Folland Gnat - Development & Derivatives

[sienar]

Mk.II with a funny looking radome

STOCK IMAGE - A three-view drawing of the Hawker Siddeley Gnat Mk2 by www.DIOMEDIA.com

A three-view drawing of the hawker siddeley gnat mk2. Millions of premium Stock photos and illustrations created by leading commercial photographers, world-famous Museums, Historical Archives and Private Collections. Image ID: 01ATG1N4

www.diomedia.com

 

[taildragger]

There's nothing funny about ugly.

 

[Petrus]

Here you've got a cut out from the book "TSR2. Britain's Lost Bomber" by Damien Burke (p. 30) showing the Folland Light Bomber. The book mentions the project as follows:

Another outside contender very briefly looked at was a small aircraft from Folland, but the range and bomb load of such a small aircraft immediately ruled it out of the running for GOR.339.

The bomber was quite a small aircraft indeed. Elsewhere on the Internet I found info on its dimensions, which is very similar to that you may calculate using the drawing:

Length, 44ft
Height, 11ft
Span, 37.5ft
Wing Area, 375sq.ft
Wheel Track, 6.25ft
Engines, 2x Bristol Orpheus 11 (uprated Orpheus 2)

As for the engines, thrust of 5,250 lb would indicate non-reheated Orpheus 11. At https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/folland-postwar-aircraft-projects.5776/post-4158 there is a quote from the book "Folland Gnat – Sabre-Slayer and Red Arrow" stating the reheated Orpheus 12 was also being considered.

By the way you may buy "TSR2. Britain's Lost Bomber" at Google Books.

Additionaly you've got here an original drawing of the Folland bomber - I downloaded it in 2009 (!), so I cannot tell now its source (quite possibly I had found it in this forum, but if I am not mistaken the drawing has disappeared).

Piotr

 

[nuuumannn]

I've always been a bit suspicious about plans to upgrade the Gnat, short of completely redesigning it, I mean, it's tiny! Where is all the electroniccy bits gonna fit? Here's a picture of a Lightning with an AI-23B next to it. Note the diameter of the unit and Lightning's nose cone, within which the unit sat. This also doesn't show the cockpit display unit or associated boxes required to power the thing. Where is all that gonna go in the Gnat?

 

[Hood]

Two aircraft that proved difficult to kill and kept popping up all over the place were the Gnat and the Miles Student. Just when you think its dead and buried, up it pops again.
Petter didn't even want to fit Tacan into the T.Mk.1 as he couldn't fit it in so tried to the convince the Air Staff they didn't need it. "These aren't the avionics you are looking for" - sadly for Teddy, his Jedi powers failed to hoodwink them.

I have seen the two-seat night fighter version too, a stretch too far I think.

 

[hesham]

From Aeroplane monthly 2008/9,

the Sea Gnat.

 

[blackkite]

Hi!
I feel that the drawing "wing track arrangement for variable sweep on the Folland F.O.147" is little strange.
Wing trailing edge shape of wing 20° is not equal to wing trailing edge shape of wing70°.
Source : Derek Wood, PROJECT CANCELLED.
　　　　　　US & British Experimental & Projected Aircraft after W.W.Ⅱ(3), DELTA publishing Co.,Ltd Tokyo.

Tailless desing has wing tip controller.

 

[hesham]

From Aeroplane magazine 1957.

 

[TsrJoe]

Folland/Shorts PD.35 Gnat target drone

 

[hesham]

From Aeroplane 1960.

 

[hesham]

From Flight 1960.