Folland Gnat Jet Donated To Spirit Of Flight | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.13.24

Airborne-NextGen-05.14.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.15.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-05.16.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.17.24

Fri, Feb 11, 2011

Folland Gnat Jet Donated To Spirit Of Flight

One Of Only 105 Ever Built

In 1955, the Folland Aircraft Company flew the compact Gnat T Mk. 1 aircraft for the first time to great praise by the RAF test pilots and development team that included one pilot for India. The tiny jet was evaluated by the RAF as a possible replacement to the DeHavilland Venom, but lost out to the Hawker Hunter. Rather than be used as a fighter, the RAF used the Gnat as a trainer, but it was most notable as the aircraft used by the Red Arrows demonstration team.


Folland Gnat

The Gnat did see service as a fighter, known as the F.1 with the Indian Air Force and has been credited with shooting down seven Pakistani Canadair Sabre jets (license built F-86) during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War. The Gnat received the nickname of "Sabre Slayer."
 
Thanks to the generosity of a donor, the Spirit of Flight Center near Denver, Colorado now has a "Sabre Slayer", Gnat XP513, and it will soon be on display with the goal to get the plane back in the air for the general public to enjoy. "I have always admired the Gnat and how maneuverable it is," said Spirit of Flight Center President Gordon Page. "I have flown one and you really need to be on your game because of how quick it is."


Gnat Red Arrows With Concorde

Only 105 Gnats were built and used by the UK, India, Finland and Yugoslavia. Today, there are only a handful of airworthy examples in the United States and United Kingdom. "A lot of people recognize the Folland Gnat, but many don't know that it was used as the fictional Navy fighter flown by the Americans in the movie Hot Shots," said Gordon Page. "We will have an original poster from the 1991 movie near the Gnat to remind everyone."


Gnat In Restoration

The Spirit of Flight Center is looking for donations to help get the plane back in the air. Anyone looking to help "Save a Gnat" is encouraged to contact the Spirit of Flight Center.

FMI: www.spiritofflight.com

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.17.24): Very High Frequency

Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.17.24)

Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]

ANN FAQ: Submit a News Story!

Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: ANN Visits Wings Over The Rockies Exploration Of Flight

From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 05.16.24: PRA Runway, Wag-Aero Sold, Young Eagles

Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC