From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Symbolic guardian at a military facility
This article is about retired equipment displayed at military facilities. For deities associated with gates and doors, see
Liminal deity . For a person who guards a gate, see
security guard .
F-104 at the Georgia Air National Guard
A gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft,
armoured vehicle ,
artillery piece , or locomotive, mounted on a
plinth and used as a static display near to and forming a symbolic display of "guarding" the main entrance to a site, especially a
military base .
[1]
[2] Commonly, gate guardians outside airbases are decommissioned examples of aircraft that were once based there, or still are.[
citation needed ]
Examples
Examples of gate guardians include the following:
Australia
In Australia, gate guards are also often found outside
Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) clubs.
Finland
Malaysia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Switzerland
United Kingdom
25 Pounder howitzers at 48 Regiment
Royal Artillery ,
Thorney Island and two on loan from the
Honourable Artillery Company outside Admiralty House (the official residence of the Commander
Joint Forces Command ) at
Northwood Headquarters .
Avro Shackleton at
RAF St Mawgan .
BAC Jet Provost at
RAF Linton-on-Ouse .
Bristol Bloodhound surface-to-air guided missile at Hudson House
Territorial Army Centre ,
Catford (Home of
221 (EOD) (V) Field Squadron ,
101 (City of London) Engineer Regiment ,
Royal Engineers ).
C-47 Dakota at Headquarters
16 Air Assault Brigade ,
Merville Barracks .
De Havilland Comet at
RAF Lyneham .
FV434 Combat Recovery and Repair Vehicle and Gazelle Helicopter at
Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College .
Gloster Javelin at
Staverton Airport and XA634
RAF Leeming (purchased by Gloucestershire Jet Age Museum in January 2015.
[4] ).
Hawker Hunter at
RAF Halton and WV396 at
RAF Valley .
[5]
Hawker Sea Hawk at
RNAS Culdrose
[6]
Hawker Siddeley Harrier at
MOD Stafford (formerly RAF Stafford) and
RAF Wittering (visible from the northbound
A1 ).
Hurricane (replica) at the former
RAF North Weald , with the markings of the
No. 56 Squadron RAF , as flown by
No. 249 Squadron RAF pilot
Thomas 'Ginger' Neil during the
Battle of Britain in September 1940.
McDonnell Douglas Phantom at
RAF Boulmer .
Panavia Tornado at
Leuchars Station
BAE Nimrod at
RAF Kinloss .
SEPECAT Jaguar from the former
RAF Coltishall , now named "Spirit of Coltishall" and displayed at Norfolk County Council.
SEPECAT Jaguar at RAF Cosford – installed in May 2017, but is outside the station headquarters, so not visible from the main gate.
[7]
Spitfire (replica) at
Edinburgh Airport .
[8]
Spitfire (replica) at
RAF Benson .
Spitfire and Hurricane (replicas) at
RAF Uxbridge .
Spitfire and
Hurricane at
RAF Biggin Hill .
[9]
Panavia Tornado at
RAF Marham .
Panavia Tornado F3 at
RAF Leeming (replaced
Gloster Javelin in 2015).
[10]
A 40% scale replica of
Concorde had been located at the main road entrance to
Heathrow Airport until March 2007, when it was moved to
Brooklands Museum , Surrey. At Heathrow Airport, that Concorde model has been replaced by a model of an
Airbus A380 in
Emirates livery.
[11] In September 2012, the Concorde was finally installed at the main entrance to the whole Brooklands site.
[12]
Chinook helicopter
RAF Odiham
BAE Hawk T1A , XX247, at
RAF Woodvale
[13]
[14]
Avro Vulcan at
RAF Waddington
Supermarine Spitfire at
RAF Digby
United States
Bell UH-1H Iroquois s/n 70–16218 at
Bradley International Airport in
Windsor Locks, Connecticut .
[15]
Boeing B-47E Stratojet s/n 53–4213 at
McConnell Air Force Base in
Wichita, Kansas .
[16]
Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker s/n 55–3118 at
McConnell Air Force Base in
Wichita, Kansas . #1 KC-135 – City of Renton.
[16]
Convair F-102A Delta Dagger s/n 56–1264 at
Bradley Air National Guard Base in
Windsor Locks, Connecticut .
[17]
Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II s/n 79–0103 at
Bradley Air National Guard Base in
Windsor Locks, Connecticut .
[17]
Lockheed A-12 s/n 60–6931 at
George Bush Center for Intelligence in
Langley, Virginia .
[18]
Lockheed LC-130 at
Stratton Air National Guard Base in
Schenectady, New York
Lockheed F-104C Starfighter s/n 56–0919 at
Georgia Air National Guard in
Brunswick, Georgia .
[19]
Lockheed F-104N Starfighter registration N811NA at
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott ,
Arizona .
[20]
McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II BuNo 162969 at
MCAS Cherry Point in
Havelock, North Carolina .
[21]
Three
Northrop T-38 Talons painted to resemble aircraft formerly flown by the
US Air Force Thunderbirds at
Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in
Owatonna, Minnesota
[22]
North American F-100D Super Sabre s/n 55–3805 at
Bradley Air National Guard Base in
Windsor Locks, Connecticut .
[17]
F-15A Eagle tailflash (RG) resides facing
State Route 247 in front of the Museum of Aviation and serving the Russell Parkway gate in
Warner Robins, Georgia , placed during 2019.
[23]
Bell UH-1H Iroquois at Helena Regional Airport.
[24]
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter on display at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard base.
[25]
Images
RAF
Bristol Bloodhound missile outside the
RAF Museum in London
A Phantom aircraft as the gate guardian at the entrance to the air terminal at Mount Pleasant Complex in the Falkland Islands. This was removed
c. 2011
See also
References
^
"A-6 Intruder (A-6E) Gate Guardian" . Wikimapia .
^
"A-7 Corsair II (A-7) Gate Guardian USN NAS Atlanta" . Wikimapia . Atlanta, Georgia. Retrieved 2009-11-10 .
^
"First Fulcrum as Gate Guard" . malaysiandefence.com . 8 January 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024 .
^
"BBC News – Gloucestershire Jet Age Museum buys Gloster Javelin" .
BBC Online . Retrieved 20 January 2015 .
^
Gate Guardian ,
RAF Valley , accessed 2009-11-10
^
"Thunder & Lightnings - Hawker Sea Hawk - Survivor WF225" . Retrieved 1 June 2024 .
^ Marshall, Chris, ed. (Autumn 2017). "Cosford's Gate Guardian". Cosford Grapevine . Rushden: Forces publishing: 25.
OCLC
751026701 .
^
"Edinburgh Airport Spitfire saved by devoted pilot" .
JPIMedia .
Edinburgh Evening News . 20 May 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2019 .
^
"Fundraising drive begins to replace rotting gate guardians" . Newsshopper .
RAF Biggin Hill , UK. September 12, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-10 .
^
"Iconic Tornado returns to guard the gates of Leeming" . www.raf.mod.uk . Retrieved 27 August 2017 .
^
"HEATHROW MODEL MOVE" . CONCORDE SST . 2007.
^
"Concorde moved from Heathrow Airport to Brooklands Museum" . Brooklands Museum . September 2012.
^
"Out of Service British Military Aircraft" . Demobbed . Retrieved 14 October 2019 .
^ Regan, Pat (28 November 2017).
"RAF Woodvale's new Gate Guardian – UPDATED" . On The Spot (OTS) News Southport . Retrieved 14 October 2019 .
^
"Bradley – IAP, Connecticut" . US Demobbed . Retrieved 29 August 2018 .
^
a
b
"McConnell AFB, Kansas" . US Demobbed . Retrieved 29 August 2018 .
^
a
b
c
"Bradley – ANG, Connecticut" . US Demobbed . Retrieved 29 August 2018 .
^
"Langley CIA, Virginia" . US Demobbed . Retrieved 29 August 2018 .
^
"Brunswick – Glynco Jetport, Georgia" . US Demobbed . Retrieved 29 August 2018 .
^
"Prescott, Arizona" . US Demobbed . Retrieved 29 August 2018 .
^
"Hawker Siddeley-McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II, s/n 162969 USN, c/n 512096" . Aerial Visuals . Retrieved 29 August 2018 .
^
"New location for Owatonna's Three T-38 Talon "Thunderbird" Jets - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com" . www.waymarking.com . Retrieved 2022-03-09 .
^
"F-15A becomes signature aircraft at Museum of Aviation" . Robins Air Force Base. Retrieved 6 January 2020 .
^
"Google Maps" . Google Maps . Retrieved 2022-04-12 .
^
"Knoxville F-104 completely restored" . International F-104 Society. Retrieved 8 December 2023 .