Warwick W-3 Bantam

W-3 Bantam
Role	Homebuilt aircraft
National origin	United States
Designer	Bill Warwick
First flight	June 1966
Introduction	1966
Unit cost	$1200 in 1971

The W-3 Bantam is a simple single place, homebuilt aircraft design from Bill Warwick of Torrance, California.^[1]

Design

The W-3 is a single place tricycle gear, low wing aircraft with an open cockpit or bubble canopy. Construction is all metal with a welded-steel-tube forward fuselage with attachment points for the wing spars and engine mount. The fuselage uses non-compound curves and features a square vertical stabilizer^[2]

Operational history

The prototype was featured on the cover of the May 1972 issue of Popular Mechanics.^[3]

Specifications (W-3 Bantam)

Data from Plane and Pilot

General characteristics

• Length: 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
• Wingspan: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
• Empty weight: 535 lb (243 kg)
• Gross weight: 790 lb (358 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 11.5 U.S. gallons (44 L; 9.6 imp gal)
• Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-145B Horizontally Opposed Piston

Performance

• Maximum speed: 122 kn; 225 km/h (140 mph)
• Cruise speed: 100 kn; 185 km/h (115 mph)
• Stall speed: 45 kn; 84 km/h (52 mph)
• Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s)

References

1. Air Trails: 77. Winter 1971. Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. "Plane and Pilot W-3 Bantam". Retrieved 22 April 2012.
3. Popular Mechanics. May 1972. Missing or empty |title= (help)