- Design and development
- Operational history
- Survivors
- Specifications
- Notes
- References
- External links
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}{{Orphan|date=June 2015}}| name=Gnome | image=File:Ward Gnome (15410061279).jpg | caption=The unflown Gnome at the Newark Air Museum }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Single seat sports aircraft | national origin=United Kingdom | manufacturer= | designer=Michael Ward | first flight=4 August 1967 | introduced= | retired=by 1984 | status= | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=1 | program cost= | unit cost= | developed from= | variants with their own articles=
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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. Design and developmentMichael Ward was a carpenter by profession and an enthusiastic aeromodeller. In April 1966 he began the design of an extremely small single-seat aircraft, the Ward P46 The Gnome is an all wood low-wing monoplane, each wing braced from above with a slender strut to the upper fuselage longeron. The wood skinned wings, which are straight tapered and built around box spars and D-section leading edges, carry 2° of dihedral. There are wooden ailerons but no flaps.[2] The fuselage is built around four 3/4 in (19 mm) square longerons, with diagonal bracing and ply formers. The skin is 1/16 in (1.6 mm) ply, with flat surfaces apart from curved decking. There is a single seat open cockpit. The fixed tailwheel undercarriage has each mainwheel mounted on a pair of steel tubes forming a narrow 'V' and fixed under the fuselage. Single bracing struts run forward from the wheel mountings to the lower longerons forward of the wings. Go-Kart wheels and tyres are used, without brakes. A two-cylinder, horizontally-opposed 14 horsepower Douglas motorcycle engine, built in 1925 and driving a two blade fixed pitch propeller, was the original powerplant though this may have been replaced later by a Sachs-Wankel motor.[2] The Gnome flew for the first time on 4 August 1967.[2] Operational historyThe prototype Gnome was sold to a new owner who registered it as G-AXEI in April 1969 and flew it under a Permit to Fly. The registration was cancelled in 1984.[2][7] At least one other Gnome was partially built, but never flown nor registered.[8] SurvivorsThe prototype, no longer airworthy, is currently with the Real Aeroplane Company at Breighton, East Yorkshire.[9] The unflown Gnome is on display at the Newark Air Museum, fitted with a Citroen 2CV engine.[8] Specifications{{Aircraft specs
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Notes1. ^1 2 3 4 5 6 {{cite book |title= Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1970-71|last= Taylor |first= John W R |coauthors= |page=236 |year=1970|publisher= Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd|location= London|isbn=|ref=harv }}
2. ^1 {{cite web |url=http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=detailnosummary&fullregmark=AXEI |title=CAA registration documents for G-AXEI |author= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=2010-08-25}}
3. ^1 2 {{cite book |title= Wrecks & Relics|last=Ellis|first=Ken| year=2014|page=182|publisher=Crecy |location=Manchester |isbn=978-08597-91779}}
4. ^1 {{cite book |title= Ibid|last=Ellis|first=|page=287|publisher= |location= |isbn=|ref=harv}}
References{{reflist|refs=[1][2][3][4]
}}{{refbegin}}{{refend}}External links{{commons category}} 4 : British sport aircraft 1960–1969|Low-wing aircraft|Single-engined tractor aircraft|Aircraft first flown in 1967 |