[QUOTE=Krystal n chips;11194056]
"The Gnat..a joy to take to pieces, you could say it was modular in fact...re-assembly, not so..."
I've never worked on the live beast but we did plenty on it during training.
Our team was tasked with a canopy removal/refit,
for such a tiny flea of a machine, it's canopy is bloody huge and is probably only second in component weight to the engine.
During the refit, the guy responsible for slinging, propping and supporting made a mess of it and it came down very hard on the cockpit rails. My other pal's task was to insert the hinge bolt(s).
He got his body out of the way before he got chopped in two, but remained trapped between canopy and rail by a fold in his overalls, smack bang in line with the gentleman's weekend sports equipment.
An inch or two closer and he would not have four grown up kids today.
It is also the only time I have seen a Scotsman too shocked to utter a meaningful string of swear words.