Alpha Delta 210 Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Hi I spent an ever-so-slightly disappointing couple of hours at North Weald this morning. Adverse weather in other parts of the country meant that the home team provided most of the aircraft on display. I bought a ticket online for £15, which was bearable, but in my opinion £20 on the day was too expensive. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the following images. Thanks for looking. 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Nice pictures, I wouldn't mind a look around a Puma again after all these years. Thanks for posting, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Some nice shots despite the troubles, never seen so many Gnats outside of Scotland! Head on of the Huey is my favourite. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted September 28, 2019 Author Share Posted September 28, 2019 10 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said: Nice pictures, I wouldn't mind a look around a Puma again after all these years. Thanks for posting, Thanks Pete. I missed the tiger-striped Puma at RIAT because it was concealed deep in the "RAF Village" with the plastic Chinook. 6 minutes ago, Parabat said: Some nice shots despite the troubles, never seen so many Gnats outside of Scotland! Head on of the Huey is my favourite. Thanks Parabat. I guess these Gnats don't bite! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latinbear Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 Cracking set of shots! The Puma was a real treat. I think my favourite is the last but one with all the Gnats lined up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted September 28, 2019 Author Share Posted September 28, 2019 8 minutes ago, Latinbear said: Cracking set of shots! The Puma was a real treat. I think my favourite is the last but one with all the Gnats lined up. Thanks, Latinbear. Your favourite is also my favourite. I had to wait to take the shot unti the patrolling Air Cadets were out of frame! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canberraman Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 Another great set of shots from an event I didn't notice until too late. Nice to see all those Gnats and the Tiger Puma up close looks great too. Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted September 29, 2019 Author Share Posted September 29, 2019 Hi Mark. Thanks very much for the kind words. I enjoyed seeing all the Gnats and other aircraft. I'm not a fan of social media, but did notice a lot of adverse comments on the organiser's Facebook page regarding the hype and "over-selling" of the event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dot Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 excellent photos from some unusual angles, thanks Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 3 hours ago, Red Dot said: excellent photos from some unusual angles, thanks Andy Thanks for the kind words, Andy. I'm pleased that you enjoyed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Nice photos. But I didn't know this event was on otherwise I could have gone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 5 minutes ago, Paul J said: Nice photos. But I didn't know this event was on otherwise I could have gone. Thanks Paul. I would hesitate to recommend this event, unless the organisers make some changes for 2020. In my opinion, the attitude of the organisers towards adverse feedback on FaceBook was quite unprofessional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 That single seat Gnat is beautiful! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 A plague of Gnats! Loved the one in Yellowjacks colors! Seems like they ran out of metal polish on the C-54. Thank you for sharing these photos with us. The photos of the C-47/Dakota was the class of the field, IMHO. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 10 hours ago, F-32 said: That single seat Gnat is beautiful! Thanks very much F-32. 2 hours ago, 72modeler said: A plague of Gnats! Loved the one in Yellowjacks colors! Seems like they ran out of metal polish on the C-54. Thank you for sharing these photos with us. The photos of the C-47/Dakota was the class of the field, IMHO. Mike Thanks for the kind words, Mike. There was a lady polishing the the C-54 (just visible on the platform), somehow I doubt that she had finished the job by the time the event closed on Sunday afternoon!🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 A nice line up & beaut photos, that collection of Gnats is impressive.I'm guessing the single seater is an Ajeet? Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 2 hours ago, stevehnz said: A nice line up & beaut photos, that collection of Gnats is impressive.I'm guessing the single seater is an Ajeet? Steve. Hi Steve. Thanks for the kind words. I understand that the single-seater is indeed a former Indian Air Force example (serial IE296). It is operated by the Gnat Display Team as G-SLYR, and seems to be registered as a Hindustan "Gnat", not "Ajeet"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Just now, Alpha Delta 210 said: Hindustan "Gnat", not Ajeet! Afaik, its the same thing by a different name, the Ajeet being a Gnat fighter built in India. I think. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 37 minutes ago, stevehnz said: Afaik, its the same thing by a different name, the Ajeet being a Gnat fighter built in India. I think. Steve. I thought the same, Steve but when I googled the word "ajeet", I couldn't confirm the meaning. 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Great photos. The Ajeet/Gnat is lovely. As I understand the situation, the early Folland built single seaters were Gnats, whilst the Hindustan ones are Ajeets (“Unconquerable”). A vague memory tells me that this example is indeed a Gnat. Trevor 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 33 minutes ago, Max Headroom said: Great photos. The Ajeet/Gnat is lovely. As I understand the situation, the early Folland built single seaters were Gnats, whilst the Hindustan ones are Ajeets (“Unconquerable”). A vague memory tells me that this example is indeed a Gnat. Trevor Thanks very much Trevor. I might do some more digging on this particular Ajeet/Gnat and see what I can find out! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 The Ajeet was a later development of the single seat Gnat by HAL. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Thanks @Max Headroom & @Eric Mc a bit of education for me, I'd long though that Ajeet was the Indian name for the Gnat fighter, a bit of googling & I find that the Indian Air Force had a mixture of a few UK built Gnats, some more Hal built ones & some Ajeets which were a developed version of the Gnat so this one being an ex Indian Gnat now makes perfect sense to me. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 The Indians developed a MK.2. version which from memory had a ‘wet’ wing and (I’m really scraping the back of my memory now) was visually identifiable by having a conical rather than rounded nose as is shown on the North Weald example. I found this which may be interesting reading https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commercial-vehicles/157327-indian-aviation-hal-ajeet-folland-gnat-mk-ii-edit-1965-war-iaf-documentary-page-6-a.html Though that suggests only the MK.2’s were Ajeets........... Trevor 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 Thanks for posting the link to that fascinating article, Trevor. I have been trawling the web and haven't been able to establish much information regarding the North Weald single-seat Gnat, G-SLYR. All references seem to describe it as a "Hindustan Gnat F.1". If anyone has any further information, I would love to hear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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