After the success of the 1940 airborne assaults involving the DFS 230, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM/German Aviation Ministry) invited the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug/DFS and Gotha to submit plans for a larger capacity glider.[2] The result was the DFS 231, a twenty-seat troop designed by Hans Jacobs, who had previously produced the successful, nine seat DFS 230.[3]
The visibility from the cockpit was good, with the entire nose being glazed, and the body was very wide, allowing it to carry light Flak guns and small military vehicles. A single prototype, the V1, was built and flown in 1941. The best glide ratio, at fully loaded weight, was 17.5.[2] The project was passed over in favour of the Gotha Go 242.[3]
^ abWood, Alan (1990). History of the World's Glider Forces. Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN978-1-85260-275-8.
^Nowarra, Heinz J. (1993). Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 : Band 1 Flugzeugtypen AEG - Dornier. Vol. 1. Germany: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. pp. 167–168, 244–245. ISBN978-3-7637-5465-6.
^Nowarra, Heinz J. (1991). German gliders in World War II. West Chester, PA: Schiffer. pp. 20–23, 47. ISBN0887403581.
