English Electric Wren

infobox Aircraft
name = Wren
type = Ultralight monoplane
manufacturer = English Electric Company Limited



caption = English Electric Wren at the Shuttleworth Collection
designer = W. O. Manning
first flight = 1921
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 3
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

The English Electric Wren was a 1920s British ultralight monoplane built by the English Electric Company Limited at Lytham St Annes, Lancashire.

History

The Wren was one of the first ultralight aircraft and was designed by William Manning. Bill Manning was a designer of flying boats and decided to try a simpler project. It was a single-engined high-wing monoplane with an empty weight of only 232 lb (105 kg). The first aircraft (Serial Number J6973) was built in 1921 for the Air Ministry. Interest in building very light aircraft was encouraged at the time by a £500 prize offered by the Duke of Sutherland (who was the Under-Secretary of State for Air). The entrants had to build the most economical light single-seat aircraft. Another incentive was a £1,000 prize offered by the "Daily Mail" for the longest flight by a motor-glider with an engine of not more than 750 cc. Two aircraft were built for the trials, held at Lympne in October 1923. The Wren shared the first prize with the ANEC I when it covered 87.5 miles (140.8 km) on one Imperial gallon (4.5 litres) of fuel.

In 1957 the third aircraft was rebuilt using parts of the second aircraft. It is still airworthy and is on public display at the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden Aerodrome in Bedfordshire.

pecifications (Wren)

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Fact|date=April 2008
crew=1
length main= 24 ft 3 in
length alt= 7.39 m
span main= 37 ft
span alt= 11.28 m
height main= 4 ft 9 in
height alt= 1.45 m
area main= 145 sq ft
area alt=
empty weight main= 232 lb
empty weight alt= 105 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main= 420 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 191 kg
engine (prop)=ABC Motors
type of prop= flat-twin motorcycle engine
number of props=1
power main= 7.5 hp
power alt=
max speed main= 50 mph
max speed alt= 80 km/h
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main=
ceiling alt=
climb rate main= 180 ft/min
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
performance more="Endurance"' 1.5 hour

ee also

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References

*cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|year= |publisher= Orbis Publishing|location= |issn=
*cite book |last= Jackson|first= A.J.|authorlink= |coauthors= |title= British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2|year= 1974|publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0 370 10010 7

External links

* [http://www.shuttleworth.org/shuttleworth_aircraft_details.asp?ID=13 The Shuttleworth Collection, English Electric Wren]