The DFS 230F was a military assault glider designed and built in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, by

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, to succeed the smaller

DFS 230 The DFS 230 was a German transport glider operated by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was developed in 1933 by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS - "German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight") with Hans Jacobs as the he ...

which it was only related to by name.

Design and development

After initial operations using the DFS 230, it became obvious to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

that a larger more capable assault glider would be desirable. The DFS 230 F was designed to fulfil that need, but in an atmosphere of political intransigence. The RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium - German Air Ministry), issued a directive in 1941 that no effort was to be spent designing a replacement for the rather dated

assault glider, in its weight class. Ing. Hünerjäger of

Gothaer Waggonfabrik ''Gothaer Waggonfabrik'' (''Gotha'', GWF) was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building. World War I In World War I, Got ...

(Gotha) believed that a great improvement on the DFS 230 could be achieved with an aircraft of similar dimensions designing what was named the DFS 230 V7 despite the ban. Gotha named their new design's prototype DFS 230 V7, production aircraft were to be designated DFS 230F-1, to deflect criticism for ignoring the ban on DFS 230 replacement. Generally similar in layout and construction to the DFS 230A, the DFS 230F was a larger machine capable of carrying almost double the weight of cargo of the base-line DFS 230A-1, as well as seating up to 15 troops, as opposed to seven. Construction of the DFS 230F was of welded-steel tube for the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

with wooden wings, control and tail surfaces, all

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...

or plywood skinned. The fuselage was provided with side doors and a removable roof panel to allow loading of bulky items. Control of the aircraft was by conventional elevator, ailerons, with large landing flaps to reduce landing speed and spoilers to adjust the approach angle. The undercarriage consisted of two main-wheels attached to the fuselage sides and a tail-skid. Completed in 1943 the DFS 230 V7 had a cargo hold measuring x x , a vast improvement on the DFS 230. Access to the hold was via large hatches in the fuselage sides and roof of the rear fuselage. For assault glider missions a crew of two would fly the aircraft with up to 11

Fallschirmjäger The ''Fallschirmjäger'' () were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first German paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. Throughout World War II, the commander ...

or up to of cargo in overload conditions. Despite successful flight trials no orders for production aircraft were forthcoming and only the prototype was built.

Variants

''Data from: ;(Gotha) DFS 230 V7 :The prototype of an assault glider in the same class as the DFS 230 (an altogether new design) ;(Gotha) DFS 230F-1 :The proposed production version

Specifications (DFS 230 V7)

Design and development

Variants

Specifications (DFS 230 V7)

See also

References

Further reading