Folland Gnat WHIF Ideas

[rickshaw]

I supposed I should provide a link to my Folland TSR.2 Wasp - light bomber:

[pyro-manic]

Swing-wing variant, using bits from a 1:100 or 144 Tornado/Tomcat?
All-weather fighter with radar nose and a pair of Firestreaks?
Parasite fighter with a trapeze, slung under a Valiant (I know about the Vulcan plans)?
Delta-winged, rocket-powered version as an early spaceplane?

For alt. paint schemes, how about some of the many and varied Hunter users? Rhodesia, Singapore, Switzerland, etc.

[Weaver]

All-weather fighter with radar nose and a pair of Firestreaks?

That was a real project: Gnat Mk.2 with AI.23 radar, two firestreaks, big, thin wing and an afterburner. The RAF got as far as placing a tentative order for those...

Delta-winged, rocket-powered version as an early spaceplane?

Well my eternal Avro Atom project has the delta wing at least:

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,21511.0/highlight,atom.html


What about Sweden for an operator?

[perttime]

IRL, Sweden has been pretty stubborn about rolling their own but what if...

[pyro-manic]

They did have a few Hunters, so it's possible. Perhaps they spent all their development money on the A36 Vargen and so had to buy fighters off the shelf?

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

All great ideas and very worthy... think I'll simply paint mine in different colours !

Ian

[JayBee]

What about civil users? High speed courier service, or training schools, or what?

I have thoughts of BEA (British European Airways) operating a number of them as fast mail carriers within Europe, or maybe even further afield.
Or how about news paper groups using fast couriers for photos of news events.

Or how about using one to get the first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau to Restuarants in London.

OOPS, that has already been done in the real world 

Jim

[PR19_Kit]

Or how about using one to get the first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau to Restuarants in London.

OOPS, that has already been done in the real world 

With a Gnat?

The fast mailplane idea sounds good, you could carry the load in the wing tanks, like Wellesley bomb panniers. 

[Diamondback]

IIRC, the Vulcan parasite was one-way only, a jet-powered nuclear Ohka. And my personal response to the individual proposing it would have been to empty my .45 into his groin so he could not further contaminate the world...

"Pilots would have the option to bail out" they said. Right, sure... by the time you have it on target and everything locked, you hit the silk and you're still gonna be fallout. Either that or absorb a fatal dose of radiation... sorry, but IMO officers who propose suicide weapons as instruments of policy should be at minimum immediately cashiered.

[JayBee]

Indeed yes Kit, a few years ago an ex RAF (now civilianised) Gnat was used to do just that. It landed at Biggin Hill where a Jet Ranger was waiting to transfer the "valuable" cargo onwards  

[Mossie]

Hey Guys,how about going 'Gerry Anderson' with the Gnat and making it into an ASR search Jet? could you picture a Gnat like that or as a 'World Navy' Carrier based Fighter? think either of those would Work? Dan

Thats along the same idea as from the "Hot Shots" spoof film of Top Gun which would make the aircraft not exactly a Whif as it was in a film which was a spoof.... so would it actualy be a whif or not?

Gondor

US Navy might be a good counter to the Hot Shots! Gnats, there was a real world naval Gnat proposed.

IIRC, the Vulcan parasite was one-way only, a jet-powered nuclear Ohka.

There were plans to fit the Gnats with refuelling gear & recover them with a tanker.  Other methods were investigated too but none were satisfactory.

[Mossie]

Think it may be time to resurrect this thread, now that the Airfix Gnat is on the shelves. As mentioned in the 'Airfix' thread I have some ideas of my own, starting with:

Saudi Arabia :
Either in overall Lt. A/c grey with day-glo patches, or Strikemaster style camo with the same day-glo patches.

Netherlands :
Overall yellow, with orange tail and wing-tips.

Japan :
Overall aluminium with bright unit markings.

West Germany :
Already mentioned by Greg. Splinter camo with orange G91 style hi-vis orange patches.

US Aggressor :
Early type scheme, Patches, Snake, Lizard etc.

Any other ideas feel free to drop them here !!

Ian

Taking up the invitation as always, I'll throw a few into the mixer:

Dominican Republic (previously mentioned real world potential), sand splotches over green with those 'target' roundels

Irish Air Corps, silver with dayglo patches & Celtic boss

Rhodesia, any markings

Singapore, SEA camouflage, dayglo fuselage stripe & wingtips, yin-yang roundels

Thailand, funky three tone blue/grey scheme like the L-39's

[The Wooksta!]

Rhodesia also means Zimbabwean Gnats as well.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

As one of the very first What Ifs I ever posted here was an Irish Air Corps Hawk T1, I guess it would be rude NOT to do an Irish Gnat too. Hmmmm 

Ian

[Weaver]

How about the RAF decides it likes the Mixed Fighter Force concept in the late 1960s instead of the mid-1980s and/or needs extra light fighters for it's comittment to Vietnam? The result is a Gnat re-fitted with an Ajeet-style wet, four-pylon wing, enabling it to carry two drop tanks plus two Sidewinders....