Gate guardian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A gate guardian is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and "guarding" the main entrance to somewhere, especially a military base. Commonly, gate guardians outside airbases are decommissioned examples of aircraft that were once based there, or still are.
Examples of Gate Guardians around the world include the following:
In the United Kingdom:
- De Havilland Comet at RAF Lyneham.
- Hawker Siddely Harrier at RAF Wittering.
- Hawker Hunter at RAF Halton.
- Spitfire and Hurricane at Biggin Hill.
- McDonnel Douglas Phantom at RAF Boulmer.
- Spitfire Replica at RAF Benson.
- Jet Provost at RAF Linton-on-Ouse
- Spitfire at RAF Uxbridge
All of the Spitfires and Hurricanes that now serve as gate guards are glass fibre replicas
Examples of Gate Guardians for other uses include outside Balinese Temples.
