Former RAF pilot here - I did my advanced training on the Gnat T1 at RAF Valley in 1974 and flew 70 hours in them. One didn't so much get into a Gnat as put it on. They were terrific fun.
As an Indian, I have a lot to thank the midge Gnats for and obviously a lot of emotion riding with it. I daresay the gnats, though not intimidating in appearance like todays machines, epitomized the best of pure childlike adventure and the quintessential pilot's dream, at the same time sounding the death knell for adversaries of the time. BTW, it is the only fighter to have featured in a tiny Indian postage stamp that did tremendous rounds during my chidhood years and I used to peer closely to make out its details. Today, thanks to you Ed, I came to know so much more. I love this bird.
@@MuhammadZubair-fz6yj Pakistani pilots though superior to Hindu Pilots, got faulty training from USA, as USA feared that full technique will be passed on to Arab to fight against Israel. We should have developed our own techniques, but at that time PAF did not have the IQ to do that. We have corrected that as seen in Abhinandan case. Inshallah with JF-17, we are no longer dependent on USA. Also most of our Pilots in Bangladesh were from Punjab and were distracted by the orders of the Army to carry out rapes on Bangladeshi Hindu women, so they were quite tired from raping the Hindu girls , when India attacked them .
The Gnat had a roll rate limiter. The Red Arrows founds out that if the fuse carrier for the limiter was removed, they could get an even faster roll rate for displays. On this becoming known by someone in admin, they received a stern notice from the Air Ministry that the fuses were to be replaced; they did so, but put blown fuses in the fuse carriers.
I remember the Reds having Gnats. Stood on the top deck of a ferry in Douglas I am sure one passed below me at the start of a display. This was back in the day before display rules became tightened up.
In 1955 I worked as a lathe operator, my first job on leaving school. I turned Steel pins for the ejector seat on the Gnat. I was 15 at the time.( hope they were alright. )
@@LupusAries Upon landing, pins would be placed in, 'Safe for parking' ie, to stop the seat pan and face screen handles etc... being accidentally pulled. If more indepth work was to be carried out, extra pins were fitted by Armourers, generally to things like the sear on the top of main gun. This is/was called 'Safe for servicing'.
@@terryfletcher6465 Not all Terry. For example, we would fit something more like a heavy duty nappy pin to the main gun sear when fitting and removing seats or if other trades required access? There was also something more akin to a hair clip that fitted to a time delay unit.
I recently purchased a Gnat, XR9897, ex Red Arrows and YellowJacks jet and imported it to New Zealand. The reassembly starts mid August, covid bubbles permitting and the plan is to display at airshows here and to do adventure flights. I have some photos if anyone is interested. Great video too, really enjoyed it👍
@Matthew Wilcock it is a dream of mine to do the same here in the states, as I have loved this aircraft since I was a kid. Did you happen to import it from a gentleman at North Perry Airport in FL? Company I fly for has a hangar next to a gentleman that sold a former Red. All the best and I would LOVE to see more of your Gnat as you progress.
@@overrotate Hi, I did indeed buy it from North Perry airport, the previous owner has a hangar there although “gentleman” is not the word I’d use to describe him! Probably not allowed to put in print the words I’d use to describe him! There is a Gnat in San Diego I also checked in on when inspecting the one I bought, its on Trade a Plane and has been for probably 8years at least. Interestingly he has just increased the sale price by doubling it!
@@czoom51 it appeared in reasonable condition, although it would probably need a new paint job as it is a bit weathered. I believe it is run regularly, or it was but I was unable to start it up as it is in a very small and tight hangar and it takes some manoeuvring to get it out. My understanding from talking to the owner that day is that there are very few spare parts that come with it, which is or could be an issue. The front panel has had instruments removed and you can see the wiring looms behind. The instruments remaining are old and original, so the panel needs or could do with an update. Drop me an email for more mate.
I used to know a man who flew these in the RAF, and he said "you don't climb into a Gnat, you just strap it on", my father was an ATC cadet at RAF Hullavington in the 1970's on Annual Camp and the Red Arrows, then based at RAF Kemble, gave a demonstration display of their program (using it as a training exercise), he said it was the finest display he ever saw them do, and he saw many later on. He said that compared to the other RAF aircraft of the time when you stood alongside the aircraft it was the only one he could look directly into with out climbing up, and he was actually taller than the cockpit, he was 6ft 4 inches tall. He loved the Hawker Hunter, and the Black Arrows display team, of Hunters, but always had a smile when he mentioned that lovely little bird the Gnat. It was one of the few to have Anhedral wings in that they went down at a steeper angle than most and it made the aircraft have a much better rate of roll. There were other display teams that flew the Gnat before the Red Arrows, my father mentioned the Yellowjacks or similar.
I remember Red Arrows in Gnats at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit. Passing the main Grand Stand lower than the grandstand roof. Then flying over First Corner (Paddock) and disappearing by diving into the field beyond. Some wag in the crowd shouted "Up a Bit" and that nervous laugh spread as everybody looked for the fire ball on the distant hill. That Foland Gnat appeared to a great cheer, it had flicked up it up it's nose, standing on it's tail in a blistering climb up the side of the distant hill and into the sky to rejoin colleagues in the Red Arrows. They were never as good for the spectator after the Folland Gnat was replaced, partially due to sensible safety rules,
Folland Gnat, the little fighter that could! I remember being wowed by the Red Arrows in their Gnats back in 1974. Ray Hanna (ex Red One) said that even for an average sized pilot, it was a tight squeeze in the cockpit, and anyone over 6ft tall couldn't fit in at all.
Ah, the Hot Shots jet. I remember being very surprised to find out they were an actual aircraft that saw service, I'd always thought they were props for the film, at least in part because of how small they were.
Imagine ur chillin in a Sabre in the late 70s, waiting to get ur hands on the new F-100, and all of a sudden, an 8 meter long fighter with an afterburner travelling mach 1.5 nails your engine with a Red Top missile. Would have been a bloody incredible craft more than capable of dunking on any other light fighter designs had the F.2 and the twin engine variants come through.
Yes is was a an incredible aircraft it saw combat in 1965 war where it shot seven sabres while losing two of its own and in 1971 war it destroyed the Sabre fleet while the migs kills the f104s
Your LOOPY, Mach 1.5 ? Not even with 2 engines and put an American fighter pilot in those Sabre jets in see how long the Indian Air Force would last …. “JACKHOLE” go flip some naan
@@alandope8733"destroying"😂 PAF was outnumbered 1:5 but still they managed to down 75 of your aircrafts with only 20 losses. Read the history books mate and the MIGS of IAF which have the highest crash rate in history especially with the IAF.
Gnat is the 2nd most known fighter jet of Indian air force ( 1st mig21s). But the jets are most legendry one.....it can be seen in every indian air force station, one is 200meters from my house ............
Gnat is the spirit animal of Indian ADA and HAL.. They used a lot of Gnat's design philosophy in their 4/4+ lca tejas.. Even today the Indian aeronautical scientists talk about gnat endearingly..
If you ever get the chance to see one of these display, just do it... honestly, you won't be disappointed. They really are possibly the angriest and most dramatic little things and so endearing somehow. When you hear those old RAF boys talking about "beating up an airfield", referring to flying low and fast in an aggressive manner, this was the aircraft that phrase should've been coined for. When they come in to display, their entrance isn't all graceful like a Hunter or Canberra, oh not at all! These things come streaking in with a crescendo of noise, all chaos and marginally controlled violence and just rip across the display line before carving their way through a turn. A beautiful bit of engineering and as someone else said, the Lotus of the skies. I wish it had been taken those extra steps forward, but like many other British engineering successes, it will forever be a "could've been" and we love it
I can remember seeing the Red Arrows in their Gnats flying their demos over a small Belgium airfield (think it was Brasschaat) that hosted an always impressive anual airshow, and boy did they fly low with those Gnats! And at that time, it wasn't a problem to fly over the public and so they did; and so low that all light weigh stuff would be blown away by their 'wake'; very impressive!! Aah, those were the airshow days! :-)
I think I would have seen them at either Bawtry or Finningley, and yes in those days, you didn't need binoculars to the the planes, you needed ear plugs and to tie your hat on!
Absolutely! I was at one airshow (forgotten which) and the Gnat switched on its light as it aimed for me. I was standing up I think through the skylight of my vehicle to get a better view. I wish I could say I saw the whites of his eyes, but he was gone in a flash and I got a blast of air and smelled the kerosene. If you know who it was, tell him I DIDN'T crap myself 😁😉
I grew up with the Gnat. I was born in the mid sixties so when it came to my first Airfix kit it had to be this aircraft. The kit lived up to it's big brother's party trick. That is "Small, light & easy to build". I remember trying, and failing, to keep the polystyrene cement off of that nose light. But then, the colour scheme was easy! Humbrol Signal Red No.174 😃
@@welshpete12 I believe it! It's so small! Even compared to WW1 biplanes! I remember once I'd made the 1/72 Airfix kit. I looked at it & checked the scale!
A very good friend of mine , we worked together also . Was so taken with this aircraft , a model of one was placed on his grave . He was a good bloke and what he didn't know about aircraft was not worth knowing , I miss him .
I remember, long time ago, (I was visiting Palam Air Force base with my Dad), where a Gnat was displayed. For some reason, this had to be moved to different coordinates, and I saw two airmen just push it out to the desired location! It felt as it they were pushing a car out of a parking lot. It must have been fun to fly this "motorcycle of war planes"! And ofcourse, for all us Indians, it will always be remembered along with Flt. Lt. Sekhon.
@@TheRealBoroNut flying officer nirmal jeet singh sekhon he is a only param veer chakra awardee of indian air force he shot down 2 Sabres in emergency because of that he had to give up his life
@@soumyadipM6627 Wow that sounds a bit harsh. Couldn't he have been given a reprimand and confined to barracks as long as he promised not to do it again?
I had the dubious honour of grabbing a back seat flight in one of these at Cranwell in 1971 / 72. I always worked on the principle if you don’t ask you don’t get, so tongue in cheek I asked a Red Arrows flight instructor if I could get a flight. To my amazement he said yes . 2 hours later I was putting on my Folland gnat - as stated elsewhere you didn’t get in these things you wore them like a very tight jacket. A quick sortie over Lincolnshire and several ‘ many rolls and loops later it was thankfully over. Hard to imagine in thousands of miles of clear blue sky getting claustrophobic.
I grew up around Foland's factory in Hamble. The Red Arrows did an amazing display over the factory and my school in the late seventies to commerate The Gnat.
I fondly recall seeing the Gnat at air shows in the Red Arrow livery as a boy. They always were the highlight of the BBC Farnborough Airshows coverage.
As a kid, I always heard great stories about fighter GNAT from my father who was from the army. And on display of this retired jets, I always admired how good it looked. Im sure it's the smallest jets I have seen so far and definitely must have been very agile, sabre Slayer.
The little gnat , with an upgraded modern engine, re electronics and modern modular weapon systems , these would be an excellent aircraft to give to Ukraine. Don't sell a Gnat short, these are superb aircraft , only needs development.
When I worked at Lufthansa in London in 1969 an Anglo Indian lady in the public relations dept. told me her brother in the Indian Air Force shot down a Pakistani Sabre in the 1965 war. He flew a Folland Gnat. After landing he drove over to see his downed jet and was horrified to see the dead pilot in the cockpit. He resigned his commission and emigrated to Australia.
@@nit23sharma true but there’s an unknown gnat pilot who shot down the seventh Sabre of the 1965 war and plus i never heard Cooke drove his car to check on the Downed Sabre and plus one more thing she said he flew a gnat while Cooke flown a hunter
When I was 12 years old and a keen aircraft spotter I remember looking up into a clear blue sky one hot Summers evening and seeing this small, gleaming black swept wing aircraft flying overhead. I did not recognise it and it was dwarfed by two observation planes close by (one I think, was a Vickers Viking) I lived near Langley airfield and was quite used to seeing Hawker Tempests and Sea Furys doing pre delivery circuits as they were manufactured there. The national press the next day stated that it was the Folland Midge. I cant remember what I did yesterday but I do remember that.
In one of the last air displays at Cranfield University before (despite being the UK's Aeronautical University) flogging off a large tract of its runways the was a Gnat. The pilot (I think a private owner) was very enthused to demo the Gnat's STOL ability and lifted the nose really early.......... Blowing a surprisingly long trench out of the surface of the runway. It was wonderful to behold.
@Roy Szweda No idea who the pilot was, didn't know Dave Gilmour flew evev, 'though I'm pretty sure Nick Mason was ambling around in a Tiger Moth a few years back if that helps?
As a young kid of 9 years old, I remember seeing a 'dog fight' in the outskirts of New Delhi in 1965. I was going to add a comment about the Pakistani suspension of reality, but then saw that someone had already taken care of this uniquely Pakistani trait!
The first and only time I saw the Folland Gnat was at Dulles International Airport at the "Transpo" (short for Transportation Exposition) in 1970. The RAF Red Arrow flight demonstration team flew an absolutely beautiful program that day. I still have a framed 8 X 10 inch photo of the team that I took that day hanging in my recreation room. I've seen quite a few demonstration teams since - the US Navy Blue Angels, the USAF Thunderbirds, and the RCAF Snowbirds - and the Red Arrows with their Gnats performance that day was right up there with the best of them! The Gnat was definitely a great plane, one which should have had a great export market for developing nations. That said, India did a great job making the Gnat - and their later HAL models made in India - a front line fighter that could hang with just about anything in the sky!
I was there too! (but it was 72, not 70). I was a spry 7-year old who was more into the Blue Flame and the monorails. So I don't remember ever seeing the Gnat in action.
I stopped playing WarThunder when they introduced the Westland Whirlwind (also designed by W Petter). They made a 1940 fighter compete in a 1945 sky. After that the game just didn't seem to have any authenticity.
Did undercarriage functional's on a Gnat as part of my trade training at RAF Halton, they have a quirky air-brake system, basically the main undercarriage extends/drops half way out...saw the Red Arrows when they used them, beautiful little aircraft.
It had its own make ejector seat as has been mentioned, but the cockpit was so small only people below a certain height, or with short legs were allowed to fly it. I got this from a 6ft2in airframe fitter who worked on them at RAF Valley in the 70's. He was pissed off as he was unable to have a trip in one unlike some of his shorter mates.
I am happy that after years of scouring youtube for plane, ships and tank documentaries there are still things that can surprise me. Good job on a fighter i never new existed :)).
Some years ago here in Finland, there was a former FAF Gnat in private ownership, waiting for a full restoration. I am not aware of that project's present status but, it would be so cool to see it airborne once again.
Hi Pete. I had the Airfix kit too. One of many to follow. Hanging by thread from my bedroom ceiling. Football all summer and my planes all winter. Those were the days.
First jet i saw as a child, there are 2 in my home town one in the park and one in the museum. We also had a chapter on its exploits in 1971 in our schooling days in middle school
Fun fact:the only IAF pilot ever to recieve highest gallantry award was flying a GNAT to defend the Srinagar airbase. Flying officer Sekhon went against 6 F-86 Sabres and shot down 2.
Four sabres attacked with another two flying much higher as air cover. In that fight the hero s wingman got lost..perhaps aborting take off during scramble. This gnat pilot chased the sabres who were returning after their runway bombing run .top cover sabres got him . No sabre was lost.
What a neat little plane. Even if it wasn't a massive success, it's great to see unorthodox ideas given a chance to prove their worth. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent tribute. I’m old enough to have seen the Gnat being thrown about the sky by the Red Arrows a few times, and to have made a few of the Airfix kits. Didn’t know it’s history though, especially as a combat fighter, so this video is a very welcome addition to the canon ... 30mm Aden version, of course! Your comments about the designer were also intriguing - I wonder if you have time to do a full biographical episode on him. And then a series on similar characters perhaps. No rush ...
I remember them well, I used to go to lots of airshows back then and the Gnats always put on the best performances, the Red Arrows were much better in the gnat than the Hawks. Petter was a real genius and if I was rich I would have a Gnat a Whirlwing and a Canberra in my hanger.
I totally agree. The first Canberra to arrive in Australia put on a demo over Brisbane (Capital of Queensland). I stood on its tail and flew straight upwards, very impressive. As a matter of interest the Vulcan did the same thing over Darwin when I was in the RAAF making a hell of a lot of noise and again very impressive
@@barrettcarr1413 Apsolutely, Petter's designs from and era of propeler aircraft broke records and defined a new era of aviation, befor aircraft had to get bigger to have lods of electronics, the Canberra a WW2 designed jet bomber that flew higher and faster than fighters and missiles at the time.
Fun fact: Petter was one of a group of staff very popular with the ladies of the typing pool at Follands. Along with Petter there was Dave Cuddle, Irishman Con Lingus, Phil Fingerer and Peter Phister.
Martin Baker had to make special ejector seats for the Gnat as the cockpit was so narrow. The Red Arrows found you could roll the Gnat in under 0.25 of a second.
Folland made their own seats for the Gnat as Martin Baker did not have a small enough seat. Many years ago (seems like several lifetimes!) I worked on the department at Hamble where the seats were made and maintained.
Spent 1965 at Valley working on the Gnat remember taking up the floor in the rear cockpit good job I was young and flexible could change nose wheel by just turning it away from you. They lost 3 aircraft in that year!
@JZ's Best Friend In Korean war, US airforce wanted these gnats to take on the agile Mig 15s because the F86 sarbes were large and wide fusealarge (drove like a truck) while the Gnats were like MG sports cars.
I only knew of the Gnat, as being a trainer and as the plane that was the red arrows planes, so this video with the extra information, has made my day better, and it’s not just the ten minutes of the video...... Because I am going to be doing some digging into the gnat and a couple of other planes that I like, to see what I can find, and I am also going to be getting the name of the designer, to look into his career if I can, too............
Used to love it during my time at RAF Akrotiri when the Reds came across for winter training. I even got to sit in one on one occasion & was given a guided tour of the cockpit by one of the pilots. A truly great aircraft
Nice film and really interesting. A wonderful little aircraft and I have hugely fond memories of watching the Red Arrows perform at airshows in my early childhood. I have also chatted with one of team members from those days who confirmed the story about pilots pulling a circuit breaker to massively increase the already fast roll rate! It was strictly forbidden and the engineers always knew when they had done it....didn't stop them doing it though! BTW...'Folland'...rhymes with Holland....just saying. Thanks for great little documentary on this excellent little jet.
One gnat is kept in the garden near my house in Chembur Mumbai India . Acharya garden Chembur. As I child I loved visiting the garden and see the fighter aircraft.
When the Red Arrows flew a display over water they could get very low. Once in a display over Fowey harbour I was in a dinghy when they did the head on pass (don't see them do that any more?) Right over us and we were covered in the Gnat's paraffin exhaust , unforgettable!
The joys of jet fuel. I saw several displays by the last flying Vulcan at Goodwood. At one when the aircraft flew up and away from us, at that point you could feel the thrust of the four Olympus engines beating against you. At that point, after years of being perturbed, I determined my friend had no sense of smell. It was like someone had thrown a bucket of paraffin in front of us, but my friend couldn't smell a thing.
Many hours in those gorgeous little jets. Part of the advanced course at Valley had three ship exercises. Instructor in one: students in the other two. The Instructor would 'stand off, and observe. The instructors could take a passenger ..... me :).... for a jolly while the students did their exercise. As a Cpl RWC, I was well known and trusted. I learned aerobatics !!
I thought 20 mm were used , because size and weight of 30mm used in small fusealarge of the gnat would have been too large. (Norway means small type insect). And it was certainly called a small bug jet .
Re the price of Airfix models. I bought a Spitfire for one shilling and eight pence at Woolworths in Ballina Co Mayo Ireland. That would equate to approximately 9 p in todays money. Don't you just love inflation. With Johnson's government are going to get a lot more. I have fond memories the Gnat at Raf Valley and seeing them fly through the Welsh valleys.
India's LCA is a very small aircraft. The design requirements stipulated that it should be light because of India's excellent experience with the Gnat.
A Folland Gnat crashed right in front of me as a small boy back in the sixties, a very sad day. This was at RAF Sealand . The pilot had a reported an engine fire, very common on this aircraft apparently and could not make a landing at Hawarden. I’m not sure if the pilot survived as it hit a grassed over camouflaged fuel dump or water tank, can’t be sure. This childhood memory still hurts, I still hope to this day that the pilot survived. A large proportion of Gnats produced were lost to accidents .
As a young boy I saw the Red Arrows display in Gnats a couple of times. I have an old picture I took of half a dozen Gnats in yellow livery lined up too from around the same time. I thought it was a super little jet, but my 1st love, and still is was the Lightning which I also display with a sonic bang in a climb.
I saw the Gnat used as a Training Airframe at RAF Halton. Our instructor told us that it was the only RAF jet aircraft that didn’t use Martin Baker ejection seats but Folland’s own. There was also a two-seater version on display, not much bigger than the Gnat. Sadly, the last time I saw the Gnat was a couple of years ago when a private display aircraft crashed near Oulton Park Raceway, Cheshire.
I learned aircraft marshalling with Gnats at Halton in the seventies. And yes, they did have Follands own seats, they always looked somewhat sturdier and simpler than the equivalent M-B seats of the same era? Other than pin changes on the Gnats, I only ever worked on our Martin-Baker and a couple of US manufactured seats when cross-service training.
The Folland name lives on in the Folland Sports FC Football team who play in the Wessex League. Nickname ‘The Planemakers’. Might be imagining this but thought they once had the Gnat as a shirt badge. Certainly isn’t the case anymore.
I saw Gnats being assembled at the Hamble, Hampshire factory in the early 1960's. Our tour party was on the mezzanine floor, and looking down we saw that the final stages of assembly consisted of mating the nose section (cockpit area) to the main wing and engine section, and finally the tail. This last seemed to be connected to the centre section by 3 large metal pins. Two of them lined up perfectly, but the third would not quite meet up with its socket. The foreman walked to the side and returned with a fine adjustment tool - a large rubber-headed sledge hammer. One well-practised blow to the tail section solved that problem!
I've seen the Gnat before on the internet, and everybody that flew them, loved them. It could have and should have been developed further, it was simple and relatively inexpensive.
I fear that you have hit the reason that it wasn't further developed on the head. It was cheap and easy to build, something that "The Military Industrial Complex" that President Eisenhower warned us of, cannot allow, as it cuts into their profit margins. We have now reached a point in time in which the MIC is pricing itself out of business, and it may be time for someone to develop a new aircraft in line with the F-5, G-91, and the Gnat.
@@earlwyss520 ~ I totally agree, But the MIC is owned by the same people who own the Central Bankers and the debt world wide. This why Boeing and Lockheed Martin always get the military contracts.
@@martentrudeau6948 That's because Northrop-Grumman, McDonnell-Douglas-Boeing, & Lockheed-Martin are the last three Aviation Defense Companies left in the US. Gone are North American/Rockwell, Chance Vought/Ling-Temco-Vought, Consolidated/Convair, Republic, Fairchild and others. We now have MEGA Corporations (which should be broken up via anti monopoly laws) supplying equipment to the military.
@@earlwyss520 ~ Yes this is consolidation of military industries, Northrop-Grumman, McDonnell-Douglas-Boeing, & Lockheed-Martin got the Defense Department contracts and North American/Rockwell, Chance Vought/Ling-Temco-Vought, Consolidated/Convair, Republic, Fairchild and others didn't get the contracts. Packard and Studebaker got military contracts during WW2, but not after and they are gone.
@@martentrudeau6948 Truth be told EVERYONE got Military contacts during WW-2. The biggest difference between the TBF Avengers & TBM Avengers was that Grumman built the TBF & GM built the TBM. But I understand your point.
I always loved the lil Gnat. When i was a kid on holiday to Wales, Father would take us to Angelsy (?) And RAF Valley where i spent many happy hours watching the trainer F 2 variants doing touch and goes. Now amd agaim tne Red Arrows would be practicing there. Also tnere was Shell Islamd with its rotary launch for its Jindiviks. Happy times.
The concept for the Gnat I believe is sound. As a concept it may really come into its own as unmanned technology improves and becomes reliable and affordable.
I was at Brands Hatch in July 1976 for the British GP (on South Bank). The Red Arrows performed during the lunch break - with Gnats at that time. The singletons flew low over S. Bank - so low that the wash was sucking up picnic chairs (unless someone was sat in them) - you could clearly see all the panels and rivets as they flashed by - if you weren't instinctively ducking, that is!! Not for nothing are they the best in the world - although I feel they lost something when changing to the Hawk (and the rule changes, of course).
I thought I recalled exactly that - the Textron Scorpion - but when I looked up the specs it is almost twice the size of the Gnat! I too remember the Red Arrows Gnats from my childhood, and the Airfix kit which for a while sat alongside a Fairey Delta and a Spitfire hung on cotton thread from my bedroom ceiling.
We saw two privately owned Gnats at the Mesa Getaway Airport in Arizona last March. one in a desert style camo paintjob and one in dark and light gray camo paint job. They parked near the brew pub restaurant and came in for lunch (sans the beverages of course). After lunch they followed an Allegiant Air 737 takeoff. I can look up the civil registration from my photos if anyone is interested.
Former RAF pilot here - I did my advanced training on the Gnat T1 at RAF Valley in 1974 and flew 70 hours in them. One didn't so much get into a Gnat as put it on. They were terrific fun.
The Gnat seems like such fun to fly
I bet, the 10,000 lb thrust one would have been a blast.
I gather from a mechanic friend of mine. They where not fun to work on. Very little space to work and a total loss oil system too.
R
My Dad was an Advanced Instructor twice. Instructing the Fleet Air in the fifties flying the Vampire.
Again in 1969 - 1970 flying the Folland Gnat.
As an Indian, I have a lot to thank the midge Gnats for and obviously a lot of emotion riding with it. I daresay the gnats, though not intimidating in appearance like todays machines, epitomized the best of pure childlike adventure and the quintessential pilot's dream, at the same time sounding the death knell for adversaries of the time. BTW, it is the only fighter to have featured in a tiny Indian postage stamp that did tremendous rounds during my chidhood years and I used to peer closely to make out its details. Today, thanks to you Ed, I came to know so much more. I love this bird.
I agree. Gnat was a wonderful aircraft in the hands of poor pilots.
@@MuhammadZubair-fz6yj You have wrong information. Porkistaani Air Force never used Gnats.
@@MuhammadZubair-fz6yj Pakistani pilots though superior to Hindu Pilots, got faulty training from USA, as USA feared that full technique will be passed on to Arab to fight against Israel.
We should have developed our own techniques, but at that time PAF did not have the IQ to do that.
We have corrected that as seen in Abhinandan case. Inshallah with JF-17, we are no longer dependent on USA.
Also most of our Pilots in Bangladesh were from Punjab and were distracted by the orders of the Army to carry out rapes on Bangladeshi Hindu women, so they were quite tired from raping the Hindu girls , when India attacked them .
@@MuhammadZubair-fz6yj And those pilot slayed advance tech sabrejet with gnat and replaced faxistan homi school flag to tricolored flag
@@vaibhavsrivastva1253 🤣🤣🤣
The Gnat had a roll rate limiter. The Red Arrows founds out that if the fuse carrier for the limiter was removed, they could get an even faster roll rate for displays. On this becoming known by someone in admin, they received a stern notice from the Air Ministry that the fuses were to be replaced; they did so, but put blown fuses in the fuse carriers.
😃That sounds like typical military scenario:
"Have the roll rate fuses been replaced"?
"Yes sir".
"Very good. Carry on".
I remember the Reds having Gnats. Stood on the top deck of a ferry in Douglas I am sure one passed below me at the start of a display. This was back in the day before display rules became tightened up.
In 1955 I worked as a lathe operator, my first job on leaving school. I turned Steel pins for the ejector seat on the Gnat. I was 15 at the time.( hope they were alright. )
What are those pins for?
@@Joshua_N-A usually for securing the ejector seat for ground maintenance, aka inhibiting firing of the seat.
Needs to be pulled before takeoff.
@@LupusAries Upon landing, pins would be placed in, 'Safe for parking' ie, to stop the seat pan and face screen handles etc... being accidentally pulled. If more indepth work was to be carried out, extra pins were fitted by Armourers, generally to things like the sear on the top of main gun. This is/was called 'Safe for servicing'.
On the work sheet they were listed as safety pins. They were 1 inch long, 1 eighth diameter and radiused each end.
@@terryfletcher6465 Not all Terry. For example, we would fit something more like a heavy duty nappy pin to the main gun sear when fitting and removing seats or if other trades required access? There was also something more akin to a hair clip that fitted to a time delay unit.
We were equipped with Gnats and we turned paxtani sabres into pile of nuts and bolts with this jet.
Yup
14 shot down 6 A2A even tho we had no missiles
I recently purchased a Gnat, XR9897, ex Red Arrows and YellowJacks jet and imported it to New Zealand. The reassembly starts mid August, covid bubbles permitting and the plan is to display at airshows here and to do adventure flights. I have some photos if anyone is interested. Great video too, really enjoyed it👍
DUDE. FILM IT AND POST I!
@Matthew Wilcock it is a dream of mine to do the same here in the states, as I have loved this aircraft since I was a kid. Did you happen to import it from a gentleman at North Perry Airport in FL? Company I fly for has a hangar next to a gentleman that sold a former Red. All the best and I would LOVE to see more of your Gnat as you progress.
@@overrotate Hi, I did indeed buy it from North Perry airport, the previous owner has a hangar there although “gentleman” is not the word I’d use to describe him! Probably not allowed to put in print the words I’d use to describe him! There is a Gnat in San Diego I also checked in on when inspecting the one I bought, its on Trade a Plane and has been for probably 8years at least. Interestingly he has just increased the sale price by doubling it!
@@mattssurf What was your assessment of the Same Diego jet? How are parts for them?
@@czoom51 it appeared in reasonable condition, although it would probably need a new paint job as it is a bit weathered. I believe it is run regularly, or it was but I was unable to start it up as it is in a very small and tight hangar and it takes some manoeuvring to get it out. My understanding from talking to the owner that day is that there are very few spare parts that come with it, which is or could be an issue. The front panel has had instruments removed and you can see the wiring looms behind. The instruments remaining are old and original, so the panel needs or could do with an update. Drop me an email for more mate.
The Folland Gnat DID serve as a Carrier based Fighter, at least in the Historical Documentary "Hot Shots"
:)
Ah yes. One even recovered to the deck without any wings if I recall.
Another landed in downtown Las Vegas, right infront of the casinos. Pilot was LT Jim "Wash Out" Pfaffenbach.
“Roger Wilco; Chilly Willy, Milli Vanilli.”Mucus, Niner-Sphincter; Ringworm. Over.” -Topper Harley, maybe.
I was just going to point that out lol
I used to know a man who flew these in the RAF, and he said "you don't climb into a Gnat, you just strap it on", my father was an ATC cadet at RAF Hullavington in the 1970's on Annual Camp and the Red Arrows, then based at RAF Kemble, gave a demonstration display of their program (using it as a training exercise), he said it was the finest display he ever saw them do, and he saw many later on. He said that compared to the other RAF aircraft of the time when you stood alongside the aircraft it was the only one he could look directly into with out climbing up, and he was actually taller than the cockpit, he was 6ft 4 inches tall. He loved the Hawker Hunter, and the Black Arrows display team, of Hunters, but always had a smile when he mentioned that lovely little bird the Gnat. It was one of the few to have Anhedral wings in that they went down at a steeper angle than most and it made the aircraft have a much better rate of roll. There were other display teams that flew the Gnat before the Red Arrows, my father mentioned the Yellowjacks or similar.
I remember Red Arrows in Gnats at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit. Passing the main Grand Stand lower than the grandstand roof. Then flying over First Corner (Paddock) and disappearing by diving into the field beyond. Some wag in the crowd shouted "Up a Bit" and that nervous laugh spread as everybody looked for the fire ball on the distant hill. That Foland Gnat appeared to a great cheer, it had flicked up it up it's nose, standing on it's tail in a blistering climb up the side of the distant hill and into the sky to rejoin colleagues in the Red Arrows. They were never as good for the spectator after the Folland Gnat was replaced, partially due to sensible safety rules,
The yellow Jack's and the red Arrows ARE the SAME team.
The Red Arrows with the Gnat were absolutely breathtaking.
Folland Gnat, the little fighter that could!
I remember being wowed by the Red Arrows in their Gnats back in 1974. Ray Hanna (ex Red One) said that even for an average sized pilot, it was a tight squeeze in the cockpit, and anyone over 6ft tall couldn't fit in at all.
Definitely one of the "if it looks right, it is right" aircraft.
But we are talking about British aircraft…………..right?
@@sonnyburnett8725 Your point being?
Absolutely. Further, if you cannot see it, you never will.
@@narabdela His point is totally non existent but no doubt of useless anti British bias.
@@deanofthevale3193 - Idiot ignores great looking, great flying British aircraft like the Spitfire and Canberra. Just to name two.
Ah, the Hot Shots jet. I remember being very surprised to find out they were an actual aircraft that saw service, I'd always thought they were props for the film, at least in part because of how small they were.
Me too...
I did too & was just as shocked when a friend of mine said they were real & I looked them up! The intro music to Hot Shots was rocking too!
was it really? I need to watch that again.
“it features the latest Mrs Halver series 3800 radar-jamming Framus” 🤣
"Oscar EW-5894 Phallus Tactical Fighter Bomber" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Imagine ur chillin in a Sabre in the late 70s, waiting to get ur hands on the new F-100, and all of a sudden, an 8 meter long fighter with an afterburner travelling mach 1.5 nails your engine with a Red Top missile. Would have been a bloody incredible craft more than capable of dunking on any other light fighter designs had the F.2 and the twin engine variants come through.
Yes is was a an incredible aircraft it saw combat in 1965 war where it shot seven sabres while losing two of its own and in 1971 war it destroyed the Sabre fleet while the migs kills the f104s
Your LOOPY, Mach 1.5 ? Not even with 2 engines and put an American fighter pilot in those Sabre jets in see how long the Indian Air Force would last …. “JACKHOLE” go flip some naan
Wishful thinking and totally inaccurate@@alandope8733
@@alandope8733"destroying"😂 PAF was outnumbered 1:5 but still they managed to down 75 of your aircrafts with only 20 losses. Read the history books mate and the MIGS of IAF which have the highest crash rate in history especially with the IAF.
Finally, a good video about Gnat in UA-cam. Bless you, Ed
Gnat is the 2nd most known fighter jet of Indian air force ( 1st mig21s). But the jets are most legendry one.....it can be seen in every indian air force station, one is 200meters from my house ............
Gnat is the spirit animal of Indian ADA and HAL..
They used a lot of Gnat's design philosophy in their 4/4+ lca tejas..
Even today the Indian aeronautical scientists talk about gnat endearingly..
If you ever get the chance to see one of these display, just do it... honestly, you won't be disappointed. They really are possibly the angriest and most dramatic little things and so endearing somehow.
When you hear those old RAF boys talking about "beating up an airfield", referring to flying low and fast in an aggressive manner, this was the aircraft that phrase should've been coined for.
When they come in to display, their entrance isn't all graceful like a Hunter or Canberra, oh not at all! These things come streaking in with a crescendo of noise, all chaos and marginally controlled violence and just rip across the display line before carving their way through a turn.
A beautiful bit of engineering and as someone else said, the Lotus of the skies. I wish it had been taken those extra steps forward, but like many other British engineering successes, it will forever be a "could've been" and we love it
gnat is one of the best looking jets ever
you must be blind
@@Simon-mc3sq everyone is entitled to their opinions. So, jokes on you.
@@Simon-mc3sq it has a lovely shape to the fuselage. Very smooth sleek lines.
Second only to the Hunter IMO.
I can remember seeing the Red Arrows in their Gnats flying their demos over a small Belgium airfield (think it was Brasschaat) that hosted an always impressive anual airshow, and boy did they fly low with those Gnats! And at that time, it wasn't a problem to fly over the public and so they did; and so low that all light weigh stuff would be blown away by their 'wake'; very impressive!! Aah, those were the airshow days! :-)
Yes indeed. I saw them a few times in the sixties at Culdrose airshow. They were great.
I think I would have seen them at either Bawtry or Finningley, and yes in those days, you didn't need binoculars to the the planes, you needed ear plugs and to tie your hat on!
Yeah. I would see them every year at the North Weald air show frequently with a Vulcan in a fly past!
Absolutely! I was at one airshow (forgotten which) and the Gnat switched on its light as it aimed for me. I was standing up I think through the skylight of my vehicle to get a better view. I wish I could say I saw the whites of his eyes, but he was gone in a flash and I got a blast of air and smelled the kerosene. If you know who it was, tell him I DIDN'T crap myself 😁😉
Saw one in the Indian Air Force museum in New Delhi in the 70s. Was amazed at how tiny it was. A 'petite' little airplane.
Yes, there used to be a liberator too in the open. And vampire, wapiti and spitfire inside.
I grew up with the Gnat. I was born in the mid sixties so when it came to my first Airfix kit it had to be this aircraft.
The kit lived up to it's big brother's party trick. That is "Small, light & easy to build". I remember trying, and failing, to keep the polystyrene cement off of that nose light.
But then, the colour scheme was easy!
Humbrol Signal Red No.174 😃
Believe it or not, I still have one now all these years later !
@@welshpete12 I believe it! It's so small! Even compared to WW1 biplanes! I remember once I'd made the 1/72 Airfix kit. I looked at it & checked the scale!
Yes, built one of the Airfix Gnats in Red Arrows colours, red and silver. Thought it was only a trainer aircraft not a combat plane
Airfix, was such a good company, they sold you the product, but you had to make it come alive!
A very good friend of mine , we worked together also . Was so taken with this aircraft , a model of one was placed on his grave . He was a good bloke and what he didn't know about aircraft was not worth knowing , I miss him .
I remember, long time ago, (I was visiting Palam Air Force base with my Dad), where a Gnat was displayed. For some reason, this had to be moved to different coordinates, and I saw two airmen just push it out to the desired location! It felt as it they were pushing a car out of a parking lot. It must have been fun to fly this "motorcycle of war planes"! And ofcourse, for all us Indians, it will always be remembered along with Flt. Lt. Sekhon.
Was he Sekhon in command?
@@TheRealBoroNut flying officer nirmal jeet singh sekhon he is a only param veer chakra awardee of indian air force he shot down 2 Sabres in emergency because of that he had to give up his life
@@soumyadipM6627 Wow that sounds a bit harsh. Couldn't he have been given a reprimand and confined to barracks as long as he promised not to do it again?
@@TheRealBoroNut uhh no bro his aircraft also suffered Damages and it crashed in that crash he lost his life
That is Air Force Museum, Palam, At the time of his Supreme sacrifice he was holding the rank of Flying Officer , not Flt Lt.
One of my favourite aircraft......a flying Lotus.
Couldn't agree with you more. It's like an Elise with wings.
The Midge even more than a gnat.
The Midge would make a great kit plane.
Simplify and add lightness.
Good analogy
(L)ots (O)f (T)rouble (U)sually (S)erious
I had the dubious honour of grabbing a back seat flight in one of these at Cranwell in 1971 / 72. I always worked on the principle if you don’t ask you don’t get, so tongue in cheek I asked a Red Arrows flight instructor if I could get a flight. To my amazement he said yes . 2 hours later I was putting on my Folland gnat - as stated elsewhere you didn’t get in these things you wore them like a very tight jacket. A quick sortie over Lincolnshire and several ‘ many rolls and loops later it was thankfully over. Hard to imagine in thousands of miles of clear blue sky getting claustrophobic.
I always loved the look of the Hunter and Swift, i never knew the Gnat existed until now but darn is it cute
Saudi Arabia used them as a combat aircraft, they could carry a pretty impressive load.
I grew up around Foland's factory in Hamble. The Red Arrows did an amazing display over the factory and my school in the late seventies to commerate The Gnat.
I fondly recall seeing the Gnat at air shows in the Red Arrow livery as a boy. They always were the highlight of the BBC Farnborough Airshows coverage.
As a kid, I always heard great stories about fighter GNAT from my father who was from the army. And on display of this retired jets, I always admired how good it looked. Im sure it's the smallest jets I have seen so far and definitely must have been very agile, sabre Slayer.
The little gnat , with an upgraded modern engine, re electronics and modern modular weapon systems , these would be an excellent aircraft to give to Ukraine. Don't sell a Gnat short, these are superb aircraft , only needs development.
When I worked at Lufthansa in London in 1969 an Anglo Indian lady in the public relations dept. told me her brother in the Indian Air Force shot down a Pakistani Sabre in the 1965 war. He flew a Folland Gnat. After landing he drove over to see his downed jet and was horrified to see the dead pilot in the cockpit. He resigned his commission and emigrated to Australia.
You are referring to Fl Lt Alfred Tyrone Cooke.............he's a Vir Chakra award winner and an indian war hero...
@@nit23sharma can’t be Cooke was piloting the hawker hunter this pilot who shot down the Sabre flew a gnat
@@alandope8733 ...there were few people like that...like keelor brothers...but the details you have shared match exactly with Fl Lt Cooke
@@alandope8733 ..ur correct about the hunter...but the details you have mentioned match only him
@@nit23sharma true but there’s an unknown gnat pilot who shot down the seventh Sabre of the 1965 war and plus i never heard Cooke drove his car to check on the Downed Sabre and plus one more thing she said he flew a gnat while Cooke flown a hunter
When I was 12 years old and a keen aircraft spotter I remember looking up into a clear blue sky one hot Summers evening and seeing this small, gleaming black swept wing aircraft flying overhead. I did not recognise it and it was dwarfed by two observation planes close by (one I think, was a Vickers Viking)
I lived near Langley airfield and was quite used to seeing Hawker Tempests and Sea Furys doing pre delivery circuits as they were manufactured there.
The national press the next day stated that it was the Folland Midge. I cant remember what I did yesterday but I do remember that.
In one of the last air displays at Cranfield University before (despite being the UK's Aeronautical University) flogging off a large tract of its runways the was a Gnat.
The pilot (I think a private owner) was very enthused to demo the Gnat's STOL ability and lifted the nose really early..........
Blowing a surprisingly long trench out of the surface of the runway.
It was wonderful to behold.
@Roy Szweda No idea who the pilot was, didn't know Dave Gilmour flew evev, 'though I'm pretty sure Nick Mason was ambling around in a Tiger Moth a few years back if that helps?
As a young kid of 9 years old, I remember seeing a 'dog fight' in the outskirts of New Delhi in 1965.
I was going to add a comment about the Pakistani suspension of reality, but then saw that someone had already taken care of this uniquely Pakistani trait!
The first and only time I saw the Folland Gnat was at Dulles International Airport at the "Transpo" (short for Transportation Exposition) in 1970. The RAF Red Arrow flight demonstration team flew an absolutely beautiful program that day. I still have a framed 8 X 10 inch photo of the team that I took that day hanging in my recreation room. I've seen quite a few demonstration teams since - the US Navy Blue Angels, the USAF Thunderbirds, and the RCAF Snowbirds - and the Red Arrows with their Gnats performance that day was right up there with the best of them! The Gnat was definitely a great plane, one which should have had a great export market for developing nations. That said, India did a great job making the Gnat - and their later HAL models made in India - a front line fighter that could hang with just about anything in the sky!
I was there too! (but it was 72, not 70). I was a spry 7-year old who was more into the Blue Flame and the monorails. So I don't remember ever seeing the Gnat in action.
i love this jet. ive been waiting 7 years for it to come to warthunder
same here it would be fine at 9.3 br
@John Milton Probably. Unless you want to fork out around 60 dollars for a plane, in the good old Gaijin tradition.
I stopped playing WarThunder when they introduced the Westland Whirlwind (also designed by W Petter). They made a 1940 fighter compete in a 1945 sky. After that the game just didn't seem to have any authenticity.
Did undercarriage functional's on a Gnat as part of my trade training at RAF Halton, they have a quirky air-brake system, basically the main undercarriage extends/drops half way out...saw the Red Arrows when they used them, beautiful little aircraft.
It had its own make ejector seat as has been mentioned, but the cockpit was so small only people below a certain height, or with short legs were allowed to fly it. I got this from a 6ft2in airframe fitter who worked on them at RAF Valley in the 70's. He was pissed off as he was unable to have a trip in one unlike some of his shorter mates.
4 FTS at Valley had to operate Hunter T Mk 7's as some students couldn't get in the aircraft either.
I am happy that after years of scouring youtube for plane, ships and tank documentaries there are still things that can surprise me. Good job on a fighter i never new existed :)).
The most gorgeous little fighter. I have flown more hours in these than any other jet aircraft.
All Indians have fond memories of the gnat.. spectacular plane and great video.
Some years ago here in Finland, there was a former FAF Gnat in private ownership, waiting for a full restoration. I am not aware of that project's present status but, it would be so cool to see it airborne once again.
I had the Airfix kit in the late sixties; it looked the biz.
Yes it still does, still got mine and a Yellow Jack's re-release, a lesser known display team.
Me too!
I love the smell of polystyrene cement in the morning. It smells like Airfix.
One day this childhood's gonna end...
Same here, but in the '70s.
Hi Pete. I had the Airfix kit too. One of many to follow. Hanging by thread from my bedroom ceiling. Football all summer and my planes all winter. Those were the days.
@@eddieboy4667 70s for me.
My father was at boscome down with a squadron in 1954, he saw the first folland midge fly and the EE p1.
First jet i saw as a child, there are 2 in my home town one in the park and one in the museum. We also had a chapter on its exploits in 1971 in our schooling days in middle school
I was aware of the Gnat but not it's development history. Fascinating video. Very entertaining and informative. Thanks!!!!
I grew up near RAF Valley where Gnats and Hunters were used for fast jet training. Always been a fan and this video was wonderful!
@6.55. Snowdon👍
Fun fact:the only IAF pilot ever to recieve highest gallantry award was flying a GNAT to defend the Srinagar airbase. Flying officer Sekhon went against 6 F-86 Sabres and shot down 2.
Shot down 2 actually.
oh yeah, that's a crazy story
Four sabres attacked with another two flying much higher as air cover. In that fight the hero s wingman got lost..perhaps aborting take off during scramble. This gnat pilot chased the sabres who were returning after their runway bombing run .top cover sabres got him . No
sabre was lost.
@@696pk yeah and pakistan never was an agressor .....
@@AryanSingh-ku7zb and they have won all the wars and they are a superpower 🤣🤣🤣
What a neat little plane. Even if it wasn't a massive success, it's great to see unorthodox ideas given a chance to prove their worth. Thanks for sharing.
There is a Folland Gnat on display in a park in Mumbai.I was astonished at the size, it about the size of a medium sized bus.
Excellent tribute. I’m old enough to have seen the Gnat being thrown about the sky by the Red Arrows a few times, and to have made a few of the Airfix kits. Didn’t know it’s history though, especially as a combat fighter, so this video is a very welcome addition to the canon ... 30mm Aden version, of course!
Your comments about the designer were also intriguing - I wonder if you have time to do a full biographical episode on him. And then a series on similar characters perhaps. No rush ...
Same here! I can still remember the stink of those smoke trails...
I remember them well, I used to go to lots of airshows back then and the Gnats always put on the best performances, the Red Arrows were much better in the gnat than the Hawks. Petter was a real genius and if I was rich I would have a Gnat a Whirlwing and a Canberra in my hanger.
Agree on the Gnat and the Whirlwind. They are in my top ranks of most attractive aircraft.
I totally agree. The first Canberra to arrive in Australia put on a demo over Brisbane (Capital of Queensland). I stood on its tail and flew straight upwards, very impressive. As a matter of interest the Vulcan did the same thing over Darwin when I was in the RAAF making a hell of a lot of noise and again very impressive
@@barrettcarr1413 Apsolutely, Petter's designs from and era of propeler aircraft broke records and defined a new era of aviation, befor aircraft had to get bigger to have lods of electronics, the Canberra a WW2 designed jet bomber that flew higher and faster than fighters and missiles at the time.
Fun fact: Petter was one of a group of staff very popular with the ladies of the typing pool at Follands. Along with Petter there was Dave Cuddle, Irishman Con Lingus, Phil Fingerer and Peter Phister.
Martin Baker had to make special ejector seats for the Gnat as the cockpit was so narrow. The Red Arrows found you could roll the Gnat in under 0.25 of a second.
Folland made their own seats for the Gnat as Martin Baker did not have a small enough seat. Many years ago (seems like several lifetimes!) I worked on the department at Hamble where the seats were made and maintained.
Nice to know more about the Folland Gnat.
As a child in the 1960's I remember seeing one inside of a Liverpool department store 'Lewis Bros'
It would be difficult to get It out of the store undetected.
@@jimdavis8391Don't be fooled!!! Those scousers can be very adaptable and cunning!!!😂
Spent 1965 at Valley working on the Gnat remember taking up the floor in the rear cockpit good job I was young and flexible could change nose wheel by just turning it away from you. They lost 3 aircraft in that year!
Cool little jet, very nimble flyer.
Those Red Arrows low passes made my heart shrink. Ballsy.
When they say the Gnats were Sabre killers, they are not joking.
@JZ's Best Friend Small does not start with A. But still, true.
They were, this thing shot no sabres down!
@@MM-cj4yl- There was no need for this comment.
@@rogertycholiz2218 ?
@JZ's Best Friend In Korean war, US airforce wanted these gnats to take on the agile Mig 15s because the F86 sarbes were large and wide fusealarge (drove like a truck) while the Gnats were like MG sports cars.
Love the video. Just the right length and amount of detail!
I only knew of the Gnat, as being a trainer and as the plane that was the red arrows planes, so this video with the extra information, has made my day better, and it’s not just the ten minutes of the video......
Because I am going to be doing some digging into the gnat and a couple of other planes that I like, to see what I can find, and I am also going to be getting the name of the designer, to look into his career if I can, too............
Great aircraft, saw them in Red Arrows guise, superb
This is freaking brilliant and I've never heard of this aircraft.
Thank you for this video!
As flown by Red-Arrows. I remember them flying over our farm on their way to RNAS Culdrose. They were amazing!
My uncle worked at Folland's, wonderful little plane.
Used to love it during my time at RAF Akrotiri when the Reds came across for winter training. I even got to sit in one on one occasion & was given a guided tour of the cockpit by one of the pilots. A truly great aircraft
Nice film and really interesting. A wonderful little aircraft and I have hugely fond memories of watching the Red Arrows perform at airshows in my early childhood. I have also chatted with one of team members from those days who confirmed the story about pilots pulling a circuit breaker to massively increase the already fast roll rate! It was strictly forbidden and the engineers always knew when they had done it....didn't stop them doing it though! BTW...'Folland'...rhymes with Holland....just saying. Thanks for great little documentary on this excellent little jet.
One gnat is kept in the garden near my house in Chembur Mumbai India . Acharya garden Chembur. As I child I loved visiting the garden and see the fighter aircraft.
When the Red Arrows flew a display over water they could get very low. Once in a display over Fowey harbour I was in a dinghy when they did the head on pass (don't see them do that any more?) Right over us and we were covered in the Gnat's paraffin exhaust , unforgettable!
They flew low over land too - I saw one fly by my car in 1977 in Denmark
The joys of jet fuel. I saw several displays by the last flying Vulcan at Goodwood. At one when the aircraft flew up and away from us, at that point you could feel the thrust of the four Olympus engines beating against you. At that point, after years of being perturbed, I determined my friend had no sense of smell. It was like someone had thrown a bucket of paraffin in front of us, but my friend couldn't smell a thing.
@@COIcultist I'm a USAF veteran and I kind of miss that sickeningly sweet smell of burnt jet fuel.
Phew ok well Folland gnat is seriously great part of our aviation history so thumbs up for this video
Topper Harley's ship...legendary machine, legendary man!
You have good taste in movies haha
The only man who eats while have sex!
Vaclav - You are the right man at the right time.
@@Persian-Immortal He's got his faher's eyes.
@@vaclav_fejt In a box!
A very interesting video. Have a good one Mr.Nash.
Many hours in those gorgeous little jets. Part of the advanced course at Valley had three ship exercises. Instructor in one: students in the other two. The Instructor would 'stand off, and observe. The instructors could take a passenger ..... me :).... for a jolly while the students did their exercise. As a Cpl RWC, I was well known and trusted. I learned aerobatics !!
I always thought this was such a cool little plane ever since I discovered its existence.
That shoot-down footage of the F-86s seems to show a couple of 30mm Aden impacts. BOOM BOOM and done. The Aden was no joke. Starts at about 7:10
I thought 20 mm were used , because size and weight of 30mm used in small fusealarge of the gnat would have been too large. (Norway means small type insect). And it was certainly called a small bug jet .
But they jammed very frequently, some indian pilots told after dogfighting they had sabres in their corshair many times only to be jammed.
Re the price of Airfix models. I bought a Spitfire for one shilling and eight pence at Woolworths in Ballina Co Mayo Ireland. That would equate to approximately 9 p in todays money. Don't you just love inflation. With Johnson's government are going to get a lot more. I have fond memories the Gnat at Raf Valley and seeing them fly through the Welsh valleys.
Beautiful aircraft, thank you for the presentation.
India's LCA is a very small aircraft. The design requirements stipulated that it should be light because of India's excellent experience with the Gnat.
Forever immortalized in that most excellent of air combat films, 'Hot Shots!'
A Folland Gnat crashed right in front of me as a small boy back in the sixties, a very sad day. This was at RAF Sealand . The pilot had a reported an engine fire, very common on this aircraft apparently and could not make a landing at Hawarden.
I’m not sure if the pilot survived as it hit a grassed over camouflaged fuel dump or water tank, can’t be sure. This childhood memory still hurts, I still hope to this day that the pilot survived.
A large proportion of Gnats produced were lost to accidents .
What year was it?
aviation-safety.net/wikibase/type/GNAT
1963
@@MoultonDave According to this the pilot survived.
aviation-safety.net/wikibase/137392
As a young boy I saw the Red Arrows display in Gnats a couple of times. I have an old picture I took of half a dozen Gnats in yellow livery lined up too from around the same time. I thought it was a super little jet, but my 1st love, and still is was the Lightning which I also display with a sonic bang in a climb.
An aircraft that is mostly known by sight as the plane of Topper in Hotshots is actually quite a capable airplane.
I saw the Gnat used as a Training Airframe at RAF Halton. Our instructor told us that it was the only RAF jet aircraft that didn’t use Martin Baker ejection seats but Folland’s own. There was also a two-seater version on display, not much bigger than the Gnat. Sadly, the last time I saw the Gnat was a couple of years ago when a private display aircraft crashed near Oulton Park Raceway, Cheshire.
I learned aircraft marshalling with Gnats at Halton in the seventies. And yes, they did have Follands own seats, they always looked somewhat sturdier and simpler than the equivalent M-B seats of the same era? Other than pin changes on the Gnats, I only ever worked on our Martin-Baker and a couple of US manufactured seats when cross-service training.
@@johnp8131 Same here at Cosford in the early eighties.
finally the sabre killers. .nice jet .proof that size doesnt always matter
Yea even iaf pilot once said in indo pak air war 1965 : You can fight what you see
The Folland name lives on in the Folland Sports FC Football team who play in the Wessex League. Nickname ‘The Planemakers’. Might be imagining this but thought they once had the Gnat as a shirt badge. Certainly isn’t the case anymore.
Excellent videos, Ed!
Thanks man
3:08 now I understand why the Gnat was small in comparison to the F-86 Sabre and the CL-13 Sabre
This was a nimble fighter that blunted american f86 sabre
Nice! Looking like the predecessor to the harrier.
Always thought similar growing up. The Orpheus in the Gnat became the core of the Pegasus in the Harrier, so there is a bit of lineage there!
I saw Gnats being assembled at the Hamble, Hampshire factory in the early 1960's. Our tour party was on the mezzanine floor, and looking down we saw that the final stages of assembly consisted of mating the nose section (cockpit area) to the main wing and engine section, and finally the tail. This last seemed to be connected to the centre section by 3 large metal pins. Two of them lined up perfectly, but the third would not quite meet up with its socket. The foreman walked to the side and returned with a fine adjustment tool - a large rubber-headed sledge hammer. One well-practised blow to the tail section solved that problem!
Just seen your comment which makes mine a bit redundant!
And to change the engine you took the back section off again
Always wanted a good video on Gnat. Thank you.
I've seen the Gnat before on the internet, and everybody that flew them, loved them. It could have and should have been developed further, it was simple and relatively inexpensive.
I fear that you have hit the reason that it wasn't further developed on the head. It was cheap and easy to build, something that "The Military Industrial Complex" that President Eisenhower warned us of, cannot allow, as it cuts into their profit margins. We have now reached a point in time in which the MIC is pricing itself out of business, and it may be time for someone to develop a new aircraft in line with the F-5, G-91, and the Gnat.
@@earlwyss520 ~ I totally agree, But the MIC is owned by the same people who own the Central Bankers and the debt world wide. This why Boeing and Lockheed Martin always get the military contracts.
@@martentrudeau6948 That's because Northrop-Grumman, McDonnell-Douglas-Boeing, & Lockheed-Martin are the last three Aviation Defense Companies left in the US. Gone are North American/Rockwell, Chance Vought/Ling-Temco-Vought, Consolidated/Convair, Republic, Fairchild and others. We now have MEGA Corporations (which should be broken up via anti monopoly laws) supplying equipment to the military.
@@earlwyss520 ~ Yes this is consolidation of military industries, Northrop-Grumman, McDonnell-Douglas-Boeing, & Lockheed-Martin got the Defense Department contracts and North American/Rockwell, Chance Vought/Ling-Temco-Vought, Consolidated/Convair, Republic, Fairchild and others didn't get the contracts.
Packard and Studebaker got military contracts during WW2, but not after and they are gone.
@@martentrudeau6948 Truth be told EVERYONE got Military contacts during WW-2. The biggest difference between the TBF Avengers & TBM Avengers was that Grumman built the TBF & GM built the TBM.
But I understand your point.
BEAUTIFUL AIRCRAFT ... Well narrated n factual presentation liked n subscribed mate..
It's Not About Aircrafts Technology It's About Pilot Skills. 🙏🏼😎
I always loved the lil Gnat. When i was a kid on holiday to Wales, Father would take us to Angelsy (?) And RAF Valley where i spent many happy hours watching the trainer F 2 variants doing touch and goes. Now amd agaim tne Red Arrows would be practicing there.
Also tnere was Shell Islamd with its rotary launch for its Jindiviks.
Happy times.
Beautiful aircraft designed by the unsung hero of the British aircraft industry
MINI MINOR COMPANY OF THE AEROSPACE COMPANIES, LOL
All that great info. And all I can think of is "eheheh. It's the plane from Hot Shots!"
The concept for the Gnat I believe is sound. As a concept it may really come into its own as unmanned technology improves and becomes reliable and affordable.
Excellent point.
I was at Brands Hatch in July 1976 for the British GP (on South Bank). The Red Arrows performed during the lunch break - with Gnats at that time. The singletons flew low over S. Bank - so low that the wash was sucking up picnic chairs (unless someone was sat in them) - you could clearly see all the panels and rivets as they flashed by - if you weren't instinctively ducking, that is!! Not for nothing are they the best in the world - although I feel they lost something when changing to the Hawk (and the rule changes, of course).
We could see jet trainers shrink back to the size of Folland Gnat in the future.
I thought I recalled exactly that - the Textron Scorpion - but when I looked up the specs it is almost twice the size of the Gnat! I too remember the Red Arrows Gnats from my childhood, and the Airfix kit which for a while sat alongside a Fairey Delta and a Spitfire hung on cotton thread from my bedroom ceiling.
We saw two privately owned Gnats at the Mesa Getaway Airport in Arizona last March. one in a desert style camo paintjob and one in dark and light gray camo paint job. They parked near the brew pub restaurant and came in for lunch (sans the beverages of course). After lunch they followed an Allegiant Air 737 takeoff. I can look up the civil registration from my photos if anyone is interested.