The Secret Fighter That Was Too Small to Spot - The Sabre Slayer

[@devashishvaid]

My Grandad was a GNAT test pilot for Indian Air Force. At the time he was certified by both RAF and IAF to fly for either Airforces. India started to induct GNAT in around '61-'62 and the very first production spec was destroyed in a pre delivery crash. My grandpa was scheduled to fly the second delivered jet for a PDI flight, and during the flight they were running test for jettisoning the fuel tanks. That test failure led to the crash of the plane. The Airforce obviously had never released the details of the crash but that's something we found out from the people up and close to them was that the external tanks created a unstable aerodynamic envelope due to it's design and the IN-0002 jet that my Gramps piloted had uncontrollable pitch movement. My grandpa perished with the jet outside the airspace of HAL Bangalore trying to recover the jet away from crowded places. He and I are the only aviators from a long long line of relatives in my family. RIP

[@PapiDoesIt]

He was a brave man for flying the second aircraft after the first crashed. You should be proud.

[@follandgnatrebuild7504]

Very interesting to see you do this video as I am restoring a Gnat, XR987, to flight condition in New Zealand. This particular Gnat was part of the YellowJacks and then was one of the original Gnats that formed the Red Arrows and stayed with the team until her retirement in 1979 when the Red Arrows changed to the Hawk. XR987 should return to the skies mid 2025. Cheers

[@grahamstubbs4962]

Mate, you just got yourself a new subscriber. 🙂

[@bronsonperich9430]

​@@grahamstubbs4962same here!

[@gryph01]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing a video of her flying. Just subbed to your channel.

[@michaelmartin1519]

Awesome sir! Enjoy your project, and fly her well! Godspeed from Colorado!

[@johnbrobston1334]

Enjoy your tiny beauty.

[@alanelesstravelled8218]

The Red Arrows discovered that if a certain fuse was removed the roll rate of the Gnat could be increased. The top brass ordered that the fuse should not be removed, the Red Arrows duly obeyed the order but replaced the fuse with a blown one.

[@joeylawn36111]

🤣

[@michaelpcoffee]

Sweet!! Orders duly obeyed!

[@bjmccann1]

Oh! So clever. I'm sure that the engineers who designed the craft just put that fuse in there for no reason at all. Let's say that they would've had a series of crashes. The entire fleet would've been grounded until an investigation had determined the cause. It couldn't possibly have been those fuses, because the paperwork shows that they were regularly replaced. It must've been the company making the fuses. Our mechanics were that they had put good fuses in. Cancel that company's contract. They might go out of business, and people might lose their jobs, but they make crapoy fuses.

[@OldPapaBear]

@@bjmccann1 Yeah, you're right. One must set their priorities. Those jobs are far more important than the pilots flying into combat situations.

[@Siddich]

@@OldPapaBear…on airshows…red arrows…unarmed trainer aircraft. unlikely to ever see combat in bright red aircraft. and without the industry pilots will not have an aircraft to fly into combat. one of britains biggest mistakes was to rely on american built aircraft too much. was one reason, why they almost lost the falklands…

a very underated aircraft,simple but damned effective.

[@RogerEvans-oy2wj]

Arguably the prettiest jet fighter aircraft ever!

[@tarmaque]

Among the prettiest, surely. I'm a fan of the F5 Tiger myself in the looks department. On the other hand I'm also a big fan of ugly fighters that perform. Such as the F-8 Crusader and her little sister the A-7 Corsair.

[@codywalz8555]

Ohhh the F5 is a good one. The F16 will always be close to my heart. This one’s pretty cute though.

[@garryferrington811]

Very pretty aircraft. Sometimes simpler is better.

[@willbraxton1843]

Hey for all you complaining some of us just dig watching the footage because we may not have seen the history footage and by the way thank you for putting it together and sharing with us.

[@mike747436]

7.45 You talk about the Hawker Hunter but show what I believe is a Gloster Meteor. I had a passenger ride in a Gnat in 1978 while training on its replacement, the Hawk.

[@64Alvis]

There's a lot of unrelated footage which I find annoying.

[@julianfrost3796]

I noticed that too. It's very jarring.

[@milangasic7289]

me too

[@horusfalcon]

A good subject, and well treated. Thanks! Hope you and yours are having a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.

[@IntrospectorGeneral]

Folland Aircraft was established by Henry Folland, designer of the WW1 SE5 fighter and the interwar Glostet Grebe, Gamecock, Gauntlet, and Gladiator biplaine fighters. WE Petter took over as chief designer and, eventually, as Managing Director of Foland aircraft post WW2. While Folland is not exactly a forgotten designer his failure to design any memorable stressed skin monoplane designs has led to him being somewhat overlooked.

[@rodolfohernandez3303]

i remember the Gnat from the movie Hot Shots with Charlie Sheen

[@davidgifford8112]

That my first thought

[@JohnJ469]

Ah Roger Dodger Milli Vanilli

[@mercuryredstone2235]

I think it's sweet that they accidently used a fighter jet with a bad ass reputation for that parody.

[@joeylawn36111]

The joke was that the fictional plane in the movie was a cutting-edge advanced fighter, but was in real life an obsolete one. (The Folland Gnat was a good fighter, but it doesn't stack well against, say, the "Teens" (F-14, F-15, F-16) for example....)

[@mercuryredstone2235]

@joeylawn36111 True, that does make the joke funny. Personally, I wish they went with the Saab J-35 Draken since that's one of the few planes that competes with the Tomcat in terms of looks. But they probably couldn't get their hands on a small Squadron of them so yeah, I have to admit it makes sense they use the Folland Gnats.

[@restojon1]

There are still a couple on airshow duty in the UK. Get out and see them if you can, they're probably the angriest little aircraft you'll ever see... fantastic little things.

[@PapiDoesIt]

One of the unsung heroes of aviation. Looks fast sitting still. Simple is sometimes better.

[@dimitrihayez6502]

As a kid, I was lucky enough to see one flying in an airshow in Belgium in de 80's. Not sur wich version, as it was long time ago. A very nimble fly.

[@keithattwood59]

During my simulator technical training in the RAF, I flew and learned on a Gnat simulator. It was driven by analogue computer, built on vacuum tubes.

[@babalonkie]

Mosquito... Midge... Gnat... Members of the Nematocera species. UK has always had a fascination about Nature.

[@pastorjerrykliner3162]

The Gnat II made it to Hollywood... It was the aircraft featured in the movie "Hot Shots" starring Charlie Sheen...

[@marklewis35]

Great little aircraft. I've seen and photographed them multiple times at air shows.

[@lancerevell5979]

What's with showing a Boeing B-17, F-16s and the launch of a Sparrow missile? 😮

[@mdbigman]

LOL thought that was odd also. But great review.

[@Charles-k9g5y]

Who cares.

[@chadrowe8452]

It's just filler. KZbin won't let them show random boob pics.

[@tarmaque]

Typical Dark Skies padding when they can't find enough relevant footage and are tired of repeating what they do have.

[@Charles-k9g5y]

@ -- how much footage do you think there is? If you can do better then have at it.

[@lauriecroad3186]

Xcellent. One of my favourite A/c at displays.

[@iancharlton678]

Still flying from North Weald airfield in Essex. G-MOUR previously owned by David Gilmour, the Pink Floyd guitarist - painted as a Yellow Jack ………. and at least one other which I recall is displayed in an earlier red/white RAF livery.

[@redtale6527]

I used to sit in my back yard watching the Red Pelicans and later the Red Arrows perform at Filton.

[@NitrogenPurged]

Keep it up. I enjoy watching all your videos. A couple of editing things but packed with info! Great stuff.

[@flybobbie1449]

Some still flying in private hands. I think it's roll rate had to be limited. You can see the concept a replacement Spitfire.

[@karoltakisobie6638]

Finland had them in service for some time - anyone knows what was their experience with Gnat? Video doesn't mention Gnat being the most recognizable jet fighter on screen along with F-14 Tomcat. That alone will keep memory of it alive for years.

[@unclefart5527]

Saw the Red Arrows at an airshow in the late seventies. Growing up with Canada's clunky straight wing CT-144 Tudors at every airshow the Gnats by comparison were amazing. Being tiny, they could tuck in real close, something the massive Blue Angels F-4s couldn't do. They were amazing. And yeah, the Tudors were old in the late seventies. Still flying and crashing, (at that show one did) they are so outdated they tell the world what a ridiculous country Canada is now. Imagine if Elon Musk was promoting his new Mercury spaceflight capsule. As for the military worth of the Gnat it didn't look like it could deliver letters. But damn, the Red Arrows were good.

[@chadrowe8452]

I like fat Albert the best.

[@unclefart5527]

@@chadrowe8452 I saw that at the NY Niagara Falls base in the 70s. Blue Angels were't there but I was more intrigued with some Nam veteran F-100s in the hangers and flight line. (We got kicked off the flight line by the safety boss.) BTW the Arrow support plane was a C-130 in the desert camo. Really liked that one as RCAF ones are all silver drab at the time. Now they're grey drab LOL.

[@gryph01]

There is nothing wrong with the Tutors. They were built between 1963 and 1966.

[@Zbigniew_Nowak]

Interesting, I haven't even heard of this construction.

[@nickhorten97]

Ayden cannon, not aahden.

[@paulqueripel3493]

And still cant pronounce Canberra either.

[@andyf4292]

I think its a similar cartidge to the ah64 cannon

[@Original50]

I have a feeling that a fleet of Gnats, piloted by former WW2 Polish pilots, would be a good deterrent to the Warsaw Pact.

[@kawarps]

Anecdotally it was said all Royal Air Force fighter pilots of the 1960s and 1970s were short because of being able to fit in the Gnats cockpit. The video is fascinating. W.E.W Petter is the most overlooked aircraft designer of the British war time and post war years.

[@Milo_1368]

Dark Skies is reading almost word for word from Wikipedia.

[@jonhiggins504]

The Gnat was beautiful aircraft, but an absolute nightmare to work on, maintain and keep serviceable!!! My late uncle brought one that was the gate guard at RAF Valley.

[@rossanderson4440]

That is surprising (to me, anyway) to hear, as the rationale behind it was that jets were getting too expensive and too maintenance intensive for their operational requirements!

[@andrewmorgan1819]

I worked on two retired Gnats during my apprenticeship, they were a delight to work on. So small you need little more than a step ladder even when on jacks. I loved the Reds displays with Gnats, the Hawk never caught me quite as much. I always thought the little Gnat looked more impressive doing the routines.

[@265justy]

@ 7:48...It shows a Meteor....not a Hunter ..Who makes and edits these vids..? Can they ever get right..🙄 And then seeing a B-17 and an F-16 later on in the vid...😂😂😂 For God sake ...

[@chandrachurniyogi8394]

many Indian Folland Gnat F.1B light multi role air defence fighter were upgraded to F.4 standards . . . featuring a dedicated radar for air-to-air intercepts & air-to-air guided missiles . . . whereas the same upgrade was rejected by the Royal Air Force for their fleet of Folland Gnat F.2 light multi role air defence fighter . . .

[@PhantomLover007]

The Gnat also made it into the movies. They were in the movie “Hot Shots” as the fictional "Oscar EW-5894 Phallus" tactical fighter bombers were portrayed by four privately owned Folland Gnat T.1s and an Ajeet. These planes were flown by US Navy pilots in the movie.

[@rogerhudson9732]

When the Red Arrows flew the Gnat I saw them a number of times. The display rules meant they could fly very low over water. Once I was in a dinghy in Fowey harbour when they flew the 2 plane head on manoeuvre low and I was engulfed in JP1 exhaust fumes, spectacular display.

[@sdgsuperstar]

The emergence of warriors like “The Saber Slayer” helps broaden the view of fighting ability in martial arts or historical combat. These characters highlight the richness of tactics and talents, showing that it is not always necessary to have a strong body to achieve success in combat.

[@blackrosecomb]

Saw these a lot over the years at airshows and also training in Yorkshire. A very pretty aircraft and tiny!

[@kennyhagan5781]

I would love to see a video on the English Electric Lightning, if you haven't already done one. That thing gets you closer to space faster than any other plane.

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

13:48 B17 getting raked....classic Dark Skies trolling😆

[@oculusangelicus8978]

The Canadair CL-13B mk.6 was the best fighter jet of its era. but the problem with having the best fighter jet in the world is that, in order to put it to good use, you needed to have the best fighter pilots in them, and while those jets were in the hands of the Canadian pilots, they were a force to be reckoned with, even American Pilots had a healthy respect for Canadian Pilots because they often lost to Canadian pilots when Canada and the USA joined together for aerial combat training events annually. The reason being is that American Pilots could only be a pilot for so long before being promoted out of the cockpit, which is the American stype of operation, to always make room for younger up and coming pilots to gain access to the fighters, but in Canada, the Pilots can be Career Pilots and the amount of experience and treachery they gathered in the time of their Career was a massive deciding factor in aerial combat, Youth and Vigor loses out to old age and treachery everytime. But Pakistan didn't have as robust a training system so they could not use those fighter jets to their top capabilities and the Gnat was a smaller, lighter and mor maneuverable aircraft, which would put a heavy strain on the Pakistani pilot's skills. And the Sabre was an older aircraft than the Gnat also so the Pakistani Pilots likely fell into traps of playing to the Gnat's superior handling instead of disengaging and looking for another opportunity. This is how American and Canadian Pilots rule the air, by knowing their enemy's aircraft traits and not playing into them but using their Sabre's superior qualities of speed to their advantage Also the weapons of the Sabre were much smaller rounds than the Gnat's twin 30mm cannons the Sabre was armed with 6 x 12.7mm (0.50 cal) machine guns. what it did have in calibre, it made up for in Volume of fire, but it's no good if you can't get behind your enemy with your skills.

[@JohnJ469]

14:58 Interesting to see the rounds that missed the aircraft impacting the ground.

[@crawford323]

Outstanding

[@fredburley9512]

Cool little plane. Nice design profile.

[@briansmith8079]

Great aircraft!!! Thanks 👍

[@prashanthb6521]

You dont have to have the latest and the greatest to win. Common sense and wisdom wins always.

[@34ccsn]

We need more small, simple, inexpensive fighters.

[@brettwoodard167]

That was great, thanks!

[@flickingbollocks5542]

7:45 That isn't a Hunter...

[@lancerevell5979]

The Gloster Meteor is indeed quite different. 😮

[@grahamstubbs4962]

Any self-respecting Hunter would have Tower Bridge above it. 🙂

[@flickingbollocks5542]

@grahamstubbs4962 LOL Trouble is the pilot was discharged from RAF (on medical grounds which avoided Court Martial)

[@flickingbollocks5542]

@@lancerevell5979 Sometimes I think he deliberately shows us the wrong plane when talking about another. I don't remember seeing a video when he has got everything right.

[@grahamstubbs4962]

@@flickingbollocks5542 I would have promoted him. Either he was certifiably insane or just the kind of chap you want in a fighter squadron. Those are not mutually exclusive.

[@patriot9455]

One of the undeniable facts of war and arms. When you show you have a superior device, SOMEONE will find a way to improve it, YOU HAVE TO HOPE it is your guys who find it, lol

[@mdbigman]

The Gnat was also featured in the movie "Hot Shots".

[@Turd_Furgeson]

And part Duex??

[@pastorjerrykliner3162]

YES!

[@mdbigman]

@@Turd_Furgeson Negative Ghost Rider.

[@DavidReed-g5e]

a nice airplane that could mix it up in the subsonic range. best of all could be built in numbers quickly. a big advantage over larger more complex aircraft when it hits the fan.

[@VagabondTexan]

While I really like the video, seeing F-16's in flight during the Bangladeshi War of Independence, and then a B-17 getting raked by fire was a bit jarring. I realize that getting proper stock footage can be daunting, but... Keep up the interesting stories.

[@crimsonfury7811]

Indian Gnats really made its reputation as Saber slayer nonetheless it can have slayed many other fighters of that time. They should have arranged A2A missiles on it.

[@curiousuranus810]

The greatest little aircraft you have ever featured; beautiful. It's a shame you didn't go into more detail about the encounter between the Gnat and the F104 n(400 metre turning radius vs a 5 Km turning radius).

[@tarmaque]

The F104 was not really a fighter jet so much as it was an interceptor. Its whole purpose was to get off the runway and carry a couple of missiles up to the altitude of bombers as fast as possible. In this it has essentially the same role as the MIG 25, but was lighter, cheaper, and slower. It was also dangerous to fly. It had a horrible accident rate as high as 46% in some countries.

[@loodwich]

I think that is also important the use of the Gnat in the parody movie of 1991 "Hot Shots!"

[@krownjoolz]

Are your continuity errors deliberate to generate interactions with the video.. Interesting approach if it is. For example I am literally incapable of making the comment that, that is a Meteor on display as you discuss the Hunter. Well done !

[@willbraxton1843]

I was training in Germany and saw one of these planes fly in training. I was a tank gunner at the time and we could hear them but see them till they were already flying over us at less than 100 feet

[@pierrebuffiere5923]

I believe the Gnat had a rate of roll of 390 deg. per second. It was too small to tke the Martin Baker ejection seat, so Folland had to develop their own. One didn't get into this aircraft, one strapped it on.

[@trevormillar1576]

The Gnats played the role of the Navy fighters in the film Hot Shots!

[@Moinak-wo5zc]

It earned the name SABRE SLAYER in Indian Airforce in 1965 war when it shot down 8 sabres

[@DesMen-i9z]

Back then, the UK really could build solid military aircraft on its own. Nowadays, not so much.

[@BillBuckley-b8j]

As always, shoddy work when it comes to stock footage with this content provider. Gloster Meteor was shown as the Hawker Hunter. Two very different planes.

[@chrisseanrobson]

Let's goooooooooooo India ❤

[@lukewarmwater6412]

This craft weighed about the same as a 77 Lincoln continental. Same as modern drones... time to re invent this one!

[@trebormints3739]

i remember when the red arrows stopped using gnats and went to hawks

[@gumpyoldbugger6944]

It would seem that Petter took the KISS Principle to heart and kept it (w)holy. I hope the plans for aircraft like the Gnat are kept available, odds are they will come in handy if and when the bovine matter hits the rotating cooling device and all our fancy modern warbirds become so much scrap metal in combat and need to be replaced asap. Not saying the Gnat is a better A/C, just that in a long protracted war where replacement A/C are going to be required, A/C's like the Gnat could be built and put into service a hell of lot faster then most Gen 3 or 4 fighters.

[@reserva120]

This was a very well done and informative article.. Rather interesting to contrast as you did with other fighters of the time .. Cheers, by the way , your really finding a Great vocal cadence ( and never worry about -films being over correct - as long as it’s in the ballpark- and conveys what story you’re telling, ).. Again very well done sir ..

[@AwakenedOne-qu]

The F16 is a small fighter, it is also the best dogfighter ever designed.

[@lankriverfront8360]

There are a pair of flying Gnats based at the North Weald airfield in Essex

[@buzzbomb67]

Beautiful little fighter, very similar looking to the larger Hunter, I think. The F-5 is prettier but beauty has nothing to do with performance, necessarily. Would be interesting to see how they perform against each other.

[@shantanusapru]

The Gnat was the unlikeliest hero of the 1971 Indo-Pak war! It has stood India in good stead!

[@hades1890]

If I had millions of dollars, I would have a modernized version of the Gnat made for private flight and possibly even for civilian sale. With modern day techknowledgy and materials, you could make a far lighter version that's more durable with better fuel economy and with a far more powerful jet engine.

[@neddyseagoon9601]

I'm staggered at modern thinking that hard to maintain aircraft are required in a peer to peer conflict. Guys on the ground due in their hundreds so why must interceptor pilots get so much protection? I can understand covert strike aircraft needing all of the toys but its certain that interceptor and ground attack support pilots can be trained and re equiped faster if the planes are easier overall to use and build and maintain...

[@petertyson4022]

The Gnat and midge always reminds of the hawk t1. Good to see shows its history.didint know it played in the indis ,Pakistan war. Learned something new..is dark Sykes playing a game to see which aircraft is showing that's not mentioned by it's real name. I saw a Gloster Meteor called named by a different aircraft. Do I win a prize. 😎👍

[@joemoz7977]

No!😂

[@hvymax]

A literal Guided missile could carry out many defined missions!!!

[@goodviewfromuphere120]

You didn't climb into a Gnat, you strapped it to your backside.

[@AndyBonesSynthPro]

This plane weighs a little more than a car. I bet the recoil from two 30mm autocannons made it shake like a dryer loaded with bowling balls

[@adriansutherland7948]

The Midge is pronounced 'mid-gee' in the UK. A very small flying insect with a highly irritating bite-hence the name originally given to the plane.

[@cameraman655]

Whaaa…no mention of the film..”Hot Shots…”

[@catlee8064]

We led the world back then in all sorts of fields.....now look at us, how far we have fallen....

[@darveshzamindar]

Known in India as Ajeet , the Sabre slayer .

[@99Racker]

In my mind, we need to have an aircraft such as this ready to go into production. Small, cheap, but effective as an air-to-air (etc.) fighter that can be built with minimum infrastructure and distributed to US and friends. We typically try to out technology opponents instead of throwing more numerous but capable (fill in the blank) products. WW2 used these kinds of products but we have misplaced such logic. Sad.

[@aaronredbaron]

Is this the primary fighter in the Top Gun spoof Hot Shots?

[@ScootScoot125]

Indeed it is

[@terrific804]

Remember the Spitfire?

[@geoff1201]

Those Hawker Hunters were Gloster Meteors.

[@tylerbonser7686]

Not sure if this channel has always been like this but noticed a lot of unrelated footage.

[@GarethMeasday]

Not hawker hunter shown at 7:45...

[@fuzzy-daddy83]

It's not a Gnat, its the Oscar EW-5894 Phallus Lightweight Tactical Fighter Bomber😁

[@paulkendall6069]

The Gnat put on some great shows with the Red Arrows, I'm surprised Navey didn't look into a navel version as they wanted high performance jets but was limited by space and ease of maintance on board ships which Gnat would have solved.

[@BustaHymen]

It looks a bit like a crossover between the Hunter and the Saab 105

[@stephenlowry8618]

Poor video editing. Consistently shows USAF F-86Ds while talking about the Canadian Mk 6 Sabre in scene after scene.

[@JosephThomas-t3n]

WTF people, there was thousands of iPhone 47s in people's pocket in the 50s . I agree, slackers....

[@gundammadman1726]

They plug an AI video tool all the time, so its probably that.😂

[@jme36053]

This is not a new problem with this channel.

[@Charles-k9g5y]

Nit pick much.

[@athiftsabit1208]

What do you expect from this "dark xxxx" channels? They're AI shit and pumping contents with no passion and detailed research.

[@Charles-k9g5y]

I’ll tell you guys what. Close your eyes and just listen. I’m tired of the nit picking.

[@casinodelonge]

The Pakistani B-17's fared badly in the encounter.

[@pickledmangoes]

Pakistan never flew B-17s.

[@casinodelonge]

@@pickledmangoes really????????? blow me down. But its in the video!!!

[@casinodelonge]

What a shame they were not adopted by the RAF, they would have been great for a "Territorial Air Force" , although in the 50's, MOD thinking was that manned aircraft were redundant due to missiles, sound familiar??

[@billpugh58]

No radar.

[@brainfreeze1925]

07:48 Can't you at least match your text with the image. The jet appearing at that time marker is a Meteor.

[@av8tore71]

General aviation even has birds of prey or royalty like Cessna Skyhawk, sparrowhawk, citation beechcraft is royalty King Air, Queen Air, Duke, duchess and Piper has Indians name Warrior, Arrow, Tomahawk, Seneca, Apache,

[@mre7862]

Mentions Hawker Hunter and proceeds to show Gloucester Meteor repeatedly🤦🏻‍♂️

[@fredburley9512]

Well, that's Dark Skies for you. Has infectious enthusiasm though.

[@AndrewJarvis-hn7cc]

Gloster Meteor.

[@WhiteWineGaming]

What’s with the footage? Maybe just show some still images if you can’t fill the video with accurate footage

[@mothmagic1]

Weight saving at its best. Don't bother with dive brakes and their associated hydralics just use the main gear doors.