Folland Gnat - Survivor XR574 (8631M)

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T.1 XR574 - 1 SoTT, DCAE Cosford, Shropshire

Gnat T.1 XR574 at Cosford, 8th May 2003; Damien Burke

Retired but still in active service, XR754 (now marked 8631M) resides with the Engineering Skills Trading Squadron at RAF Cosford and is probably the only airframe that could possibly have fitted into the room in which it is located. Quite how they got it in (or how they'll ever get it out) is a mystery! XR574 first flew on 17/10/1963 and saw service with 4 FTS and the CFS (sometimes as a spare for the Red Arrows). Its final flight was to Cosford on 5/10/1979.

Information on this page current as of 08/05/2003, last updated by Damien

Find other photos of XR574 on the following sites:

Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net

R Thomas from Llandysul	Posted at 8:52pm on Tuesday, August 18th, 2020
Back in 2006 ARTF were tasked with the removal of XR574 from the said building at RAF Cosford. The brief sadly was that she was not needed however the internal and external fabric of the building had to remain intact. After many hours of trying to get 574 out in component parts and with the customer wanting rid, it was agreed that the wing should be cut right down the center. This was carried out and then a repair scheme put in place so it would remain as a complete aircraft - as a static display airframe y... read more »read more »
Will Prescott from UK	Posted at 6:20pm on Monday, May 30th, 2011
This Gnat now resides at the Trenchard museum, alongside the parade ground inside the base at RAF Halton. Still in rather a confined and seemingly inaccesible space, it must disassemble into very small pieces! I think access to the museum may be by appointment only, though I was able to visit as part of an open day at Halton House (the officer's mess) last September. Unfortunately didn't get a decent snap of the plane in its new home myself, but there is one on the Air-Britain link above.

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