Belgian Wings
Belgian Air Force, past and present.
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Gotha G.IX (LVG)
Twin engine heavy bomber
In the spring of 1919, immediately post-World War I, Belgium received the first of at least 23 Gotha G.IX (LVG) bombers as part of the war reparations. They were all gathered inside the huge Zeppelin hangar at Evere airfield and some of them were assembled and restored to flying condition. During the famous exhibition and air show "Exposition de Materiel Aéronautique" at Evere between 19 and 27 July 1919 at least 5 Gotha G.IX can be seen completely assembled. Unfortunately, only three of these large bombers can be identified up to now. One of the bombers made a well photographed curious crash at Evere in which the fuselage was turned over those of the aircraft.
No further trace of use by the Belgian Air Service was found beyond 1921. The most probably were scrapped in that same year as Parliamentary question started to put pressure on the Defense Ministry to clean up the huge collection of German aircraft which were "abandoned" at Evere airfield. Unfortunately, none of the Gotha G.IX bombers was preserved.
This extraordinary picture taken inside the immense Zeppelin hangar in 1921 shows at least 13 Gotha G.IX bombers recognizable by the triangular shape of the top wing attachment point. (Left front and right top)