Gotha G.VII

The G.VII was a conventional two-bay biplane design with tractor-mounted engines, and a conventional empennage with twin fins and rudders. The bombardier's position in the nose of the aircraft that had featured on earlier Gotha designs was removed, and the nose of the aircraft severely truncated and fitted with a streamlined nose-cone. This allowed the engines to be located further inboard than on previous designs, bringing them closer to the aircraft's centreline and therefore minimising the effects of asymmetric thrust in the event of an engine failure. The engine nacelles also featured careful streamlining.

The Idflieg ordered around 250 of these aircraft, 50 from Gotha and 50 from LVG, and 150 from Aviatik. At least some of the LVG and Aviatik machines had been completed before the Armistice, with some reaching operational service. One G.VII survived the war to see brief service with the Ukrainian Air Force before being impounded by Czechoslovakia and used by the Czechoslovakian air force for a short time.

• Gotha G.VII prototype - The original prototype with short nosed fuselage was intended for long-range photographic reconnaissance.

;{{flag|Austria-Hungary}}

• Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops

;{{CSK}}

• Czechoslovakian air force (one aircraft taken from Ukrainian Air Force)

;{{flagcountry|German Empire}}

• Luftstreitkrafte

;{{UKR}}

• Ukrainian Air Force (one aircraft)

{{Aircraft specs

|ref= Gray & Thetford, “German Aircraft of the First World War”

|prime units? = met

|crew=3

|length m=9.63

|length ft=31

|length in=7.1

|span m=19.27

|span ft=63

|span in=2.7

|height m= 3.51

|height ft= 11

|height in= 6

|wing area sqm= 63.8

|wing area sqft= 689

|empty weight kg=2,419

|empty weight lb=5,333

|gross weight kg=3,139

|gross weight lb=6,920

|eng1 number=2

|eng1 name=Mercedes D.IVa

|eng1 kw=194

|eng1 hp=260

|max speed kmh=180

|max speed mph=

|range km= 540

|range miles=340

|endurance=3 hours

|ceiling m=7,000

|ceiling ft=23,000

|climb rate ms= 2.6

|climb rate ftmin=

|armament = *1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum machine gun in dorsal ring mount

}}

{{aircontent

|see also=

|related=

• Gotha G.V
• Gotha G.VI
• Gotha G.VIII

|similar aircraft=

• Airco D.H.10 Amiens

|lists=

}}

• {{cite book |last1=Andersson |first1=Lennart |last2=Sanger |first2=Ray |title=Retribution and Recovery: German Aircraft and Aviation 1919 to 1922 |date=2014 |publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) |location=Staplefield, UK |isbn=978-0-85130-467-0|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|author1-last=Gray|author1-first=Peter|title=German Aircraft of the First World War|orig-year=1970|year=1987 |publisher=Putnam |location=London|isbn=0-85177-809-7|edition=2nd|author2-first=Owen|author2-last=Thetford|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book |last1=Herris |first1=Jack |title=Gotha Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes |date=2013 |publisher=Aeronaut Books |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-1-935881-14-8|series=Great War Aviation Centennial Series |volume=6}}
• {{cite book |last1=Metzmacher |first1=Andreas |title=Gotha Aircraft 1913–1954: From the London Bomber to the Flying Wing Jet Fighter |date=2021 |publisher=Fonthill |location=Brimscombe, Stroud |isbn=978-1-78155-706-8}}

{{commons category|Gotha G.VII}}

• [http://www.airwar.ru/enc/bww1/gothagl7.html Уголок неба]

{{Gotha aircraft}}

{{Idflieg G, GL, K, L and N-class designations}}

Category:1910s German bomber aircraft

G.VII

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1918

Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear

Category:Twin-engined piston aircraft