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Gotha WD.8

German reconnaissance floatplane World War I, 1915

WD.8
A forward oblique view of the WD.8
Role	Maritime reconnaissance aircraft Type of 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 IbyGothaer 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]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gotha WD.8.

• 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. n. p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-46-9.