This readme has been kindly compiled and put together by a friend, FSAviator, who has sifted through a number of different sources that are often contradictory or inexact, and sometimes controversial.
Some sources have classified the Grossflugzeug as a total technological failure due to its shortcomings, and others regard it as a technological wonder, ahead of its time. The causes for the frequent landing accidents are also a fountain of endless controversy.
This article is an attempt to put the aircraft into its historical context, a time of war and suffering, where there was no previous large-aircraft technology to rely on, and any new development was a risky and often dangerous experiment.
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The Gotha G.II Grossflugzeug
============================ by FSAviator - Nov 2002.
Introduction.
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In order to create the FS2002 flight dynamics for this aircraft I first had to research its technical evolution in some detail. All too often FS2002 lacks a context for flight operations so during that process I also made notes about their general development, usage and deployment. Of course this brief history is only as accurate as the dozen or so German and British sources I consulted during my flight model research. None of the historians upon whose research this account ultimately relies was present at the time and opinions concerning certain 'facts' are still disputed.
The Manufacturer.
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Gothaer Waggonfabrik, as the name implies, were a pre war manufacturer of railway rolling stock. In the pioneer days of aviation they founded and ran the Duke Karl Edward flying school and eventually aquired a license to build popular light aircraft, particularly of the Etrich Taube monoplane variety for general sale, and from 1914 for military use. The quality of construction was noted to be high.
Gotha G.II Grossflugzeug, the first Gotha own design.
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The early Gotha G.1 Ursinus Grosskampfflugzeug could not reach England from Ostend, and was in reality slow, hard to manoeuvre and vulnerable when confronted by true fighters.
As a result, Gotha decided to design their own Grossflugzeug. Their head of landplane design, the Swiss engineer, Hans Burkhardt hired in October 1914 was charged with designing a Grossflugzeug which was easier to build, powered by more powerful engines, with bigger bombload and longer range. It was also designed for easy disassembly and carriage by rail between the Western, Eastern and Balkan fronts, for at this time no aeroplane would attempt to fly such distances. Each aircraft required three flatcars. For maximum strength the engine, fuel tanks and landing gear were a single unit inserted into the wing from behind. Burkhardt's design would become the Gotha G-II. The Gotha G-II owed little to the G-I derived from the Ursinus, which Burkhardt detested. Unlike the G-I it was designed from the outset as a bomber with no pretensions to being a 'battleplane'. It was intended to replace the G-I in Belgium, and whilst it is possible that some G-IIs served on the Western front it is likely that they flew combat operations only from Bulgaria.
The observer, who was also the aircraft captain and always an officer, sat in the front cockpit. He still had a Parabellum gun, but was not a trained air gunner. Now the role was bombing, not reconnaissance, he was less likely to have come from the cavalry and he would be a semi-trained navigator with previous aircraft command experience. Behind him now sat the Helmsman, who would be a Warrant Officer or Sergeant and an experienced pilot. He now had a much improved view ahead. Behind the wing, badly battered by the propwash, sat a fully trained and experienced air gunner. He would be a Corporal.
The captain probably had no bomb sight in the G-II. The bombs in the newly designed internal bomb-bay were dropped by the helmsman, but on the orders of the navigator, who waved his arms to communicate. It was dangerous for the navigator to leave the front cockpit, for all the Burkhardt designed Gothas were tail-heavy.
At this time aircraft were constructed almost entirely from wood, which being a natural material varies in density according to water content. Only the best seasoned wood was used for aircraft, and special tables were used to calculate what the seasoned oak and spruce in an aircraft tail and rear fuselage would weigh. Unfortunately by the time Burkhardt's designs were actually built all the seasoned spruce was gone and increasingly fresh cut waterlogged wood had to be used. Kiln drying had not been invented. The Gothas were heavier than designed, and worse, they were tail heavy, most of the metal parts of fixed density being at, or ahead of, the centre of gravity. The G-II and later Gothas were no longer Kampfflugzeug and had no armour plate in the nose.
A passageway on the starboard side connected the three cockpits, so that the gunner could come forward and sit on a jump seat beside the helmsman for landing, making the aircraft less tail heavy. Overload bombs could be hung around the front cockpit for the navigator to fuse and throw, but only if the fuel load was reduced to compensate.
The two huge, specially manufactured four-blade props, were now behind the wing to minimise the p-factor. They produced plenty of torque but the pilot sat off centre to the left, the ammo store was on the left side of the passageway and the gravity tank was on the left wing, so that the Burkhardt Gothas had no net torque roll. In fact they were excessively stable. On the G-II only the top wing had ailerons and these were not very effective. The rudder authority was inadequate by modern standards, so that the helmsman lost control following an engine failure at any speed. The elevator authority was adequate until the bombs were dropped and the main tanks running low. As the fuel reduced, more and more forward pressure was required on the helm to maintain level flight. It was difficult to apply sufficient down elevator to fly the approach.
Like all Gothas the G-II was trimmed by throttle alone (see handling notes). This made formation flying a tiring and difficult process, but at this time most Gothas still roamed alone or were bomber leaders upon which smaller craft formated.
The G-II was unfortunate in having normally aspirated Mercedes D.IV straight-eight engines whose crankshafts fractured frequently, but it was very powerful and by the standards of 1916 fairly fast at low altitude if the helmsman applied enough forward pressure to the helm. On the other hand it cruised hands off at a speed which allowed it to formate on a Zeppelin airship acting as bomber leader. Like all the Burkhardt Gothas it could absorb a lot of battle damage and was difficult to shoot down. If the Romanian Army had been blessed with fighters they might have been able to exploit the blind spot under its tail. Much has been made of this blind spot, but of course it was of little consequence once Gothas began to fly in formation for mutual protection. The engine problems could not be resolved and the G-II evolved into the G-III very quickly. Only fourteen were built. Key technical data for the G-II are in its aircraft.cfg
Maximum authorised load was 1010Kg, just 10Kg more than the much lighter G-I, but the Burkhardt Gothas were much more robust and practical combat aircraft. Maximum speed at sea level was a little over 140 Kph at max weight. Ceiling was around 5000 metres well above that of the G-I and too high for most anti aircraft guns, but of course it could only conduct area bombing from any significant altitude.
Steam locomotives and steam ships were the key to victory in WW 1. The roads simply could not carry the mass of men and material that had to be moved about. Especially in winter. There were few trucks and certainly no motorised divisions in WW 1. In any event WW1 Europe wasn't awash with oil.
What little oil there was existed only around Ploesti in Romania. Romania was very rich but dominated by German owned corporations. The Romanians resented both this and the fact that Transylvania, which they believed was rightly theirs, was ruled by Hungary. Prompted especially by the British, but with the collusion of the French and Russians, the Romanian Government was inspired to nationalise all German assets without compensation and attack Hungary in the summer of 1916. The British in particular clearly hoped that this would suck German divisions away from Belgium and Northern France just before they advanced along the Somme.
So it came about that the Gotha G-II always destined for airfields around Ostend, flew combat missions only from Hudova in Bulgaria and dropped bombs only on Romania. Especially on the citizens of Bucharest. The Romanian Army had 14 combat aircraft, not all serviceable.
Zeppelins had been used to attack the civilian populations of capital cities such as London for many months before the bombing of Bucharest, but the Grossflugzeug attacks on that city were the first concerted campaign of terror bombing, not only by Grossflugzeug, but by any aeroplanes. By WW2 terms of course the tonnage of bombs dropped was small, and not surprisingly, had no noticeable effect on the morale of the Romanian people. It did however have an interesting effect on other fronts. The RNAS immediately moved a squadron from the attack on Turkey to attack Bulgaria, whilst the French sent sixty aircraft including some fighters by Christmas. This reduced the pressure on German air forces on the Western Front.
The RFC were unable to assist. The British Army was unwisely attacking with 55 Divisions of Infantry with almost two thousand aircraft for close support along the Somme against the massed machine guns of 95 German Divisions on a very narrow front. Only a few German divisions were withdrawn for the attack on Romania, and the British lost 419,654 men and 972 combat aircraft in under a month.
Both Ploesti and Bucharest soon fell to the Austro-German forces. This was in some measure due to the efforts of the Hudova based Grossflugzeug. Whilst the Gotha G-IIs were busy bombing Bucharest other Hudova based Grossflugzeug built by A.E.G. had been concentrating their attentions on one of the largest bridge complexes in Europe.
The Cerna Voda bridges cross the Danube from island to island with many spans over a length of 11 miles. The Romanian Army facing the German Army of the Danube in Bulgaria were utterly reliant on the railway line running across these bridges for supply. Whilst the Gotha G-IIs were limited to carrying bombs of only 10 Kg each, the A.E.G. G-III could carry bombs of 50Kg, and these proved just large enough to drop at least one span of the bridge complex. The Romanian Army then had to retreat north of the Danube blowing other spans behind them.
This was the first time in history that an Army was forced to retreat as a result of bombing alone.
For reasons explained above, the combat career of the Gotha G-II was brief, lasting perhaps no more than eight weeks. Only ten were issued for combat. The other four were used for trials. Especially engine trials. These soon lead to a decision to use airship engines in the next version, which bearing in mind the original purpose of the Grossflugzeug, was at all costs to have enough range to fly from Ostend to London. This became the G-III.
