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 .
A gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle , artillery piece , or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and forming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 ]
F-104 at the Georgia Air National Guard
This section
needs additional citations for verification .
(March 2021 )
Examples of gate guardians include the following:
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]
SEPECAT Jaguar at RAF Spadeadam
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]