what is it?
The Gotha LD.1 (for Land Doppeldecker - "Land Biplane") and its derivatives were a family of military aircraft produced in Germany just before and during the early part of World War I. Used for training and reconnaissance, they were conventional designs with two-bay unstaggered wings, tailskid landing gear, and two open cockpits in tandem. Made quickly obsolete by the rapid advances in aviation technology, several were supplied as military aid to the Ottoman Empire when withdrawn from German service.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · biplane · 14.5 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 112 years ago, in 1914.
- Wingspan of 14.5 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1914
- number built
- —
- role
- military utility aircraft
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- makers
- Gotha
- engines
- 1× Mercedes D.I
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.3 m
- wingspan
- 14.5 m
- height
- 3.5 m
- max take-off weight
- 980 kg
- top speed
- 115 km/h
- range
- 520 km
- wings
- biplane
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5587773, Wikipedia: Gotha LD.1 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.