Folland Midge

Folland Midge.

Category.	Statistic.
First flight on.	11th of August, 1954.
Retired on.	1955.
Major contractor(s) .	Folland Aircraft.
Dose it use nukes or cruse missiles.	No.
Fight ceiling.	40,000 ft/12,191 m.
Top speed.	600 mph/966 km/h.
VTOL.	No.
Range.	N/A.
Crew, including instructor(s).	1 (1 pilot + 1 instructor).
Nationality(s).	British.
Class.	Prototype trainer\fighter.
Rate of climb.	N/A.
Links.	http://www.vectorsite.net/avgnat.html, http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1955/1955%20-%201464.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folland_Midge.

The Folland Midge was a small, swept-wing British subsonic light fighter aircraft originally developed as a concept demonstrator for the successful Folland Gnat.

It developed in to the Folland Gnat. W.E.W. "Teddy" Petter, a British aircraft designer who had gained wide recognition for his design of the English Electric Canberra bomber and English Electric Lightning supersonic interceptor. He was unable to pursue this vision at English Electric, so he left to become managing director and chief designer of Folland Aircraft. In 1951, using company funds, he began work on his lightweight fighter concept, which was designated the Folland Gnat.

The Midge had a number of advanced features, such as hydraulically powered "flaperons", main landing gear that could be used as airbrakes, and a one-piece canopy that hinged over an inner armoured windscreen. Despite the low-powered engine, the little jet could break Mach 1 in a dive and was very agile.

It used a Armstrong Siddeley Viper engine and was tested at RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, UK. The Midge was evaluated by pilots from Canada, India, Jordan, New Zealand, and the US Air Force, and was almost universally praised.