Comments by "rob shirewood" (@robshirewood5060) on "The Folland Gnat; Sabre Slayer" video.

  1. I  used to know a man who flew these in the RAF, and he said "you don't climb into a Gnat, you just strap it on", my father was an ATC cadet at RAF Hullavington in the 1970's on Annual Camp and the Red Arrows, then based at RAF Kemble, gave a demonstration display of their program (using it as a training exercise), he said it was the finest display he ever saw them do, and he saw many later on. He said that compared to the other RAF aircraft of the time when you stood alongside the aircraft it was the only one he could look directly into with out climbing up, and he was actually taller than the cockpit, he was 6ft 4 inches tall. He loved the Hawker Hunter, and the Black Arrows display team, of Hunters, but always had a smile when he mentioned that lovely little bird the Gnat. It was one of the few to have Anhedral wings in that they went down at a steeper angle than most and it made the aircraft have a much better rate of roll. There were other display teams that flew the Gnat before the Red Arrows, my father mentioned the Yellowjacks or similar.
    94