Göppingen Gö 4

Gö 4
Role	Training sailplane
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Schempp-Hirth
First flight	1937

The Göppingen Gö 4 (or "Goevier") was a German sailplane of the late 1930s used for training pilots. Its most notable features included a side-by-side seating format and dual controls, making the plane ideal for use as a trainer. It boasted average performance, compared to other gliders of the day, and was advertised as making the process of learning to fly sailplanes easier.

The Gö 4 had been designed primarily as an improvement over the Gö 2, which sported inline seating rather than the more instruction-friendly format of the Gö 4. Despite the alterations, the fuselage was kept as narrow as possible. The Gö 4 was produced in Kirchheim, and was first flown in 1937.

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: Two, pilot and instructor
• Length: 6.74 m (22 ft 1 in)
• Wingspan: 14.8 m (48 ft 7 in)
• Wing area: 19 m² (204 ft²)
• Empty weight: 180 kg (400 lb)
• Gross weight: 350 kg (770 lb)

Performance

• Rate of sink: 1.0 m/s (200 ft/min)