Glider and cargo plane: Gotha Go 242 Go 244
Gotha Go 242 Go 244. A Gotha Go 242 A-1 glider towed by a Heinkel He 111 H bomber over the Mediterranean Sea.
The rapid development of the German parachute troops required the aviation industry to provide appropriate flight equipment - both transport and airborne transport gliders. While the DFS 230 met the requirements for an air assault glider, which was supposed to deliver fighters with equipment and personal weapons directly to the target, its low carrying capacity did not allow it to effectively supply its own units with additional equipment and supplies necessary for combat operations. Effective combat in enemy territory. For this type of task, it was necessary to create a larger airframe with a large payload.
The new airframe, the Gotha Go 242, was built by the Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG, abbreviated as GWF (Gotha Carriage Joint Stock Company), founded on July 1, 1898 by engineers Botmann and Gluck. Initially, the factories were engaged in the construction and production of locomotives, wagons and railway accessories. The Aviation Production Department (Abteilung Flugzeugbau) was founded on February 3, 1913, and eleven weeks later the first aircraft was built there: a two-seat tandem-seat biplane trainer designed by Eng. Bruno Bluchner. Shortly thereafter, GFW began licensing the Etrich-Rumpler LE 1 Taube (dove). These were double, single-engine and multi-purpose monoplane aircraft. After the production of 10 copies of LE 1, improved versions of LE 2 and LE 3, which were created by eng. Franz Boenisch and eng. Bartel. In total, the Gotha plant produced 80 Taube aircraft.
After the outbreak of the First World War, two extremely talented engineers, Karl Rösner and Hans Burkhard, became the heads of the design bureau. Their first joint project was the modification of the French Caudron G III reconnaissance aircraft, previously licensed by the GWF. The new aircraft received the designation LD 4 and was produced in the amount of 20 copies. Then Rösner and Burkhard created several small reconnaissance and naval aircraft, built in small series, but their real career began on July 27, 1915 with the flight of the first Gotha GI twin-engine bomber, which at that time was joined by Eng. Oscar Ursinus. Their joint work was the following bombers: Gotha G.II, G.III, G.IV and GV, who became famous for participating in long-range raids on targets located in the British Isles. The air raids did not cause serious material damage to the British war machine, but their propaganda and psychological impact was very great.
In the beginning, Gotha's factories employed 50 people; by the end of the First World War, their number increased to 1215, and during this time the company produced more than 1000 aircraft.
Under the Treaty of Versailles, factories in Gotha were prohibited from starting and continuing any aircraft-related production. For the next fifteen years, until 1933, GFW produced locomotives, diesel engines, wagons and railway equipment. As a result of the coming to power of the National Socialists on October 2, 1933, the aviation production department was disbanded. Dipl.-eng. Albert Kalkert. The first contract was the licensed production of Arado Ar 68 training aircraft. Later Heinkel He 45 and He 46 reconnaissance aircraft were assembled in Gotha. Meanwhile, Eng. Calkert designed the Gotha Go 145 two-seat trainer, which flew in February 1934. The aircraft proved to be extremely successful; In total, at least 1182 copies were produced.
At the end of August 1939, work began at Goth's design office on a new transport glider that could carry a larger volume of cargo without the need for disassembly. The head of the development team was Dipl.-Ing. Albert Kalkert. The original design was completed on October 25, 1939. The new airframe had to have a bulky fuselage with a tail boom located on its back and a large cargo hatch installed in the upturned bow.
After conducting theoretical studies and consultations in January 1940, it was determined that the cargo hatch located in the forward fuselage would be at particular risk of damage and jamming when landing in an unknown, unprecedented terrain, which could interfere with the unloading of equipment. carried on board. It was decided to move the cargo door that leans upwards to the end of the fuselage, but this turned out to be impossible due to the tail boom with keels at the end placed there. The solution was quickly found by one of the team members, Ing. Laiber, who proposed a new tail section with a double beam connected at the end by a rectangular horizontal stabilizer. This allowed the loading hatch to be folded up freely and safely, and also provided enough space for loading off-road vehicles such as the Volkswagen Type 82 Kübelwagen, a heavy infantry gun of 150 mm caliber or a 105 mm caliber field howitzer.
The finished project was presented in May 1940 to representatives of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM - Reich Aviation Ministry). Initially, officials of the Technisches Amt des RLM (Technical Department of the RLM) preferred the competing design of the Deutscher Forschunsanstalt für Segelflug (German Gliding Research Institute), designated DFS 331. Due to the successful combat debut of the DFS 230 landing craft, the DFS initially had a much better chance to win the competition. In September 1940, the RLM placed an order for three DFS 1940 prototypes and two Go 331 prototypes to be delivered by November 242 to compare performance and performance.
