It was the T.1 Prototype: http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/gnat/history.php

Appeared at Farnborough in 1959 and 62:
http://www.farnboroughspotters.com/59.html
http://www.farnboroughspotters.com/62.html

From http://www.militaryairshows.co.uk/follandgnat.htm and which may be of extreme interest to you….
Cost also affected the engine unit and de-rated Orpheus BOR.4.JK100 4,230 lb-st was fitted powering the FO.144 prototype aircraft for the first flight from Chilbolton on the 31st August, 1959, again with Sqn. Leader A. A. Tennant at the controls bearing the registration XM691.
XM691 was just one from fourteen aircraft that had been built following finalisation of the design to spec T.185. For further production to continue Folland aircraft had to join forces with Hawker Siddeley as the government favoured larger organisations to undertake large scale manufacture.

UK Serials has this:

f/f 31/08/1959, blown up Shepperton Studios 07/1969

http://www.ukserials.com/

From what I can gather, Shepperton Studios made 27 films in 1969, some of them are listed below. Its possible the aircraft was destroyed for a production from 1970 too… (I *think* that these are completion dates rather than general release dates…)

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Cromwell (1969)
Every Home Should Have One (1969)
The Promise (1969)
A Severed Head (1969)
The Three Sisters (1969)
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1969)
Battle of Britain (1969)
The Body Stealers (1969)
The Last Grenade (1969) … this one is a ‘modern image’ war film, so perhaps this is a lightly candidate! Anyone seen the film?
The Oblong Box (1969)
The Reckoning (1969)
The Smashing Bird I Used to Know (1969)

I wonder just how many public sector workers – you know the type: teacher/nurse/refuse collector (ie. not middle and upper management) can afford to learn to fly and run aeroplanes?… in comparison to the equivalent jobs in the private sector 😀

In all seriousness, I’m public sector, I don’t have any association with a union, and therefore don’t strike. I do not pay into a pension fund for two reasons – I can’t afford to put £200/month into a pot, and secondly by the time I hit 67 – 70 years old, the retirement age will have exceeded my ability to stay alive. I get a good wage for the 800 ish hours I have in contact with my students, but that does not take into account the preparation time at home. I took a huge pay cut when I moved from private to public. I did find Mr. Clarkson’s comments funny and watched as they were blown out of proportion by the media.

In a few years time, there will be a dramatic increase in the number of deaths at work….

With an inverted engine, the crankshaft is higher off the ground, and so a bigger propeller can be fitted…. lower centre of Gravity, better visbility, on Vee engines the oil sump can be fitted between the banks of cylinders.

Carbs, superchargers, pumps, etc seem to usually be mounted behind the engine rather than increasing the cross section.

http://b377.ovi.ch/brochures/esso/

gravity…… I can’t think of any piston / AVGAS aircraft which used pressure refuelling….

B47 – Pressure. First flight 1947, In service date 1951 – so that beats the comet… http://schenectadystore.frontex.com/transportation_other_g51-at_a_united_states_air_force_base_at_fairford_gloucetershire_england_a_ground_crew_refuels_a_boeing_b47_stratojet_bomber._plane_is_powered_by_six_ge_j47_jet_engines._p8351.html

Congratulations and thanks are in order – very few people donate their relics to museums these days and it takes a true enthusiast to place an object with an appropriate collection rather than resort to making a quick buck from e-bay (other internet auction sites are available). I am impressed, and I only wish more people could be like you. So congratulations for making the right choice and helping a museum increase its display potential, and thank you for restoring my faith in humanity. (2nd time this week this has happened!)

I’d like to make a claim on behalf of NEAM, IF you could wait 24 hours so I can confirm that we could collect it…. It would make a fine display next to the comet 4 nose section….

These are more commonly seen with a probe, but this one is pre-probe…..