Copyright 2011 by Brandon Cope

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Gotha 242 medium transport glider

The Gotha Go 242 entered service in 1942, as the DFS 230 (p.W:HS26) had insufficient cargo and troop capacity. The Go 242 used twin tail booms, which allowed a hinged door at the rear of the fuselage with a loading ramp. It could carry 21 troops or 4.25 tons of cargo. The bay was large enough to hold a Kubelwagen (p.W:IC72) or light artillery piece. Just over 1,500 were built, with a bit under 10% converted to powered transports. It was usually towed by a He 111 (p.W:TFH52) and was primarily used on the Eastern Front, North Africa and the Balkans. Some were also used by Romania. The Go 242 was only rarely used for assaults; it's main use was to reinforce and resupply units in the field.

The Go 242B-3 had a crew of two, pilot and co-pilot.

Subassemblies: Light Bomber chassis +4, Heavy FB Wings +3, one skid +2.
Powertrain: None.
Occupancy: 2 CS, 21 PS Cargo: 19.5 Body.

Armor
Body/Wings: 2/2C
Wheels/Skid:  2/3

Equipment
Body: Medium radio receiver and transmitter, navigation instruments.

Statistics

HT: 11.
HPs: 375 Body, 225 each Wing, 105 Skid.

Glide Ratio 7.3:1. Maximum towing speed 149 mph.
* Variable depending on the towing aircraft.

Design Notes
The historical wing area (693 square feet) has been used. Wing HP, cost and weight were halved.

Stats assume the glider is carrying passengers. With maximum cargo (2 tons), aMR 5, Stall 66, Lwt 7.9 tons.

The glider had an optional armament of up to four MG 15's (Aircraft LMGs).

Sources disagree as to how many troops were carried, ranging from 20-23. Room certainly could have been made for a couple more men.

Variants
Most variants were the same in game terms, usually optimized for passenger or cargo carrying. The B-5 had dual controls to act as a trainer. The C-1 had a waterproof boat-type hull for water landings; none were used operationally

The Go 242 fitted two 522-kW engines (from captured French stock) in pods at the front of each tail boom, with 81 gallons of fuel carried in the booms. Fixed tricycle landing gear was fitted. Empty and loaded weight was 2 tons heavier than the Go 242. Some 130 were converted from existing Go 242's with another 40 built new.