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 aircraft was a high-wing monoplane with a simple square-section fuselage ending in clamshell doors used to load cargo.

A total of 1,528 were built, 133 B-1 to B-5s were converted[1] to the Go 244, with two 500 kW (670 hp) Gnome-Rhône 14M engines, (a paired -04 and -05 rotating in opposite directions), fitted to forward extensions of the tail booms.

[citation needed] A few gliders, the Go 242 C-1 variant, were constructed with a flying boat-style hull allowing water landings.

It was proposed that some carry a small catamaran assault boat with a 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) explosive charge suspended between its hulls.