Start here
A few places to begin, from the aircraft’s story to the people who fly it.
Aircraft and configuration
The English Electric Wren is a 1923 single-seat lightweight monoplane. Shuttleworth's collection description identifies its 3.5 hp ABC flat-twin piston engine. Rara-Avis Sim offers MSFS 2020 and 2024 editions of the motor-glider.
English Electric Wren
The Shuttleworth Collection · Read more ↗Meet English Electric Wren
The English Electric Wren is a 1923 single-seat lightweight monoplane. Shuttleworth's collection description identifies its 3.5 hp ABC flat-twin piston engine. Rara-Avis Sim offers MSFS 2020 and 2024 editions of the motor-glider.
History & design
An experiment in economical flying
W. O. Manning designed the Wren at English Electric in Preston as a very low-powered aircraft suitable for affordable flying and training. Its wooden, fabric-covered shoulder-wing layout drew on glider practice. The aircraft first flew in 1923, and modified examples took part in that year’s Lympne trials, where the Wren achieved 87.5 miles per gallon.
The Shuttleworth Collection · English Electric Wren — aircraft documentation ↗Shuttleworth account of the 1923 aircraft
The survivor that flew again
The Shuttleworth Wren is constructor’s number 3, which competed as number 4. R. H. Grant donated it to the collection, and English Electric rebuilt it with components from the Science Museum aircraft. It flew again in January 1957; a later refurbishment at Warton returned it to the collection in 1981.
The Shuttleworth Collection · English Electric Wren — aircraft documentation ↗Shuttleworth’s individual surviving aircraft
Systems & details
Power shapes the experience
Shuttleworth describes the Wren’s climb as laboured and its flying as dependent on fair weather. That account puts its tiny engine in context: this was an experiment in extracting useful flight from very little power, rather than a conventional touring aircraft scaled down.
In your simulator
No released simulator product is listed for this aircraft in the developers reviewed. Announced products are excluded.
Manuals & resources
Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Aircraft documentation
English Electric Wren — aircraft documentationThe Shuttleworth Collection · English Electric Wren product descriptionBuilt-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261011-v3 · 2 profile choices
Rara-Avis Sim English Electric Wren
Rara-Avis Sim · Free and Pro · Revision 2 · Inherited starting point
MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024
A 1923 single-seat lightweight monoplane with a 3.5 hp engine.
English Electric Wren
Free and Pro · Revision 1 · Partial review
MSFS 2020 · MSFS 2024 · X-Plane 12
A 1923 single-seat lightweight monoplane with a 3.5 hp engine.
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