Short Gurnard

Short Brothers · United Kingdom · first flew 1929 · fighter

The Short Gurnard was a single-engined two-seat biplane naval fighter built to Air Ministry specification O.22/26. It failed to win production orders and only two flew.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	Fin and horn-balanced rudder extend below the fuselage, with a long tailskid beneath
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Single-bay biplane with straight, constant-chord wings, the lower wing shorter in span and much narrower in chord
Pilot sits under a cutout in the trailing edge of the upper wing, with the gunner in a close-set rear cockpit
Fin and horn-balanced rudder extend below the fuselage, with a long tailskid beneath

A two-seat biplane with a welded steel-tube fuselage and duralumin wings with Frise ailerons on the upper wing only. It carried either a radial engine with a narrow-chord ring or a smooth-cowled inline engine.

Specifications

The Short Gurnard has a length of 8.71 m (29 ft).
It has a wingspan of 11.28 m (37 ft).
Its maximum speed is 260 km/h (162 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Two prototypes were ordered. The Gurnard II, fitted with floats, was the first to fly, on 16 April 1929, and both aircraft flew as landplanes from Lympne in May.

Variants

The Gurnard II had a 525 hp Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS inline engine with a drum radiator between the undercarriage legs, while the Gurnard I had a 525 hp Bristol Jupiter X radial with a Townend ring. The Gurnard II was later converted into an amphibian with a single central float.

Where you'll see it

Both aircraft were evaluated at Martlesham Heath and met the specification, but the Hawker Osprey, a close relative of the Hawker Hart, out-performed them. No more were built.

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