Sopwith Gnu

infobox Aircraft
name = Gnu
type = Touring biplane
manufacturer = Sopwith Aviation Company


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introduced = 1919
retired =
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number built = 13
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The Sopwith Gnu was a 1910s British touring biplane designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company of Kingston-upon-Thames. It was one of the first cabin aircraft designed for civil use.

Design and development

Designed for the post-war civil market, the Gnu was a conventional equal-span biplane. It had an open cockpit for a pilot with seating for two passengers under a hinged and glazed roof. Most of the aircraft were powered by a 110hp Le Rhône rotary engine. The enclosed passenger cabin was cramped and unpopular and most production aircraft had an open rear cockpit. One prototype and twelve production aircraft were built. A post-war slump ended production and the company had problems selling the aircraft although two aircraft were sold in Australia.

Operational history

The United Kingdom based aircraft were mainly used to provide joy-rides in the early 1920s. Two aircraft that were used for exhibition and stunt flying in the late 1920s both crashed. Most of the production aircraft were not sold and were dismantled, including four aircraft that remained unsold when the Sopwith Aviation Company folded in 1920. Two Australian aircraft were used by Australian Aerial Services Limited on the Adelaide to Sydney mail route.

Operators

;AUS
*Australian Aerial Services

pecifications (Gnu)

aerospecs
met or eng?= eng

crew=One (pilot)
capacity=2
length m=7.88
length ft=25
length in=10
span m=11.61
span ft=38
span in=1
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
rot dia in=
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=3.00
height ft=9
height in=10
wing area sqm=
wing area sqft=
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=
empty weight lb=
gross weight kg=1,520
gross weight lb=3,350
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Le Rhône rotary engine
eng1 kw= 82
eng1 hp= 110

max speed kmh=150
max speed mph=93
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=483
range miles=300
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=
ceiling ft=
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=3.3
climb rate ftmin=645
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

armament1=
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armament5=
armament6=

ee also

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References

* A.J. Jackson, "British Civil Aircraft since 1919 - Volume 3", Putnam, London 1988, ISBN 0 85177 818 6
* "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft" (Part Work 1982-1985), Orbis Publishing.