<!-- This article is a part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout. -->
The Gotha Go 242 was a transport glider used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. It was an upgrade over the DFS 230 in both cargo/troop capacity and flight characteristics. It saw limited combat action. There were multiple glider variants, and it became the basis for a transport aircraft, the: Gotha Go 244.
Development
The Go 242 was designed by Dipl-Ing Albert Kalkert in response to a Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) requirement for a heavy transport glider to replace the DFS 230 then in service. The requirement was for a glider capable of carrying 20 fully laden troops or the equivalent cargo.
The aircraft was a high-wing monoplane with a simple square-section fuselage ending in clamshell doors used to load cargo. The empennage was mounted on twin booms linked by a tailplane. The fuselage was formed of steel tubing covered with doped fabric. The flight characteristics of the design were better than those of the DFS 230.
Cargo versions of the glider featured a hinged rear fuselage loading ramp that could accommodate a small vehicle such as a Kübelwagen or loads of similar size and weight.
|prime units?=met
<!--
General characteristics
-->
|crew=2
|capacity=23 equipped troops or cargo
|length m=15.8
|span m=24.5
|height m=4.7
|wing area sqm=64.4
|aspect ratio=9.32
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=3200
|gross weight kg=
|max takeoff weight kg=7100
|more general=
<!--
Performance
-->
|stall speed kmh=
|never exceed speed kmh=300
|glide ratio=16:1
|sink rate ms=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|more performance=<br>
- Towing speed:
<!--
Armament
-->
|armament=*4 × MG 15 machine-guns