The Folland Gnat is a compact British swept-wing subsonic light fighter, designed by W. E. W. Petter at Folland Aircraft as an affordable answer to the rising cost and size of combat aircraft, and built so that it could be assembled and maintained without specialised tools. It grew out of the private-venture Midge demonstrator, and the first Gnat flew on 18 July 1955 powered by a Bristol Orpheus turbojet. The RAF never used it as a fighter but adopted the two-seat Gnat T.1 trainer, 105 of which were built by Hawker Siddeley after it took over Folland, and the Red Arrows flew it as their display aircraft. Finland, Yugoslavia and India bought the fighter, and India built it under licence and developed it into the HAL Ajeet. The Hawker Siddeley Hawk replaced the Gnat in RAF service.
Facts
Engine Class Comparison
Body StyleAircraft (no road body style) 1 Connections
Exemplifies
Source Folland Gnat (Wikipedia)
Of Make
Source Folland Gnat (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Folland Gnat (Wikipedia)
Development, first flight
On 18 July 1955, the Folland prototype, serial number G-39-2, first flew from RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire.
Lead
The Folland Gnat is a British compact, swept-wing, subsonic, fighter aircraft that was developed and produced by Folland Aircraft.
Development, powerplant
the more capable but not immediately available Bristol Orpheus turbojet engine was adopted
Variants, Gnat T.1
Two-seat advanced trainer aircraft for the Royal Air Force, 105 built by Hawker Siddeley.
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