Gotha G.IV
heavy bomber aircraft model
The Gotha G.IV was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. It was the first mass-produced relatively large airplane.
Development
Experience with the earlier G.III showed that the rear gunner could not efficiently operate both the dorsal and ventral positions. Hans Burkhard's solution was the Gotha tunnel, a trough connecting an aperture in the upper decking with a large, triangular cross-section opening extending from the wing's trailing edge rearwards along the bottom of the rear fuselage. The Gotha tunnel allowed the dorsal gun to fire through the fuselage at targets below and behind the bomber. A ventral 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun could still be mounted, and there was provision for a fourth machine gun on a post between the pilot's and bombardier's cockpits, although this was rarely carried due to the weight penalty. The G.IV introduced other changes. The fuselage was fully skinned in plywood, eliminating the partial fabric covering of the G.III. Although it was not the reason for this modification, it was noted at the time that the plywood skinning enabled the fuselage to float for some time in the event of a water landing. Complaints of poor lateral control, particularly on landing, led to the addition of ailerons on the lower wing.
Production
In November 1916, Gothaer Waggonfabrik received a production order for 35 aircraft: this was subsequently increased to 50 in February 1917. A further 80 aircraft were ordered from Siemens-Schuckert Werke (SSW) and 100 from Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (LVG).
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This entry incorporates text from “Gotha G.IV” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.