The outward design of the G.V was characterized by its large, four-bay, swept biplane wing arrangement with parallel struts that sat over and under the fuselage. The fuselage was well-contoured at the nose for basic aerodynamics and slab-sided elsewhere, housing all of the crew and fuel. The engines were held outboard of the fuselage in relatively streamlined nacelles. The undercarriage was fixed and dominated by large landing wheels attached to the lower wing assembly. In its original form, the aircraft showcased a single vertical tail fin with applicable horizontal tail surfaces but later variants brought about a dual rudder system and biplane tailplanes for improved handling.
The G.V sported a running length of 40 feet, 8 inches with a wingspan of 77 feet, 9 inches. At rest, the aircraft stood at 14 feet tall. When empty, the G.V managed a weight of 6,039lbs while her Maximum Take-Off Weight registered at 8,745lbs. Power was supplied by 2 x Mercedes D.IVa series inline piston engines, each delivering up to 260 horsepower. Maximum speed was 87 miles per hour with an operational range of approximately 520 miles and a service ceiling up to 21,300 feet.
The Gotha V series was produced in a few major production variants beginning with the base G.V model of 1917 with its single tail rudder. 100 of the type were ordered. This mount was further developed in the upcoming G.Va model which introduced a new twin-rudder compound tail unit with biplane tailplanes (known in the German as the "Kastensteuerung"). The fuselage was shortened and at least 25 of the type were completed and delivered for service.
The G.Vb then appeared in June of 1918 with 80 examples on order. While most of these were delivered to German units, a final series was relocated to the authority of the Triple Entente at the time of the November 1918 Armistice. These versions saw an increase to ordnance payload carrying capability as well as an increased MOTW (Maximum Take-Off Weight). The main landing gears were now reinforced with double wheels and retrofitted on existing G.Vs when possible.
G.V bombers netted 83 tons of ordnance dropped on England during the whole course of the war. Daylight raids went on until the summer of 1917 before the G-bombers were set apart exclusively for night sorties. Despite its "newness", the G.V offered up no performance benefit over the existing G.IV series it was intended to succeed for it proved heavier (due to poor quality wood) and underpowered (due to poor quality fuel). Use of steel in their design was something of a pioneering feat concerning aircraft construction of the time.
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