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The Gotha WD.7 (for ''Wasser Doppeldecker'' - "Water
After the pusher WD.3 was not accepted by the Imperial German Navy, Gotha turned to a new layout that would keep the aircraft's nose free for forward-firing weapons. The WD.7 therefore, was a conventional biplane with twin engines mounted tractor-fashion on the leading edge of the lower wing. Eight examples were built for use as trainers for torpedo bombing. During 1917, two of these aircraft were used for testing a 37 mm (1.46 in) autocannon built by DWM.
The same airframe was used to create the WD.8 reconnaissance floatplane, substituting the twin wing-mounted engines with a single Maybach Mb.IVa in the nose.
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
") was a reconnaissance floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
developed in the German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
during World War I.
Development
After the pusher WD.3 was not accepted by the Imperial German Navy, Gotha turned to a new layout that would keep the aircraft's nose free for forward-firing weapons. The WD.7 therefore, was a conventional biplane with twin engines mounted tractor-fashion on the leading edge of the lower wing. Eight examples were built for use as trainers for torpedo bombing. During 1917, two of these aircraft were used for testing a 37 mm (1.46 in) autocannon built by DWM.
The same airframe was used to create the WD.8 reconnaissance floatplane, substituting the twin wing-mounted engines with a single Maybach Mb.IVa in the nose.
Variants
;WD.7:twin-engine torpedo bomber trainer floatplane, powered by two Mercedes D.II. ;WD.8:single-engine reconnaissance floatplane, powered by aMaybach Mb.IV
The Maybach Mb.IV, originally designated Maybach HS, (only related to the Mb IVa by layout and size), was a six cylinder in-line piston engine of output, originally developed for use in airships. It was also used for large aircraft such as the Ze ...
.
Specifications (WD.7)
References
Further reading
* * * {{Gotha aircraft 1910s German military trainer aircraft Floatplanes WD.07 Biplanes Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1915