Folland Gnat
The Sabre Slayer
“The tiny jet the Red Arrows made famous.”
Folland · military
The Gnat was built on one idea: a fighter small and cheap enough to buy in bulk. Britain never adopted the fighter but kept the two-seat trainer, and the Red Arrows flew the Gnat T.1 for their first 15 seasons. India did adopt the fighter, and in the 1965 and 1971 wars its Gnats shot down Pakistani F-86 Sabres often enough to earn the type its nickname. A couple of dozen still fly, several with civilian display teams.
The Gnat's wingspan is just 24 feet, smaller than many light aircraft, yet it carried the Red Arrows' nine-ship formation for 15 seasons before the Hawk took over in 1980.
Tiny, with a swept wing and a swept tail that sits high on the fin. Many fly in Red Arrows red. If a jet looks too small to have a pilot in it, it is a Gnat.
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Sabre Slayer from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
