
- Wing area: 55.5 m2 (597 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 1,254 kg (2,765 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,778 kg (3,920 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Maybach Mb.IVa water-cooled straight-six engine, 180 kW (240 hp)
- Propellers: 2-bladed
Performance
- Maximum speed: 138 km/h (86 mph, 75 kn)
- Range: 480 km (300 mi, 260 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 4,500 m (14,800 ft)
- Time to altitude: 6.5 minutes to 1,000 m (3,300 ft)
- 25 minutes to 2,500 m (8,200 ft)
Armament
- Guns: 1 × fixed, forward-firing 7.92 mm (0.312 in) Parabellum MG 14 machine gun
- 1 x 7.92 mm Parabellum MG 14 in the rear cockpit
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen (1987) [1970]. German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
- Herris, Jack (2013). Gotha Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 6. Charleston, South Carolina: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-14-8.
- Metzmacher, Andreas (2021). Gotha Aircraft 1913–1954: From the London Bomber to the Flying Wing Jet Fighter. Brimscombe, Stroud: Fonthill. ISBN 978-1-78155-706-8.
- Nowarra, Heinz J.; Robertson, Bruce & Cooksley, Peter G. (1966). Marine Aircraft of the 1914–1918 War. Letchworth, UK: Harleyford Publications. OCLC 123198808.
- Schmeelke, Michael (2018). Zeebrugge: Naval Air Station Flanders I 1914–1918. Reno, Nevada: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-46-9.