Thunder & Lightnings

Folland Gnat - Survivor XS101 (restoration to fly, ex G-GNAT)

T.1 XS101 - XJET, Essendon Airport, Australia

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Gnat T.1 XS101 at Essendon Airport, 22nd July 2007; Chris Keating

XS101 first flew on 10th September 1964 and joined the CFS at Little Rissington, moving on to become one of the Red Arrows jets in February 1971. Final flight was to RAF Cranwell on 17th September 1979 where she retired as instructional airframe 8638M. On disposal she was acquired by Arnold Glass at Cranfield and restored to flight as G-GNAT. She was seen at a few airshows before becoming reclusive and only undertaking the occasional local flight out of Cranfield. Stored there for some time and looked after by Kennet Aviation, with their move to North Weald XS101 went with them and was then sold to a new owner in Australia. By 2007 she was in open storage but happily new owners XJET are in the process of a full overhaul and intend to return her to the air in 2011. Follow their progress on Facebook.

Information on this page current as of 09/10/2010, last updated by Damien

Find other photos of XS101 on the following sites:

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