Ward Gnome
Ward · United Kingdom · first flew 1967 · light aircraft
The Ward Gnome is a very small single-seat sports monoplane designed for amateur construction in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Only one is known to have flown.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Wings braced from above by a slender strut to the upper fuselage longeron |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Tiny single-seat low-wing monoplane with a span of only 4.8 m
- Wings braced from above by a slender strut to the upper fuselage longeron
- Open cockpit and fixed tailwheel undercarriage with go-kart wheels
An all-wood low-wing monoplane with one of the smallest spans of any monoplane, a 14 hp Douglas flat-twin motorcycle engine and an open single-seat cockpit.
Specifications
- The Ward Gnome has a length of 3.51 m (12 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 4.8 m (16 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 88 km/h (55 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Michael Ward, a carpenter and aeromodeller, began the design in April 1966. The Gnome first flew on 4 August 1967.
Variants
There were no variants. At least one other example was partly built but was never flown or registered.
Where you'll see it
The prototype was registered as G-AXEI in April 1969 and flown under a Permit to Fly. The registration was cancelled in 1984.
Related aircraft
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