Foster Wikner Wicko

Geoffrey Wikner was an Australian aircraft designer who moved to England in May 1934 and with his partners formed the Foster Wikner Aircraft Company Limited to build a low-cost two-seat high-wing monoplane.

Low cost was helped by fitting a standard Ford V8 vehicle engine instead of a specialist aero-engine. 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. The completed aircraft, designated the Wicko F.W.1 was taken by road to Stapleford Aerodrome, Essex and first flew in September 1936. Due to the {{convert|450|lb|abbr=on}} weight of the engine, the aircraft needed a long takeoff run and had a poor rate of climb.

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 Southampton Airport after the company moved in 1937. The second machine was initially powered by a Cirrus Major motor and designated F.W.3, but later re-engined with a de Havilland Gipsy Major. 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 production ceased and one airframe remained unfinished.

One aircraft exported to New Zealand was impressed into wartime service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, crashing in 1942. Seven aircraft in the United Kingdom were impressed and another accepted directly into wartime service with the Royal Air Force, under the service name Warferry.

The celebrated woman aviator and Air Transport Auxiliary veteran Lettice Curtis bought a Wicko after WWII, in which she competed in several Daily Express 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 {{convert|80|ft|m|abbr=on}} fall from a cliff.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

;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

;Wicko F.W.3:fitted with a 150 hp Blackburn Cirrus Major engine

;Wicko G.M.1:production version with a 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major engine

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

;{{NZL}}

• Royal New Zealand Air Force

;{{UK}}

• Royal Air Force
• No. 24 Squadron RAF

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938{{cite book |title=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938 |editor1-last=Grey |editor1-first=C.G. |year=1938 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd |location=London |editor2-last=Bridgman |editor2-first=Leonard }}

|prime units?=imp

|crew=2

|length ft=23

|length in=3

|length note=

|span ft=31

|span in=6

|span note=

|height ft=6

|height in=1

|height note=

|wing area sqft=153

|wing area note=

|aspect ratio=

|airfoil=Clark YH

|empty weight lb=1255

|empty weight note=

|gross weight lb=2000

|gross weight note=

|max takeoff weight lb=

|max takeoff weight note=

|fuel capacity={{cvt|30|impgal|USgal l|0}} fuel ; {{cvt|2.25|impgal|USgal l|0}} oil

|more general=

|eng1 number=1

|eng1 name=de Havilland Gipsy Major I

|eng1 type=4-cylinder air-cooled inverted in-line piston engine

|eng1 hp=130

|eng1 note=

|prop blade number=2

|prop name=fixed-pitch wooden propeller

|prop dia ft=

|prop dia in=

|prop dia note=

|max speed mph=140

|max speed note=

|cruise speed mph=120

|cruise speed note=

• Landing speed: {{cvt|45|mph|kn km/h|0}}

|stall speed mph=

|stall speed note=

|never exceed speed mph=

|never exceed speed note=

|range miles=500

|range note=

|ferry range miles=

|ferry range note=

|endurance=

|ceiling ft=20000

|ceiling note=

|climb rate ftmin=800

|climb rate note=

|time to altitude=

|lift to drag=

|wing loading lb/sqft=13

|wing loading note=

|fuel consumption lb/mi=

|power/mass={{cvt|0.0654|hp/lb}}

|more performance=

}}

{{aircontent

|related=

|similar aircraft=

|sequence=

|lists=

• List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force
• List of aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Royal New Zealand Navy

|see also=

}}

{{commons category|Foster Wikner Aircraft}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985)|publisher= Orbis Publishing}}
• {{cite book |last= Jackson|first= A.J.|title= British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2|year= 1974|publisher= Putnam|location= London|isbn=0-370-10010-7 }}
• Grey, C.G. and Bridgman, L. Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938. (1972). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. {{ISBN|0-7153-5734-4}}

• Ord-Hume, Arthur; "Wikner and his Wicko", Aeroplane, July 2022, pp.98-105

Category:1930s British civil utility aircraft

Wicko

Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft

Category:High-wing aircraft

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1936