German Air Force

Gotha Go 145.

Unknown (probably Luftwaffe)

The Gotha Go 145 was the first aircraft produced by the famous WW1 Gotha aircraft works on its re-establishment in 1935. What its original intended use might have been is open to some conjecture. The aircraft was developed very quickly (effectively skipping the prototype stage), and was quickly adopted by the newborn Luftwaffe, presumably, because it was of an established, reliable type that could be produced in large numbers to take part in fly-pasts at political events. Since it was obvious, by 1935, that this type was obsolete as a potential fighter or light bomber, the substantial number of Go 145s produced were available for the very opportune use as a powered flight trainer for the Luftwaffe - something they badly needed to convert their substantial number of glider-trained potential recruits into fully operational military pilots. Interestingly, from 1942, this aircraft was used extensively to conduct nocturnal "nuisance raids" against the Soviets on the Eastern Front, a direct response to the activities of the Soviet "Night Witch" and other units conducting nuisance light bombing operations against the Germans, using the (even more obsolete) Policarpov Po-2 "Crop Duster" biplanes. The Go 145 continued in service as a trainer and in "nuisance" operations almost to the end of the war, making it the Luftwaffe's longest-serving aircraft. Best regards, JR.