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Folland Gnat T.1 1:48


Mike

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It's a lovely little kit, and despite the Typhoon and forthcoming Dornier, could just prove to be Airfix's bestseller of 2014, if the way mine have flown off the shelf (ho ho). I particularly like the alternative parts for the seat cushions so that if you want to use the pilot figure you haven't got to scrape off the harness detail.

On the subject of Gnat ejection seats a friend of mine in the local modelling club who was an aircraft maintenance bod in the RAF learned his trade on Gnats at Halton (or Cosford). He always thought the headrest mounted lever for making the Folland seat live or safe was a great idea for the pilots, but (literally) an absolute pain for anybody who was working in the cockpit. Many was the time he ended up with a bruise on the back of his bonce.

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Well I've started mine and ignoring all impulses to 'improve' the cockpit too much...

1) The thought processes/engineering that have gone into this kit are top-rate. Eg. the pilot's seat can be made with or without moulded on harness...excellent idea for those not wishing to go to far with after market parts.

2) The softer plastic lends itself well to smaller amounts of 'liquid poly'.

3) The register of parts when fitting is excellent.

I could write more, but I'm at work and I'm looking forward to painting the cockpit this evening.

Yes there are a few little bits n'bobs to add, but overall a cracking kit and however much you protest, 'it's not really my cup off tea', I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you get one.

Well done Airfix!

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Having just looked again at the artwork, I noticed that the pilots are not wearing any helmet I was ever issued (From the over engineered Mk 2A in training - including the Gnat, minimalistic Mk1 in V- force, Mk 4 Canberra/Phantom/ Hawk, Mk10/Hawk). I hope the actual 'pilot figures' are wearing something appropriate?

For Col. STUPRECCC is the acronym for the hydraulic failure of the tail plane 'Hobson Unit' (effectively a self contained hydraulic system). S speed reduce below ??? Knots IAS (can't remember the value)

T trim to the idea sector - this had to be done quite promptly and the sector was marked on the trim gauge.

U unlock the tail (the tail then ceased to be all flying and the elevators trims, becoming a fixed tail ( in the idea sector, as above) with the elevators acting as elevators.

P power off (at this moment the student would discover the reason for the warning lights! The instructor had turned the system off)

R raise the guard (the standby trim system had a guard

E exhaust the hydraulic accumulator

C check you have control, elevator with the standby system

C changeover there was a Mod which transferred the trim from port side consul to stick top. By operating theses switches the aircraft could be flown relatively normally. Mod 633 switches spring to mind - but I might be wrong!

C Check the control has been transferred to stick top.

The Gnat was relatively unusual to fly in the pitch sense as it tended to be flown using the trims. I daresay a QFI will come along and correct me.

I will reveal CUBSTUN, but I think you have enough on your plate modelling the trim and 633 switches.

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Then again, the more I look at this review, the more I want one!

As a club, we echo your sentiments. Several of our members made the journey to Telford from Norway and were so impressed With this kit that we have started a group build. Given that one of the members is a 'diehard' 1:32 fanatic, that another generally only ever builds in 1:72 and several do not generally build post-War RAF subjects, this is a true testament to the attractive nature of this kit. We're having some fun with the GB too......for example, one of the members has discovered that the Folland product is based on the little known Luftwaffe rocket fighter project from 1945 known as the Gnatter and he is reproducing this variant complete with the launch tower. Others are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Red Arrows boxing but we are aiming to have a display for our own Nationals in May of next year.

Thanks to Mike for yet another objective and excellent review which illustrates the fact that Airfix are back where they belong at the forefront of model design and technology.

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As a club, we echo your sentiments. Several of our members made the journey to Telford from Norway and were so impressed With this kit that we have started a group build. Given that one of the members is a 'diehard' 1:32 fanatic, that another generally only ever builds in 1:72 and several do not generally build post-War RAF subjects, this is a true testament to the attractive nature of this kit. We're having some fun with the GB too......for example, one of the members has discovered that the Folland product is based on the little known Luftwaffe rocket fighter project from 1945 known as the Gnatter and he is reproducing this variant complete with the launch tower. Others are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Red Arrows boxing but we are aiming to have a display for our own Nationals in May of next year.

Thanks to Mike for yet another objective and excellent review which illustrates the fact that Airfix are back where they belong at the forefront of model design and technology.

That sounds great! Will be good to see some pics of the group build, sounding very impressive! My resistance also failed; I was in a hobby shop on Monday, and just couldn't resist that finely detailed plastic, and boy does it look good!

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The general attitude towards the Gnat was not that you 'climbed into it', more that you 'put it on' it truly was a diminutive aircraft. If you became 'as one' with it, it was an especially wonderful exoskeleton to fly.

So who is ready for CUBSTUN.?

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  • 1 month later...

CUBSTUN alternator failure all electrical power lost. C cabin altimeter to static, Uhf to standby,Booster Pump off,Speed,Trim and Unlock,which meant the hydraulic system was still working,ending up with extremely light control loads and no necessity to trim.As you did not use the electrical trim it saved battery power.

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Having just looked again at the artwork, I noticed that the pilots are not wearing any helmet I was ever issued (From the over engineered Mk 2A in training - including the Gnat, minimalistic Mk1 in V- force, Mk 4 Canberra/Phantom/ Hawk, Mk10/Hawk). I hope the actual 'pilot figures' are wearing something appropriate?

For Col. STUPRECCC is the acronym for the hydraulic failure of the tail plane 'Hobson Unit' (effectively a self contained hydraulic system). S speed reduce below ??? Knots IAS (can't remember the value)

T trim to the idea sector - this had to be done quite promptly and the sector was marked on the trim gauge.

U unlock the tail (the tail then ceased to be all flying and the elevators trims, becoming a fixed tail ( in the idea sector, as above) with the elevators acting as elevators.

P power off (at this moment the student would discover the reason for the warning lights! The instructor had turned the system off)

R raise the guard (the standby trim system had a guard

E exhaust the hydraulic accumulator

C check you have control, elevator with the standby system

C changeover there was a Mod which transferred the trim from port side consul to stick top. By operating theses switches the aircraft could be flown relatively normally. Mod 633 switches spring to mind - but I might be wrong!

C Check the control has been transferred to stick top.

The Gnat was relatively unusual to fly in the pitch sense as it tended to be flown using the trims. I daresay a QFI will come along and correct me.

I will reveal CUBSTUN, but I think you have enough on your plate modelling the trim and 633 switches.

...and here is that QFI:

The speed limit for unlocking the elevator was 400Kn/0.85M.

The trim switch changeover Mod was, I'm fairly sure, Mod 399.

And yes, it was a delightful little aeroplane provided you didn't try to take liberties with it (& preferably could sit in the front, the view from the rear was a bit limited!).

And with that, it's back into my box!

Skip

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Hi Skip,

I was fortunate? To fly in the back seat only once. The occasion was quite a sad one, I was on a 'trappers ride' with Bala Naido and we were diverted - to RAF Shawbury. The reason, the Stn Cdr was flying in a Basset which, unbeknown to the crew, had been refuelled with AVTUR. A mile or so out of Valley the AVTUR reached the engines, which stopped and the aircraft crashed.

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Tee, It was indeed a dreadful accident and I had to attend the refueller's court martial as an "Officer Under Instruction", truly awful, the young lad just didn't seem to have the capacity/training to do his job right. Made me wonder about the service for a while.

Different subject, I'm still in touch with Bala, a great chap as you know! Skip

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I've managed to accumulate enough Airfix flying hours to acquire one of these little beauties for nothing (well except for the cost of postage). Unfortunately, due to a "little" admin problem by Airfix/Hornby they sent it to my in-laws in Plymouth instead of to me, My wife kindly bought me the 1/24 Typhoon for Christmas. So in order to surprise me, she had it sent to her parents in Plymouth - so despite the address on the front of the flying hours card, they sent it to the last address on their system............I've now got to wait until March when the outlaws will be visiting to finally get my hands on it!

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  • 4 weeks later...

New Pavla dedicated resin sets.

- ref. S48046 - Ejection seat 2x Type 4 GT/1 Folland Gnat T.1/F1

Source: http://www.pavlamodels.cz/katalogy/detail.php?k=seats&c=S48046&st=b

S48046_1.jpg

- ref. U48-56 - Folland Gnat T.1 Tailplane

Source: http://www.pavlamodels.cz/katalogy/detail.php?k=air&m=48&c=56&st=b

48-56_1.jpg

New Eduard PE

- ref. FE707

Source: http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/EDFE707

EDFE707.jpg

- ref. ED49707

Source: http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/ED49707

ED49707.jpg

V.P.

Edited by Homebee
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  • 2 weeks later...

Now all we need for aftermarket is:

1) F.1 conversion (or Airfix get busy...)

2) a 1/48 scale figure of Charlie Sheen

3) decals for the "Hot Shots" (the "Top Gun" parody) filming birds (or were those Ajeets?)

4) "Hot Shot" accessories like the window cleaner, the tailhook, etc.

Regards,

Robert

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've just picked up the Red Arrow boxing of this kit, the decals are well printed by Cartograf but I was surprised that you only get one serial per scheme. Providing all the team serials has been common on every Red Arrow decal sheet I've seen, wonder why Airfix did not on this one?

Shaun.

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I've just picked up the Red Arrow boxing of this kit, the decals are well printed by Cartograf but I was surprised that you only get one serial per scheme. Providing all the team serials has been common on every Red Arrow decal sheet I've seen, wonder why Airfix did not on this one?

Shaun.

Shaun,

Possibly because they are all included in the 50th Anniversary Display Season Gift Set along with a full set of Hawk serials?

If you are looking for a particular serial I can probably help, as long as it's not XR992!

Cheers

Greg

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Shaun,

Possibly because they are all included in the 50th Anniversary Display Season Gift Set along with a full set of Hawk serials?

If you are looking for a particular serial I can probably help, as long as it's not XR992!

Cheers

Greg

Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on that.

Any idea why they chose those airframes?, Red3?

I'm not buying the gift set for a set of decals!

Shaun.

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Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on that.

Any idea why they chose those airframes?, Red3?

I'm not buying the gift set for a set of decals!

Shaun.

Shaun,

I've no idea why they only give you the two serials, the two machines don't seem to be have any special history to them from the info I have. Possibly just because the decal designer had good photographic coverage?

As I mentioned earlier the 50th Anniversary Gift Set has all ten serials for the first season (1965) with the aircraft in the original BS381C:538 Post Office Red scheme. Your welcome to any of the serials other than XR992 as I've used that to build the Yellowjacks machine with the black tail. I also have the S&M sheet but for reasons known only to them they have only supplied black serials despite showing two Yellowjack aircraft which obviously need roundel blue serials!!

Cheers

Greg

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Now all we need for aftermarket is:

1) F.1 conversion (or Airfix get busy...)

2) a 1/48 scale figure of Charlie Sheen

3) decals for the "Hot Shots" (the "Top Gun" parody) filming birds (or were those Ajeets?)

4) "Hot Shot" accessories like the window cleaner, the tailhook, etc.

Regards,

Robert

Robert

I have already looked at the possibilities of a F.1 conversion, it is not really possible, without changing the wings and most of the fuselage, intakes, and then the canopy of course etc etc..... so in my humble opinion a separate kit will be needed. You could use one as a basis for a scratch build but to take it all the way into patterns for re-sale I do not think that it would be financially viable.

Pity as it would be great, and I probably would have done patterns for it by now.

Ali

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Wow, didn't know the T & F were that different... at the very least, figured the wings were the same. Minor differences or major? Guess I need to dig out the Aeroclub kits to take a gander at what JA deteremined on his kits.

Thanks!

Robert

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