The Foster Wikner Wicko was a 1930s

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

two-seat cabin monoplane built by the Foster Wikner Aircraft Company Limited at

Southampton Airport Southampton Airport is an international airport located in both Eastleigh and Southampton, Hampshire, in England. The airport is located north-northeast of central Southampton. The southern tip of the runway lies within the Southampton u ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

History

Geoffrey Wikner was an Australian aircraft designer who moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in May 1934 and with his partners formed the Foster Wikner Aircraft Company Limited to build a low-cost two-seat high-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

. Low cost was helped by fitting a standard

Ford V8 Ford engines are those used in Ford Motor Company vehicles and in aftermarket, sports and kit applications. Different engine ranges are used in various global markets. 3 cylinder A series of Ford DOHC 12-valve straight-three engines with Twin Ind ...

vehicle engine instead of a specialist

aero-engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbine ...

. The V.8 was fitted with a Pobjoy reduction gear and was known as the Wicko F power unit. The prototype aircraft was built at the J.F. Lusty's furniture factory at

Bromley-by-Bow Bromley, commonly known as Bromley-by- Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London. It is an inner-city suburb located 4.7 mil ...

. The completed aircraft, designated the Wicko F.W.1 was taken by road to

Stapleford Aerodrome Stapleford Aerodrome is an operational general aviation aerodrome in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England, near the village of Abridge. It is about south of North Weald Airfield and north of Romford. The airfield is just within the ...

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and first flew in September 1936. Due to the weight of the engine, the aircraft needed a long

takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a tr ...

run and had a poor

rate of climb In aeronautics, the rate of climb (RoC) is an aircraft's vertical speed, that is the positive or negative rate of altitude change with respect to time. In most ICAO member countries, even in otherwise metric countries, this is usually expressed ...

. The prototype was rebuilt as the Wicko F.W.2 with a more powerful but much lighter – 227 lb (103 kg) – air-cooled Cirrus Minor I engine. This resulted in a useful reduction in overall weight but the price increased from £425 to £650. The second and subsequent aircraft were built at

after the company moved in 1937. The second machine was initially powered by a

Cirrus Major The Blackburn Cirrus Major is a British, inline-four aircraft engine which was developed in the late 1930s, but continued development and production into the 1940s and post war. Design and development The Blackburn Cirrus Major started life as ...

motor and designated F.W.3, but later re-engined with a

de Havilland Gipsy Major The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous de Havilland Tiger Moth, Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major en ...

. The eight machines subsequently completed used this engine as reflected by the name Wicko G.M.1. At the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

production ceased and one airframe remained unfinished. One aircraft exported to

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was impressed into wartime service with the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

, crashing in 1942. Seven aircraft in the United Kingdom were impressed and another accepted directly into wartime service with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, under the service name Warferry. The celebrated woman aviator and

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between fac ...

veteran Lettice Curtis bought a Wicko after WWII, in which she competed in several ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' Air Races. One aircraft first registered as G-AFJB in 1938 was still operational with a permit to fly as of 2008. It is one of only two RAF machines to survive the war and has also recovered from a post-landing fall from a cliff.

Variants

;Wicko F.W.1:prototype with an 85 hp Wicko F modified Ford V8 engine ;Wicko F.W.2:prototype re-engined with a 90 hp

Blackburn Cirrus Minor I The Blackburn Cirrus Minor is a British four-cylinder, inverted, in-line air-cooled aero-engine that was designed and built by the Cirrus Engine Section of Blackburn Aircraft Limited in the late 1930s. Design and development The Cirrus Minor st ...

;Wicko F.W.3:fitted with a 150 hp

Blackburn Cirrus Major The Blackburn Cirrus Major is a British, inline-four aircraft engine which was developed in the late 1930s, but continued development and production into the 1940s and post war. Design and development The Blackburn Cirrus Major started life as ...

engine ;Wicko G.M.1:production version with a 130 hp

engine ;Warferry:Wicko G.M.1. in RAF service

Operators

; *

No. 24 Squadron RAF No. 24 Squadron (also known as No. XXIV Squadron) of the Royal Air Force is the Air Mobility Operational Conversion Unit (AM OCU). Based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, 24 Squadron is responsible for aircrew training on Airbus A400M Atlas, A ...

Specifications (Wicko G.M.1)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *Grey, C.G. and Bridgman, L. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938''. (1972). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. {{ISBN, 0-7153-5734-4