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.
Design and development
A Folland Gnat in private hands.
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 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 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. Further, 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.
Operational history
Royal Air Force
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 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]
Finland
The
Finnish Air Force received its first Gnats on
30 July 1958. It was soon found to be a problematic aircraft in service and it required a lot of ground service. Finland had first considered to license manufacture the aircraft but decided not to. 13 Gnats were operated by the FAF. On
31 July,
1958 major
Lauri Pekuri broke the
sound barrier for the first time at Luonetjärvi in Finland.
All Gnats were grounded for six months after the destruction of GN-102 due to a technical error on
26 August 1958. Soon the Gnats were 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.
India
Second Kashmir War
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]; 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]
Bangladesh Liberation War
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
dog fights 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 flying a Gnat 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.
"Sabre Slayer"
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 "dog-fighter" of its era
[18][19][2]. Tactics called for Gnats taking on the Sabres in the vertical where they were at a diadvantage. 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. The
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-built licensed version, the
Ajeet ("Unconquerable") was produced in
Bangalore with over 175 along with about 40 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]
Operators
;
★
Finnish Air Force
★
★ Häme Wing
★
★
★ HavLLv 11
★
★
★ HavLLv 21
;
★
Indian Air Force
★
★
No.2 Squadron
★
★
No.9 Squadron
★
★
No.15 Squadron
★
★
No.18 Squadron
★
★
No.21 Squadron
★
★
No.22 Squadron
★
★
No.23 Squadron
★
★
No.24 Squadron
;
★
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.
Variants
★ '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.
Specifications (Folland Gnat)
Notes and references
1. UK Aircraft sales
2. Warbird Alley
3. Folland Gnat
4. Bharat Rakshak
5. Spick 2002, p. 161.
6. Pakistan Air Force war claims
7. A Gnat Surrenders - Pakdef.info
8. 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.
9. Defence Day
10. IAF History
11. Squadron 22 "Swifts"
12. Folland Gnat F1 - RAF Museum
13. Air Battles - December 1971 by Wg Cdr Salim Baig Mirza, PAF
14. Official Citation of the PVC to NIrmal Jit Singh Sekhon
15. Param Vir Chakra
16. Bingham 2002
17. Book review of Three countries, One people By D S Jafa - Hosted on India Today, 20 September 1999
18. Canadair CL-13 Sabre - Royal Canadian Air Force
19. Sabre
20. Warbird Alley
21. Ross 1991, p. 193.
22. Warbirds of India
★ 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.
External links
★
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
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