3D model
Turn it over
A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as XR977 in the all-over gloss red Red Arrows scheme it wears at the Royal Air Force Museum, London, with the white nose stripe and the red, white and blue fin. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (749 KB)
History
The Gnat T.1
W. E. W. Petter designed the Gnat at Folland as a small, cheap lightweight fighter around the Bristol Saturn engine. When that engine was cancelled, the Gnat flew on 18 July 1955 with the smaller Bristol Orpheus. The RAF did not want it as a fighter, but India bought it, and Indian Gnats earned the nickname ‘Sabre Slayer’ against Pakistan’s F-86s.
The RAF chose a two-seat development as its advanced trainer. The Gnat T.1 first flew on 31 August 1959 and entered service with No 4 Flying Training School at Valley in 1962, where student pilots stepped up to it from the Jet Provost before moving on to the Hunter.
The Red Arrows adopted the Gnat in 1965 and flew it until 1979, when the team changed to the Hawk. The RAF built up a fleet of 105 Gnat T.1s, and the type left training service in 1979.
This airframe
T.1 XR977
XR977 is a Gnat T.1 on show at the Royal Air Force Museum in London. The model shows it in the all-over gloss red of the Red Arrows, with a white stripe and ‘ROYAL AIR FORCE’ on the nose, a fin in red, white and blue bands carrying a Union flag, Type D roundels and the serial on the rear fuselage and the wings.
Where to see one
In the gazetteer
The gazetteer records the Gnat T.1 in 6 UK collections. The airframe modelled here is marked.