I Want a G-nôme

DESCRIPTION: "I want a G-nôme, Give me a G-nôme. I don't want a Monosoupape or Le Rhône, I want a G-nôme." "I want a G-nôme... Give me the splutt'ring, conking G-nôme." "Up in the sky, Over the aerodrome, Oh, my, I do want to die. I want a G-nôme."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967 (Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook)
KEYWORDS: technology death pilot
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook, p. 32, "I Want a G-nôme" (1 text, tune referenced)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Show Me the Way to Go Home" (tune)
NOTES [107 words]: Ward-Jackson/Lucas-AirmansSongBook says this was sung to the tune of "Show Me the Way to Go Home," but all accounts report that the pop song of that name was not written until 1925.
As best I can tell, the "Gnome" is not an actual airplane but an engine model. When first introduced in 1908, according to Wikipedia, the Gnome 7 Omega was revolutionary. But by 1914, it would have been a very difficult engine for a pilot to deal with, because it only had one speed -- if you wanted to slow down, you turned it off; to speed up, you turned it back on! And it was under-powered anyway; a 50 or 100 hp engine couldn't give a plane much speed.- RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: WJL032

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