Gnats have thankfully survived retirement in fairly good form, with many surviving examples being
airworthy - as a cheap high performance jet, it really can't be beaten - which of course is what
the whole idea was in the first place!
The list here is compiled from a large number of sources, with particular credit to
Alan Allen, Allan Barley, Victor Bingham, Dave Thomas, Warbirds of India
and the contents of Ken Ellis' Wrecks & Relics (18th edition)
and Otger van der Kooij's European Wrecks & Relics (2nd edition). However due to the difficulty of finding out some of
the information and the swiftness with which Gnats seem to change hands, I have no doubt there
are errors and omissions in the listing. If you have any changes please let me know.
I am not including examples on target ranges as they are generally not viewable and are in very
poor state with no hope of preservation. Some serial numbers are links to
a page with a recent(ish) picture of the preserved aircraft (mostly links to the appropriate
bit on the Survivors Pictures pages - be warned, these pages are
rather graphics intensive).
| F.1 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| 11601 | Muzej Yugoslovenskog Vazduhplovsta, Belgrade Airport, Belgrade, Yugoslavia |
| 11602 | Muzej Yugoslovenskog Vazduhplovsta (stored), Belgrade Airport, Belgrade, Yugoslavia |
| E1051 | AFS Ambala (displayed at war memorial), Punjab, India |
| E1059 | Mayo College, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India |
| E1076 | March Field Air Museum, California, USA |
| E1205 | Indian Air Force HQ, Vayu Bhavan, Delhi, India |
| E1214 | David Tallichet/MARC (stored), Chino, California, USA |
| 'E1222' (really IE1222) | Mid America Air Museum, Liberal, Kansas, USA |
| E1973 | St. Mary's School, Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| E232 | AFS Kalaikunda (displayed in front of tower), West Bengal, India |
| E246 | Indian Air Force HQ, Vayu Bhavan, Delhi, India |
| E254 | Pragathi Maidan, Defence Exhibition, Delhi, India |
| E261 | Canteen Stores Depot, Vayu Sena Nagar, Nagpur, India |
| E273 | Delhi, India |
| E276 | Historical Aircraft Squadron, Lancaster/Fairfield County Airport, Ohio, USA |
| E296 | Air Station Museum, Arlington, WA, USA |
| E299 | David Tallichet/MARC (stored), Long Beach, California, USA |
| E315 | Empire State Aerosciences Museum, New York, USA |
| E325 | Chembur Gardens, Bombay, India |
| E355 | Indian Air Force Academy, Dundigal, India |
| GN-101 (ex G-39-6) | Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo, Tikkakoski, Finland |
| GN-103 | Halli airfield, Finland |
| GN-104 | Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo (gate guard), Tikkakoski, Finland |
| GN-105 | Suomen Ilmailumuseo (stored, dismantled), Vantaa, Helsinki, Finland |
| GN-106 | Suomen Ilmailumuseo, Vantaa, Helsinki, Finland |
| GN-107 | Kymi airfield, Finland |
| GN-110 | Rovaniemi airfield (gate guard), Finland |
| IE1059 (ex XK768) | Indian Air Force Museum, Palam, India |
| IE1061 | Indian Air Force Western Air Command HQ, Subroto Park, Delhi, India |
| IE1062 | Martyr's Memorial, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India |
| IE1071 | Indian Air Force HQ (displayed by Officer's Mess), Delhi, India |
| IE1076 | AFS Tambaram, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India |
| IE1078 | AFS Tambaram, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India |
| IE1083 | Pakistan Air Force Museum, Karachi, Pakistan |
| IE1205 | Nagpur Park, Nagpur, India |
| IE1248 | Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India |
| Unknown | Bangladesh (precise location unknown) |
| Unknown | Air Force Technical College (ground instructional use), Jallahali, Karnataka, India |
| Unknown | Air Force Technical College (ground instructional use), Jallahali, Karnataka, India |
| Unknown | Airforce Bal Bharati School, Delhi, India |
| Unknown | Kerala Science and Technology Museum, Trivandrum, India |
| Unknown | JNTU College of Engineering, Kakinada, India |
| Unknown | Central Air Command HQ (gate guard), Allahabad, India |
| Unknown | District Collector's Office (displayed on memorial), Ludhiana, India |
| XK724 | RAF Museum Cosford, Shropshire |
| XK740 | Solent Sky, Southampton, Hampshire |
| T.1 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| 'G-FRCE' (ex XS104) | Jason Walker (restoration to fly), North Weald, Essex |
| N936FC (ex XR980) | Frank Chiodo (flyer), Islip MacArthur Airport, New York, USA |
| 'PF179' (really XR541) | Global Aviation, Humberside Airport |
| XM693 | BAE Systems Hamble (displayed by sports ground opposite The Harrier pub), Hampshire |
| XM694 (N694XM) | Pima Air Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA |
| XM697 (ex G-NAAT) | John Hallett, Exeter Airport, Dorset |
| XM698 (N698XM) | James Thompson, St. Cloud, Florida, USA |
| XM708 | Privately owned, Lytham St. Annes |
| XM709 | Privately owned, USA |
| XP502 | Delta Jets (gate guard), Kemble, Gloucestershire |
| XP503 (N503KC) | Randal Fields, Palo Alto, California, USA |
| XP505 | Science Museum, Wroughton |
| XP511 (N6145X) | Larry Henderson (flyer), Danville, California, USA |
| XP513 (N513X) | Dean Cutshall/American Horizons Ltd. Inc. (flyer), Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA |
| XP514 (N7HY) | Anton Ostermeier (flyer, for sale), Chino, California, USA |
| XP516 | Farnborough Air Sciences Trust, Farnborough, Hampshire |
| XP530 (N4347N, ex N530X) | Great Planes Sales Inc. (flyer), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA |
| XP533 (N533XP) | Tom Foley/NTC Group Inc. (flyer), Greenwich, Connecticut, USA |
| XP538 (N19GT) | Combat Jets Air Museum (flyer), Chino, USA |
| XP540 | Privately owned, North Weald airfield, Essex |
| XP541 (N8130Q) | Robert Davis (flyer), Tipton, Indiana, USA |
| XP542 | 454 Sqn ATC, Solent Sky, Southampton |
| XR534 | Newark Air Museum, Newark, Nottinghamshire |
| XR535 (N8130N) | Dean Cutshall/American Horizons Ltd. Inc. (flyer), Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA |
| XR537 (G-NATY, restoration to fly) | Drilling Systems Ltd., Hurn, Dorset |
| XR538 (G-RORI) | Swept Wing Ltd. (flyer), North Weald, Essex |
| XR540 | Privately owned, USA |
| XR569 | Privately owned, USA |
| XR571 | Red Arrows (displayed within the station), RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire |
| XR572 (N572XR) | Michael Bertz, Jefferson County Airport, Broomfield, Colorado, USA |
| XR574 (8631M) | 1 SoTT, RAF Cosford, Shropshire |
| XR951 (N81298) | McDownell Ent Inc., California City, California, USA |
| XR953 (N953RH) | National Aviation and Transportation Museum of Florida, Hobe Sound, Florida, USA |
| XR954 | Source Classic Jet Flight (stored, dismantled), Hurn, Dorset |
| XR955 (N4367L) | DAC International Inc. (flyer), Austin, Texas, USA |
| XR977 | RAF Museum Cosford, Shropshire |
| XR984 (N316RF) | Finch Aerospace Corporation (stored), San Diego, California, USA |
| XR987 (N7CV) | Real Speed Inc. (flyer), Wilmington, Delaware, USA |
| XR991 (N1CL, ex G-BOXO) | Aerocrafters Inc. (flyer), Santa Rosa, California, USA |
| 'XR991' (G-MOUR, really XS102) | Delta Jets (flyer), Kemble, Gloucestershire |
| 'XR993' (G-BVPP, really XP534) | Kennet Aviation (flyer), North Weald, Essex |
| XR998 (N998XR) | Astre Air International (restoration to fly), Denver/Front Range Airport, Colorado, USA |
| XS101 (ex G-GNAT) | Hugh Waltho (restoration to fly), Melbourne, Australia |
| XS105 (N18GT) | Planes of Fame Air Museum (flyer), Chino, USA |
| XS107 (N107XS) | Albert Mangino, Danbury, Conneticut, USA |
| XS109 (N61457, soon to be N109XS) | David Dulabon, Astre Air International (restoration to fly), Denver, Colorado, USA |
| XS110 (N117SH, ex N110XS and N7152Z) | Larry Shory, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA |
| 'XS111' (G-TIMM, ex 'XM693', really XP504) | Kennet Aviation (flyer), North Weald, Essex |
| F.2 |
|---|
| Serial | Owner & location |
| 'DJ1992' (possibly E1992) | AFS Kalaikunda (displayed in front of tower), West Bengal, India |
| E1049? | Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Tamil Nadu, India |
| E1083 | Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (displayed in memorial park), Bangalore, India |
| E1956 | AFS Kalaikunda (displayed by 2 Sqn hangar), West Bengal, India |
| E1975 | Indian Air Force HQ, Vayu Bhavan, Delhi, India |
| E1979 | Faculty of Aeronautical Engineering, Military College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India |
| E2016 | Indian Air Force Museum, Palam, India |
| E247 | National Defence Academy, Salaria Square, Khadakvasla, Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| E265 | Indian Air Force Museum (flyer), Palam, India |
| IE1241 | Doon Public School, Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Unknown | AFS Baghdogra (gate guard), Walong, India |
| Unknown | Indian Air Force Eastern Air Command HQ, Shillong, Meghalaya, India |
Unless otherwise stated, all the above are nose/cockpit sections.
Another Gnat 'survivor', of sorts, is XM691. The T.1 prototype was disposed of after the end of
its useful life, and was acquired by Donald Campbell to use the engine as a spare for his
record-breaking Bluebird K7 boat. However Donald's team soon realised the Gnat's fin could be used
on the boat, and it was incorporated into a rework of the boat's design. After some teething troubles
a static test of the engine went badly wrong, with the intakes collapsing and being sucked into
the Orpheus, damaging it in the process.
The spare engine from XM691 thus came into use as a replacement, and the intake structure was
beefed up. So with XM691's engine and tail, the new K7 was ready to go. A run was planned as a publicity
exercise to drum up some new sponsors, and on 4th January 1967 Donald achieved 297 mph on Coniston
Water, breaking his previous record. Sadly on the required return run, the K7 hit some disturbances
left on the lake from the previous run, the engine mount (a custom made example, weaker than the
original Bristol-Siddeley example) failed and the damping effect of the engine was thereby disconnected
from the frame of the boat. The result was that the boat's nose reared up, it became briefly airborne
and somersaulted backwards, smashing into the lake. Donald was killed instantly and the boat was torn
apart, sinking to the bottom. You can read more about Donald Campbell on
the Across the Lake website.
The wreckage of the K7 was recovered from the lake in 2001, along with Donald's body, and the K7 is
currently being restored by the Bluebird Project;
there has been talk of a complete restoration to running condition.
HAL also produced their own two-seat trainer version of the Ajeet, but only two prototypes and one further
example were produced as the Gnat was phased out of service before trainer development had been completed.