Gotha WD.8
{{Short description|German reconnaissance floatplane World War I, 1915}}
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
|name=WD.8 |image=Gotha WD.8.jpg |caption=A forward oblique view of the WD.8 }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type |type=Maritime reconnaissance aircraft |national origin=Germany |manufacturer={{lang|de|Gothaer Waggonfabrik}} |designer= |first flight=1916 |introduced= |retired= |status= |primary user= |variants with their own articles= |produced= |number built=1 }} |
The Gotha WD.8 ({{lang|de|Wasser Doppeldecker}} - "Water Biplane") was a single-engine maritime patrol floatplane developed during World War I by {{lang|de|Gothaer Waggonfabrik}} for the Imperial German Navy's ({{lang|de|Kaiserliche Marine}}) Naval Air Service ({{lang|de|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
The airframe of the WD.7 was used to create the WD.8 reconnaissance floatplane, substituting a single water-cooled {{convert|240|hp|adj=on}} Maybach Mb.IVa straight-six engine in the nose for the two wing-mounted {{convert|120|hp|adj=on}} engines of the earlier aircraft.
History
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Gotha Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes;Herris, p. 48 German Aircraft of the First World WarGray & Thetford, p. 401
|prime units?=met
|genhide=
|crew=2
|capacity=
|length m=11.2
|length ft=
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|span m=
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|upper span m=16
|upper span ft=
|upper span in=
|upper span note=
|lower span m=14.8
|lower span ft=
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|lower span note=
|height m=4.1
|height ft=
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|height note=
|wing area sqm=55.5
|wing area sqft=
|wing area note=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=1254
|empty weight lb=
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=1778
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|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Maybach Mb.IVa
|eng1 type=water-cooled straight-six engine
|eng1 hp=240
|prop blade number=2
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|max speed kmh=138
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|range km=480
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|ceiling m=4500
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|time to altitude=6.5 minutes to {{cvt|1000|m}}
- 25 minutes to {{cvt|2500|m}}
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|guns= 1 × fixed, forward-firing {{cvt|7.92|mm}} Parabellum MG 14 machine gun
- 1 x 7.92 mm Parabellum MG 14 in the rear cockpit
|bombs=
}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
{{Commons category multi|Gotha WD.8}}
- {{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}}
- {{cite book |last1= Nowarra |first1=Heinz J.|last2=Robertson|first2=Bruce|last3=Cooksley|first3=Peter G. |title=Marine Aircraft of the 1914–1918 War |publisher=Harleyford Publications |location=Letchworth, UK|name-list-style=amp |year=1966|oclc=123198808}}
- {{cite book |last1=Schmeelke |first1=Michael |title=Zeebrugge: Naval Air Station Flanders I 1914–1918 |date=2018 |publisher=Aeronaut Books |location=n. p. |isbn=978-1-935881-46-9 | ref=none}}
{{Gotha aircraft}}
Category:1910s German military reconnaissance aircraft