Gotha Go 145

On 2 October 1933 the Gotha aircraft company was re-established. The first aircraft manufactured was the Gotha Go 145,Kay and Smith, p.115 a two-seat biplane designed by Dipl-Ing Albert Kalkert made out of wood with a fabric covering. The Go 145 featured fixed landing gear and was powered by an Argus As 10C inverted V8 air-cooled engine fitted with a two-blade fixed-pitch propeller. The first prototype took to the air in February 1934, and was followed by a production model, the Gotha Go 145A, with controls in both cockpits for trainee and instructor.

In 1935, the Go 145 started service with Luftwaffe training units. The aircraft proved a successful design and production of the Go 145 was taken up by other companies, including AGO, Focke-Wulf and BFW. Licensed versions were also manufactured in Spain and Turkey. The Spanish version, called the CASA 1145-L actually remained in service until long after World War II.

Ignoring prototypes, 1,182 Go 145s were built in Germany for Luftwaffe service. An unknown number of license-produced Go 145s were also built. Further development of the aircraft was done. The Gotha Go 145B was fitted with an enclosed cockpit and wheel spats (an aerodynamic wheel housing on fixed-gear). The Go 145C was developed for gunnery training and was fitted with a single 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 15 machine gun in the rear cockpit, requiring removal of that cockpit's flight controls. The Go 145D was fitted with a {{cvt|240|hp}} Argus As 410 engine.{{Sfn | Munson | 1978 | p = 68}}

By 1942, the Soviet Union began using obsolete aircraft such as the Polikarpov Po-2 to conduct night harassment missions against the Germans. Noting the success of the raids, the Germans began conducting their own night harassment missions with obsolete aircraft on the Eastern Front. In December 1942, the first Störkampfstaffel (harassment squadron) was established and equipped with Gotha Go 145 and Arado Ar 66 training biplanes. The night harassment units were successful and by October 1943 there were six night harassment squadrons equipped with Gotha Go 145s.

Also in October 1943, the Störkampfstaffeln were brought together into larger Nachtschlachtgruppe (NSGr) (night ground attack group, literally night battle group) units of either three or four squadrons each. In March 1945 Nachtschlachtgruppe 5 had 69 Gotha Go 145's on strength of which 52 were serviceableBishop, p.182 while Nachtschlachtgruppe 3 in the Courland Pocket had 18 Gotha Go 145's on strength of which 16 were serviceable.Bishop, p.183 When the war in Europe ended on 8–9 May 1945 the Gotha Go 145 equipped the majority of the Nachtschlachtgruppen.

• {{flag|Austria}}: Austrian Air Force – 12 aircraft delivered in 1937Haubner, F. Die Flugzeuge der Österreichischen Luftstreitkräfte vor 1938. H Weishaupt Verlag, Graz, 1982
• {{CZS}}: Czechoslovak Air Force (postwar)
• {{flag|Nazi Germany|name=Germany}}: Luftwaffe
• {{ROU}}: Royal Romanian Air Force
• {{flag|Slovakia|1939}}: Slovak Air Force (1939–1945) 30 supplied{{Sfn|Munson|1978|p=68}}
• {{flag|Spain}}: Spanish Air Force
• {{flag|Turkey}}: Turkish Air Force – First three samples were brought over from Germany, and then 43 of them were produced under license at KTF (Kayseri Aeroplane Factory) between 1936 and 1939. They had replaced Caudron C.59s. They were in service until 1947. Turkish models were armed with two 7.92mm MGs. Starting in 1943 they were all replaced by Miles Magisters.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tayyareci.com/ |title=TAYYARECİ-TÜRKİYENİN GERÇEK HAVACILIK SİTESİ www.tayyareci.com |access-date=2021-09-30 |archive-date=2009-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421062756/http://www.tayyareci.com/ |url-status=dead}}

• Gotha Go 145A – Museum für Verkehr und Technik. Berlin, Germany.
• Gotha Go 145A – Norsk Luftfartssenter. Bodø, Norway.

Both examples are badly damaged and are in storage.

File:Gotha_Go.145_3-view_L'Aerophile_August_1937.jpg

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=German aircraft of the Second World War {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=J. Richard |last2=Kay |first2=Anthony L. |title=German aircraft of the Second World War |date=1989 |publisher=Putnam |location=london |isbn=9780933852976 |edition=7th impression Rev. |pages=215–216}}

|prime units?=met

|crew=2

|length m=8.7

|length note=

|span m=9

|span note=

|height m=2.9

|height note=

|wing area sqm=21.75

|wing area note=

|aspect ratio=

|airfoil=

|empty weight kg=800

|empty weight note=

|gross weight kg=1380

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|max takeoff weight kg=

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|fuel capacity=

|more general=

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name=Argus As 10

|eng1 type=V-8 inverted air-cooled piston engine

|eng1 kw=179

|eng1 note=

|prop blade number=2

|prop name=fixed-pitch propeller

|prop dia m=

|prop dia note=

|max speed kmh=212

|max speed note=at sea level

|cruise speed kmh=180

|cruise speed note=

• Landing speed: {{cvt|90|km/h|mph kn}}

|stall speed kmh=

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|never exceed speed kmh=

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|range km=630

|range note=

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|endurance=

|ceiling m=3700

|ceiling note=

|g limits=

|roll rate=

|climb rate ms=

|climb rate note=

|time to altitude={{cvt|1000|m}} in 5 minutes 30 seconds

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{{Aircontent

|related=

|similar aircraft=

• Bü 131
• Levente II
• Polikarpov Po-2

|see also=

}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• Bishop, C. Luftwaffe Squadrons, 1939–1945. Amber Books, 2006.
• Donald, D. (ed.) Warplanes of the Luftwaffe: Combat aircraft of Hitler’s Luftwaffe, 1933–1945. Aerospace Publishing, 2001.
• Gerdessen, Frederik. "Estonian Air Power 1918 – 1945". Air Enthusiast, No. 18, April – July 1982. pp. 61–76. {{ISSN|0143-5450}}.
• Green, William. Warplanes of the Third Reich. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd., 1970 (fourth impression 1979). {{ISBN|0-356-02382-6}}.
• {{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}}
• {{cite book |last = Munson |first = Kenneth |title = German Aircraft Of World War 2 in colour |location = Poole, Dorsett, UK |publisher = Blandford Press |year = 1978 |isbn = 0-7137-0860-3}}
• Nowarra, Heinz J. Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 (in German). Koblenz, Germany: Bernard & Graeffe Verlag, 1993. {{ISBN|3-7637-5464-4}}.
• Wood, Tony and Gunston, Bill. Hitler's Luftwaffe: A pictorial history and technical encyclopedia of Hitler's air power in World War II. London: Salamander Books Ltd., 1977. {{ISBN|0-86101-005-1}}.

{{Gotha aircraft}}

{{RLM aircraft designations}}

{{Czech trainer aircraft}}

{{Spanish trainer aircraft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotha Go 145}}

Category:1930s German military trainer aircraft

Go 145

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Biplanes

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1934