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Folland Gnat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Folland Gnat | |
|---|---|
 |
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| A former Red Arrows aircraft, XR537 | |
| Type | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Folland Aircraft Ltd |
| Designed by | W.E.W. Petter |
| Maiden flight | 18 July 1955 |
| Introduced | 1959, RAF |
| Retired | 1979, UK |
| Primary users | Indian Air Force Royal Air Force Finnish Air Force |
| Number built | 449 (including HAL Ajeet) |
| Variants | HAL Ajeet |
The Folland Gnat was an exceptionally small, swept-wing British subsonic jet trainer and light fighter aircraft originally developed for the Royal Air Force, and flown extensively by the Indian Air Force. It was designed by W. E. W. Petter (formerly of Westland Aircraft and English Electric) and first flew in 1955. Its design was such that it could be built without specialised tools, hence by countries that were not necessarily highly industrialised. Although never used as a fighter by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the "Gnat T.1" trainer variant was widely used, and as the mount for the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic team, the Gnat became a national icon.
The Gnat also achieved export success, particularly with India, the largest foreign operator who manufactured the aircraft under license. India then developed the "Ajeet", a modified and improved variant.
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The Gnat was the creation of W.E.W. "Teddy" Petter, a renowned British aircraft designer, who believed a small, simple fighter would offer the advantages of low purchase and operational costs. New lightweight turbojet engines that were being developed at the time enabled the concept to take shape. One of the hallmarks of the Gnat's design was its compact size. However, to achieve such a small size, its systems were quite closely-packed, making maintenance more difficult. Some of its systems were not noted for their reliability and the aircraft suffered from high operating costs. There were also issues that its cockpit was cramped and obstructed the instructor's forward visibility. Furthermore, the limited weapons load and reduced fuel capacity – both designed to reduce overall kerb weight – meant that it could not operate for protracted periods. Despite the shortcomings, the Gnat and its predecessor the Folland Midge were praised by the RAF evaluation and the test pilots. The lower cost of the Gnat, its compact dimensions, as well as "good press" for the aircraft in air shows, were among the factors that prompted a spurt in its export sales.
In Britain it served as the Folland Fo.144 Gnat Trainer (later renamed the Gnat T.Mk 1), most notably as the demonstration aircraft of the RAF's Red Arrows aerobatic display team between 1964, when the team was formed, and 1979 when they were replaced by the Hawk T1.A.
The Gnat's experimental precursor was the Folland Midge, which used a less powerful engine.
When the RAF replaced and sold off its Gnat T.Mk 1 trainers, many were bought by private collectors and subsequently appeared (along with some single-seat Gnats) in the Charlie Sheen movie Hot Shots.
One of the few remaining Gnats in the UK has recently been restored to flight status at Bournemouth Airport, in Southern England. G-NATY (formerly XR537) is the only genuine former Red Arrows Gnat on the European display circuit. The aircraft can be viewed at the de Havilland Aviation hangar at Bournemouth Airport in Dorset, southern England. Like many ex-military jet aircraft, there is one (G-FRCE) based at North Weald Airfield in Essex. [1]
The Finnish Air Force received the first of its 13 Gnats on 30 July 1958. It was soon found to be a problematic aircraft in service and required a lot of ground service. Finland initially considered license manufacturing the aircraft but eventually decided not to. On 31 July 1958, Major Lauri Pekuri broke the sound barrier for the first time at Luonetjärvi in Finland.
All Gnats were grounded on 26 August 1958, for six months after the destruction of GN-102 due to a technical error, and the aircraft soon became the subject of severe criticism. Three other aircraft were also destroyed in other accidents. The Gnats were removed from active service in 1972 when the Häme Wing moved to Rovaniemi, and when the new Saab 35 Drakens were taken into use.
Serving primarily with the Indian Air Force, the Gnat is credited by many independent and Indian sources to have shot down seven Pakistani Canadair Sabres (licence built F-86s) in the 1965 war.[2][3][4][5] The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) claims only three Gnat victories over F-86s in air to air combat,[6] while two Gnats were downed by PAF fighters. During the initial phase of the 1965 War, an IAF Gnat, piloted by Squadron Leader Brij Pal Singh Sikand, landed at an abandoned Pakistani airstrip at Pasrur and was captured by the PAF who first claimed that two Pakistani F-104 Starfighters forced the Gnat down;[7] however, the Indians claimed the pilot landed by mistake.[8][9] This Gnat is displayed as a war trophy in the Pakistan Air Force Museum, Karachi. After the ceasefire, one Pakistani Cessna O-1 was shot down on 16 December 1965 by a Gnat.[10]
The Gnats were effectively used again by India in the Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan.[11][12] The most notable action was the Battle of Boyra where the first dogfights over East Pakistan took place. The IAF Gnats downed two PAF Canadair Sabres in minutes and badly damaged one. The Pakistan Air Force claims that one Gnat was shot down. Brij Pal Singh Sikand, the Gnat squadron commander had been a POW in the 1965 war. Another notable dogfight involving a Gnat was over Srinagar airfield where a lone Indian pilot held out against six Sabres,[13] scoring hits on two of the Sabres in the process,[14][15] before being overwhelmed. Gnat pilot, Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, was posthumously honoured with Param Vir Chakra (India's highest gallantry award) becoming the only IAF personnel to be given the award.
By the end of 1971, the Gnat proved to be a frustrating opponent for the technically superior Sabres, and had lived up to its Indian Air Force nickname of "Sabre Slayers" since all its combat "kills" during the two wars were against Sabres.[16][17] The Canadair Sabre Mk 6 was widely regarded as the best "dogfighter" of its era.[18][19][20] Tactics called for Gnats taking on the Sabres in the vertical where they were at a disadvantage. Moreover, because the Gnat was lightweight and compact in shape, it was hard to see, especially at low levels where most of the dogfights took place.[5] Apart from air defence operations, the aircraft performed multiple roles in the Bangladesh Liberation War being utilized in Anti-Shipping Operations, Ground attack, Bomber/Transport escort and Close Air Support with "devastating effects" on the PAF.[11][12] The success of the indigenously produced Gnats against the more sophisticated Pakistani-flown planes was viewed as a significant achievement.[21]
The IAF were impressed by the Gnat's performance in the two wars, but the aircraft had problems including hydraulics and unreliable control systems. To address these issues, the IAF issued a requirement for an improved "Gnat II" in 1972, at first specifying that the new version was to be optimized as an interceptor, but then expanding the specification to include the ground-attack role. Over 175 of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-built licensed version, the Ajeet ("Unconquerable"), were produced in Bangalore, while about 40 were purchased directly from Folland.
Gnats served in India from 1958-1978, and several remain in use in private hands. Some IAF Gnats, one of which had participated in the 1971 war in East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) were presented to the Bangladesh Air Force.[22]
- Finnish Air Force
- Häme Wing
- HavLLv 11
- HavLLv 21
- Häme Wing
- Royal Air Force
- 4 Flying Training School, RAF Valley
- Central Flying School
- Red Arrows aerobatic team
- Yellowjacks aerobatic team
- SFR Yugoslav Air Force received only two aircraft, they were used for evaluation and tests.
- Fo.141 Gnat : Single seat lightweight fighter aircraft.
- Gnat F.Mk 1 : Single-seat lightweight fighter version for Finland and India. This was also built in India under license as the HAL Gnat.
- HAL Ajeet : Single-seat Mark. 2 development of the Gnat F.Mk 1
- HAL Ajeet Trainer : Two-seat tandem trainer version for the Indian Air Force. This version was derived from the HAL Ajeet and differed considerably from the Gnat T.Mk 1 used by the RAF
- Fo. 144 Gnat trainer : Two-seat advanced trainer aircraft.
- Gnat T.Mk 1 : Two-seat advanced trainer version for the RAF.
Gnat F.1 XK741, Midland Air Museum, Coventry, England. Presently painted as GN-101, fuselage only with replica wings presently under construction.
Data from The great book of fighters[23]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m)
- Wingspan: 22 ft 1 in (6.73 m)
- Height: 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m)
- Wing area: 136.6 ft² (12.69 m²)
- Empty weight: 4,800 lb (2,175 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 9,040 lb (4,100 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Bristol-Siddeley Orpheus 701-01 turbojet, 4,705 lbf (20.9 kN)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 695 mph at 20,000 ft (1,120 km/h at 6,100 m)
- Range: 500 mi (805 km)
- Service ceiling: 48,000 ft (14,630 m)
- Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (101.6 m/s)
Armament
- 2x 30mm ADEN cannons
- 2x 500 lb (227 kg) bombs or 18x 3 in (76 mm) rockets
- ^ UK Aircraft sales
- ^ Warbird Alley
- ^ Folland Gnat
- ^ Bharat Rakshak
- ^ a b Spick 2002, p. 161.
- ^ Pakistan Air Force war claims
- ^ A Gnat Surrenders - Pakdef.info
- ^ 1965 War Note: Later, a retired PAF historian, Air Cmde Kaiser Tufail, determined that the Gnat actually landed before the F-104s arrived on the scene, giving credibility to the Indian version.
- ^ Defence Day
- ^ IAF History
- ^ a b Squadron 22 "Swifts"
- ^ a b Folland Gnat F1 - RAF Museum
- ^ Air Battles - December 1971 by Wg Cdr Salim Baig Mirza, PAF
- ^ Official Citation of the PVC to NIrmal Jit Singh Sekhon
- ^ Param Vir Chakra
- ^ Bingham 2002
- ^ Book review of Three countries, One people By D S Jafa - Hosted on India Today, 20 September 1999
- ^ Canadair CL-13 Sabre - Royal Canadian Air Force
- ^ Sabre
- ^ Warbird Alley
- ^ Ross 1991, p. 193.
- ^ Warbirds of India
- ^ Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. The Great Book of Fighters. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0-7603-1194-3.
- Bingham, Victor. Folland Gnat – Red Arrow and Sabre Slayer. Hailsham, East Sussex, UK: J&KH Publishing, 2002 ISBN 1-900511-78-9.
- Ross, Andrew L. The Political Economy of Defense: Issues and Perspectives. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991. ISBN 0-31326-462-7.
- Spick,Mike. Illustrated Directory of Fighters. Osceola, Wisconsin: Zenith Press, 2002. ISBN 0-76031-343-1.
The initial version of this article was based on a public domain article from Greg Goebel's Vectorsite.
- De Havilland Aviation Ltd - operates the only airworthy genuine former Red Arrows Gnat in Europe, XR537 (G-NATY)
- Thunder and lightnings
- The Wolfpack in action
Designation sequence
Folland 43/37 - Folland Midge - Gnat
Related lists
See also
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