Goeppingen Go.9

[GregP]

Does anyone know the wing area of the Goeppingen Go.9? This was a small, experimental aircraft designed to test the configuration of the pusher propeller used on the Dornier Do.335.

The little data I have suggest it had an 80 kW engine and the loaded weight was only 720 kg. I don't have the wing area, height, or the empty weight, and the available data is pretty slim, though there ARE a few decent photos out there.

Thanks!

[Romantic Technofreak]

It is pretty embarrassing that even in German sources your requested data are not available[xx(].

[GregP]

Hi RT,

Considering the destruction in WWII, I'm surprised any reference material survived at all! That it did is a good thing. That this is missing must be considered minor since this was only a proof-of-concept aircraft and was not, in itself, significant.

The Do.335 was.

Thanks!

[meister]

Hi GregP
In the 1950's the magazine "RAF Flying Review" published a short informative article with 2 photos and a three view drawing about the Goeppingen 9.
It does not have the specific information that you are looking for. It does have wingspan, lenght and loaded weight data. By applying the known dimensions to the three view drawing you can scale it. then using the scale 3view drawing you can measure the height and calculate the wing surface area. A fairly accurate approximation of the empty weigth can also be made. A crew of two, with flight gear including parchutes, weigh app. 500lbs, The airplane had a 60hp engine therefore the tank capacity was somewhere around 20 gal, no more than 150lbs. The loaded weight was 1,587lbs subtract app. 650lbs. that puts the empty weight at app 950lbs.
Here is the quoted article from the RAF Flying Review.
"The Goeppingen 9 was a small research aeroplane built by Schemp-Hirth at Wuesterberg and flown for the first time in 1940. Powered by a " buried" 60 h.p. Hirth HM 60R air-cooled engine, the Goe 9 was driven by a four-blade airscrew mounted aft of a cruciform tail and attained a speed of 137 m.p.h. Loaded weight was only 1,587 Ib., and wing span and overall length were 26 ft.7 1/2 in. and 22 ft.3 3/4 in. respectively. A fully retractable nosewheel undercarriage was fitted and a crew of two was carried. The Hirth engine was mounted in a semi-exposed installation in the fuselage belly, under the wing. Designed by Huetter, the Goeppingen 9 was intended to furnish data on the effects of an aft-mounted airscrew driven by an extension shaft, a scheme patented in 1937 by Dr. Claude Dornier. Extensiv trials were made with the Goeppingen 9 and the practicability of the arrangement led directly to its adoption for the Dornier Do 335 Pfeil (Arrow) fighter."