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.

@Tigershark_3082

2 жыл бұрын

The Gnat seems like such fun to fly

@williammcdorman6426

2 жыл бұрын

I bet, the 10,000 lb thrust one would have been a blast.

@Locomattive8572

2 жыл бұрын

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.

@OcEaNzHAS_Restarted

Жыл бұрын

R

@alisonmacgregor6666

Жыл бұрын

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.

@MuhammadZubair-fz6yj

Жыл бұрын

I agree. Gnat was a wonderful aircraft in the hands of poor pilots.

@vaibhavsrivastva1253

Жыл бұрын

@@MuhammadZubair-fz6yj You have wrong information. Porkistaani Air Force never used Gnats.

@aadilansari5997

Жыл бұрын

@@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 .

@devendersingh592

Жыл бұрын

@@MuhammadZubair-fz6yj And those pilot slayed advance tech sabrejet with gnat and replaced faxistan homi school flag to tricolored flag

@sirpatriarch8122

Жыл бұрын

@@vaibhavsrivastva1253 🤣🤣🤣

We were equipped with Gnats and we turned paxtani sabres into pile of nuts and bolts with this jet.

@0xsn1pe36

2 жыл бұрын

Yup 14 shot down 6 A2A even tho we had no missiles

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.

@Steve-GM0HUU

3 жыл бұрын

😃That sounds like typical military scenario: "Have the roll rate fuses been replaced"? "Yes sir". "Very good. Carry on".

@davecooper3238

4 ай бұрын

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.

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👍

@MrSGL21

3 жыл бұрын

DUDE. FILM IT AND POST I!

@overrotate

3 жыл бұрын

@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.

@mattssurf

3 жыл бұрын

@@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

Жыл бұрын

@@mattssurf What was your assessment of the Same Diego jet? How are parts for them?

@matt3104

Жыл бұрын

@@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.

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. )

@Joshua_N-A

3 жыл бұрын

What are those pins for?

@LupusAries

3 жыл бұрын

@@Joshua_N-A usually for securing the ejector seat for ground maintenance, aka inhibiting firing of the seat. Needs to be pulled before takeoff.

@johnp8131

3 жыл бұрын

@@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

3 жыл бұрын

On the work sheet they were listed as safety pins. They were 1 inch long, 1 eighth diameter and radiused each end.

@johnp8131

3 жыл бұрын

@@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 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.

@rodharrap873

3 жыл бұрын

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,

@Kickback-dm7zt

2 жыл бұрын

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.

The Folland Gnat DID serve as a Carrier based Fighter, at least in the Historical Documentary "Hot Shots"

@LoanwordEggcorn

3 жыл бұрын

:)

@0w784g

3 жыл бұрын

Ah yes. One even recovered to the deck without any wings if I recall.

@serrasalmusgeryi2051

3 жыл бұрын

Another landed in downtown Las Vegas, right infront of the casinos. Pilot was LT Jim "Wash Out" Pfaffenbach.

@jaybee9269

3 жыл бұрын

“Roger Wilco; Chilly Willy, Milli Vanilli.”Mucus, Niner-Sphincter; Ringworm. Over.” -Topper Harley, maybe.

@warhawk4494

3 жыл бұрын

I was just going to point that out lol

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 ............

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.

@alandope8733

2 жыл бұрын

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

@randydelabarcena4988

2 жыл бұрын

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

@sadiqjohnny77

10 ай бұрын

Wishful thinking and totally inaccurate@@alandope8733

@syedayanather713

4 ай бұрын

​@@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.

Definitely one of the "if it looks right, it is right" aircraft.

@sonnyburnett8725

3 жыл бұрын

But we are talking about British aircraft…………..right?

@narabdela

3 жыл бұрын

@@sonnyburnett8725 Your point being?

@ohgosh5892

3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely. Further, if you cannot see it, you never will.

@deanofthevale3193

3 жыл бұрын

@@narabdela His point is totally non existent but no doubt of useless anti British bias.

@scootergeorge9576

2 жыл бұрын

@@deanofthevale3193 - Idiot ignores great looking, great flying British aircraft like the Spitfire and Canberra. Just to name two.

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..

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.

@ORCLEAM

3 жыл бұрын

Me too...

@jamesriggs6210

3 жыл бұрын

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!

@seeingeyegod

3 жыл бұрын

was it really? I need to watch that again.

@spency787

3 жыл бұрын

“it features the latest Mrs Halver series 3800 radar-jamming Framus” 🤣

@gbixby3453

3 жыл бұрын

"Oscar EW-5894 Phallus Tactical Fighter Bomber" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

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.

Finally, a good video about Gnat in KZread. Bless you, Ed

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 .

gnat is one of the best looking jets ever

@Simon-mc3sq

3 жыл бұрын

you must be blind

@MM-cj4yl

3 жыл бұрын

@@Simon-mc3sq everyone is entitled to their opinions. So, jokes on you.

@jwadaow

3 жыл бұрын

@@Simon-mc3sq it has a lovely shape to the fuselage. Very smooth sleek lines.

@archivist17

3 жыл бұрын

Second only to the Hunter IMO.

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

2 жыл бұрын

Believe it or not, I still have one now all these years later !

@Aengus42

2 жыл бұрын

@@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!

@glen1555

Жыл бұрын

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

@stephenhargreaves9324

4 ай бұрын

Airfix, was such a good company, they sold you the product, but you had to make it come alive!

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.

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.

@sunilsrivastava57

11 ай бұрын

Yes, there used to be a liberator too in the open. And vampire, wapiti and spitfire inside.

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! :-)

@johndufeu9894

3 жыл бұрын

Yes indeed. I saw them a few times in the sixties at Culdrose airshow. They were great.

@Simon_Nonymous

3 жыл бұрын

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!

@steveosborne2297

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah. I would see them every year at the North Weald air show frequently with a Vulcan in a fly past!

@travelbugse2829

4 ай бұрын

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 😁😉

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

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!

One of my favourite aircraft......a flying Lotus.

@left_ventricle

3 жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree with you more. It's like an Elise with wings.

@daszieher

3 жыл бұрын

The Midge even more than a gnat. The Midge would make a great kit plane.

@raypurchase801

3 жыл бұрын

Simplify and add lightness.

@MrAvant123

3 жыл бұрын

Good analogy

@jimdavis8391

3 жыл бұрын

(L)ots (O)f (T)rouble (U)sually (S)erious

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

3 жыл бұрын

Was he Sekhon in command?

@soumyadipmukherjee6627

2 жыл бұрын

@@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

@TheRealBoroNut

2 жыл бұрын

@@soumyadipmukherjee6627 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?

@soumyadipmukherjee6627

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheRealBoroNut uhh no bro his aircraft also suffered Damages and it crashed in that crash he lost his life

@sunilsrivastava57

11 ай бұрын

That is Air Force Museum, Palam, At the time of his Supreme sacrifice he was holding the rank of Flying Officer , not Flt Lt.

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

2 жыл бұрын

You are referring to Fl Lt Alfred Tyrone Cooke.............he's a Vir Chakra award winner and an indian war hero...

@alandope8733

2 жыл бұрын

@@nit23sharma can’t be Cooke was piloting the hawker hunter this pilot who shot down the Sabre flew a gnat

@nit23sharma

2 жыл бұрын

@@alandope8733 ...there were few people like that...like keelor brothers...but the details you have shared match exactly with Fl Lt Cooke

@nit23sharma

2 жыл бұрын

@@alandope8733 ..ur correct about the hunter...but the details you have mentioned match only him

@alandope8733

2 жыл бұрын

@@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

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.

@joydevsarkar4474

2 жыл бұрын

Shot down 2 actually.

@madhukarjonathanminj2772

Жыл бұрын

oh yeah, that's a crazy story

@696pk

Жыл бұрын

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.

@AryanSingh-ku7zb

Жыл бұрын

@@696pk yeah and pakistan never was an agressor .....

@shishirnair4563

Жыл бұрын

@@AryanSingh-ku7zb and they have won all the wars and they are a superpower 🤣🤣🤣

The most gorgeous little fighter. I have flown more hours in these than any other jet aircraft.

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.

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.

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.

@Farweasel

3 жыл бұрын

@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?

i love this jet. ive been waiting 7 years for it to come to warthunder

@Kamarov2090

3 жыл бұрын

same here it would be fine at 9.3 br

@gusty9053

3 жыл бұрын

@John Milton Probably. Unless you want to fork out around 60 dollars for a plane, in the good old Gaijin tradition.

@Simwebby

3 жыл бұрын

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.

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.

@bernardsmith1329

Жыл бұрын

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.

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.

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.

@peterstorch1252

2 жыл бұрын

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.

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.

finally the sabre killers. .nice jet .proof that size doesnt always matter

@rasanasarangi3772

2 жыл бұрын

Yea even iaf pilot once said in indo pak air war 1965 : You can fight what you see

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.

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.

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.

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!

@FrankGeorge65

Жыл бұрын

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.

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.

@richardvernon317

3 жыл бұрын

4 FTS at Valley had to operate Hunter T Mk 7's as some students couldn't get in the aircraft either.

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.

An RAF vet once joked with me that the fun to be had getting into the cockpit was the origin of the phrase "Tighter than a Gnat's chuff." RIP 'Bristol' Bob.

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!

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 !!

As a child in the 1960's I remember seeing one inside of a Liverpool department store 'Lewis Bros'

@jimdavis8391

3 жыл бұрын

It would be difficult to get It out of the store undetected.

@jonhunter8737

4 ай бұрын

​@@jimdavis8391Don't be fooled!!! Those scousers can be very adaptable and cunning!!!😂

Nice to know more about the Folland Gnat.

Phew ok well Folland gnat is seriously great part of our aviation history so thumbs up for this video

It's Not About Aircrafts Technology It's About Pilot Skills. 🙏🏼😎

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.

@daszieher

3 жыл бұрын

Agree on the Gnat and the Whirlwind. They are in my top ranks of most attractive aircraft.

@barrettcarr1413

3 жыл бұрын

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

@pingpong5000

3 жыл бұрын

@@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.

3:08 now I understand why the Gnat was small in comparison to the F-86 Sabre and the CL-13 Sabre

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.

My father was at boscome down with a squadron in 1954, he saw the first folland midge fly and the EE p1.

Those Red Arrows low passes made my heart shrink. Ballsy.

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!

@billy4072

2 жыл бұрын

@6.55. Snowdon👍

Cool little jet, very nimble flyer.

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.

My uncle worked at Folland's, wonderful little plane.

I had the Airfix kit in the late sixties; it looked the biz.

@CrusaderSports250

3 жыл бұрын

Yes it still does, still got mine and a Yellow Jack's re-release, a lesser known display team.

@raypurchase801

3 жыл бұрын

Me too! I love the smell of polystyrene cement in the morning. It smells like Airfix. One day this childhood's gonna end...

@Ulfcytel

3 жыл бұрын

Same here, but in the '70s.

@eddieboy4667

3 жыл бұрын

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.

@limedickandrew6016

3 жыл бұрын

@@eddieboy4667 70s for me.

When they say the Gnats were Sabre killers, they are not joking.

@MM-cj4yl

3 жыл бұрын

@JZ's Best Friend Small does not start with A. But still, true.

@rulingmoss5599

3 жыл бұрын

They were, this thing shot no sabres down!

@rogertycholiz2218

3 жыл бұрын

@@MM-cj4yl- There was no need for this comment.

@MM-cj4yl

3 жыл бұрын

@@rogertycholiz2218 ?

@amuxpatch2798

3 жыл бұрын

@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 was aware of the Gnat but not it's development history. Fascinating video. Very entertaining and informative. Thanks!!!!

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 :)).

I was born in 1960's and had exprienced the wars with Pakistan and had heard of Gnat had killed so many Saber Jets of PIA and so attached to it emotions with it thanks.

Teddy Petter went to the same school of design Colin Chapman graduated from. "Simplify, then add lightness !"

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 always thought this was such a cool little plane ever since I discovered its existence.

Love the video. Just the right length and amount of detail!

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

@amuxpatch2798

3 жыл бұрын

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 .

@joydevsarkar4474

2 жыл бұрын

But they jammed very frequently, some indian pilots told after dogfighting they had sabres in their corshair many times only to be jammed.

@martinweir5603

2 жыл бұрын

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.

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 .

@seanjoseph8637

3 жыл бұрын

What year was it? aviation-safety.net/wikibase/type/GNAT

@MoultonDave

3 жыл бұрын

1963

@seanjoseph8637

3 жыл бұрын

@@MoultonDave According to this the pilot survived. aviation-safety.net/wikibase/137392

Topper Harley's ship...legendary machine, legendary man!

@1IbramGaunt

3 жыл бұрын

You have good taste in movies haha

@Persian-Immortal

3 жыл бұрын

The only man who eats while have sex!

@shanemartin2491

3 жыл бұрын

Vaclav - You are the right man at the right time.

@vaclav_fejt

3 жыл бұрын

@@Persian-Immortal He's got his faher's eyes.

@Persian-Immortal

3 жыл бұрын

@@vaclav_fejt In a box!

YOU sir, GET IT ! The whole John Boyd and fighter mafia message. Thank you for this.

I always loved the look of the Hunter and Swift, i never knew the Gnat existed until now but darn is it cute

@khankrum1

3 жыл бұрын

Saudi Arabia used them as a combat aircraft, they could carry a pretty impressive load.

This is freaking brilliant and I've never heard of this aircraft. Thank you for this video!

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............

I honestly thought that the Red Arrows had been using the Gnat later than 1979! I would have guessed about 1984!

Always wanted a good video on Gnat. Thank you.

Beautiful aircraft, thank you for the presentation.

Excellent videos, Ed!

@EdNashsMilitaryMatters

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks man

Great video Ed !

I sat in a Red Arrows Gnat when I was a child in the 70s & even then it struck me how physically small it was.

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 ...

@xRepoUKx

3 жыл бұрын

Same here! I can still remember the stink of those smoke trails...

An aircraft that is mostly known by sight as the plane of Topper in Hotshots is actually quite a capable airplane.

On paper, the Gnat was exactly what the Finnish Air Force wanted; a small, economical, advanced trainer to replace the Fouga Magister, and that could still be armed and used as a 2nd line fighter in a pinch (thus working around the limitations of the Paris Peace Treaty, designating the aircraft as trainers) In practice, the Gnat proved to be too bothersome mechanically to be worth it. While simple and cheap to build, it was not so to keep in service. I have not managed to find out what *exactly* the technical issues in Finnish service were, but hydraulics has been cited two or three times (one aircraft was lost and the pilot paralysed due to a design failure in the hydraulics, that aircraft was replaced at no cost by Folland and the remaining modified) and then there's always the vague "generally too difficult and expensive to maintain". I could bet that at least some of the difficulties were weather-related as that's the "favourite" reason for an otherwise good aircraft struggling or failing in Finnish service. In 1978, the FAF finally found what it was really looking for in the BaE Hawk, which has had a tremendously successful career in Finland since and will continue flying until the 2030's at least. With Hawk, the FAF has maintained the 1st line/2nd line-trainer fighter force concept despite the limitations of the 1947 peace treaty disappearing with the fall of the Soviet Bloc. The Gnat does, though, have the honour of being the first aircraft that broke the sound barrier in Finland.

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

Beautiful aircraft designed by the unsung hero of the British aircraft industry

@amuxpatch2798

2 жыл бұрын

MINI MINOR COMPANY OF THE AEROSPACE COMPANIES, LOL

We could see jet trainers shrink back to the size of Folland Gnat in the future.

@petercain8265

3 жыл бұрын

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.

The Gnats were used by India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The most notable action was the Battle of Boyra where the first dogfights over East Pakistan (Bangladesh) took place. The Indian Air Force (IAF) Gnats shot down two PAF Canadair Sabres and badly damaged one. The Pakistan Air Force also claimed that one Gnat was shot down during the dogfight. Another notable dogfight involving a Gnat was over Srinagar airfield where a lone Indian pilot held out against six Sabres, lightly damaging two of the Sabres in the process, before being shot down. Gnat pilot Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon was posthumously honoured with the Param Vir Chakra (India's highest gallantry award), becoming the only member of the IAF to be given the award. By the end of 1971, the Gnat proved to be a frustrating opponent for the larger, heavier and older Sabre. The Gnat was referred to as a "Sabre Slayer" by the IAF since most of its combat "kills" during the two wars were against Sabres despite the Canadair Sabre Mk 6 being widely regarded as the best dogfighter of its era. Tactics called for Gnats taking on the Sabres in the vertical arena, where the Sabres were at a disadvantage. As the Gnat was lightweight and compact in shape, it was hard to see, especially at the low levels where most dogfights took place. Apart from air defence operations, in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Gnats flew anti-shipping operations, ground attack, bomber/transport escort and close air support operations.

We had an old IAF Gnat on display on our grounds at the boarding school I went to!

@rsingh75

2 жыл бұрын

Was the boarding school Mayo College?

@anonymouslyopinionated656

2 ай бұрын

@@rsingh75 no, Doon!

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.

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!

@leifvejby8023

3 жыл бұрын

They flew low over land too - I saw one fly by my car in 1977 in Denmark

@COIcultist

3 жыл бұрын

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.

@earlwyss520

3 жыл бұрын

@@COIcultist I'm a USAF veteran and I kind of miss that sickeningly sweet smell of burnt jet fuel.

As flown by Red-Arrows. I remember them flying over our farm on their way to RNAS Culdrose. They were amazing!

Great aircraft, saw them in Red Arrows guise, superb

A small mistake in the video was "The sabre killer" title that the gnats earned in 1965 indo pak war...This title was not given to Gnats by the Indians but by Pakistan airforce after they lost 3 F 86 Sabres on the same day loosing 3 ace pilots ...!! Rest all info was nice... 👍

@ruturajshiralkar5566

3 жыл бұрын

Flt Lt Denzil Keelor Flt Lt Trevor Keelor Flt Lt Virendra Singh Pathania Fg Ofr Prakash Pingale Fg Ofr Dara Chinoy Sqn Ldr Brijpal Sikand Flt Lt Devnath Rathore Flt Lt Vinod Kumar Neb

@tibzig1

3 жыл бұрын

@@ruturajshiralkar5566 No numbers or claims can be believed from either India or Pakistan. It is part of the culture of the Subcontinent to embellish, exaggerate, and lie. Hindus and Muslins both.

@ruturajshiralkar5566

3 жыл бұрын

@Advait Kolhatkar Devnath Rathore used Gnat and Hunter both. I guess even Neb flew both.

@ruturajshiralkar5566

3 жыл бұрын

@Advait Kolhatkar no.

@ruturajshiralkar5566

3 жыл бұрын

@Advait Kolhatkar Thank u

Hotshots!

@EdNashsMilitaryMatters

3 жыл бұрын

Haha indeed!

@shanepatrick4534

3 жыл бұрын

Ya beat me to it! One of the best movies of all time.

@RazvanMihaeanu

3 жыл бұрын

...aka "Oscar EW-5894 Phallus Tactical Fighter Bomber"

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.

@johnp8131

3 жыл бұрын

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.

@stephenmundane

3 жыл бұрын

@@johnp8131 Same here at Cosford in the early eighties.

Forever immortalized in that most excellent of air combat films, 'Hot Shots!'