from concrete runways and used high-pressure tyres. Petter refused to modify the undercarriage because this would mean bulging the undercarriage doors and spoiling the Gnat's clean aerodynamic lines. Stanley Hooker urged him to 'Just say that you will try to do it', but Petter's moral code would not let him make false claims. As a result, the Gnat was eliminated from the competition in June 1955. Ironically, the Gnat trainer design would show that the wider tyres could be used without increasing drag. Production of the Midge progressed to schedule and it was rolled out of the workshop on 31 July 1954, making its maiden flight on 11 August 1954. The Gnat first flew on 18 July 1955 and while it was demonstrated to be a capable aircraft, there was little interest in it in Europe. In November 1955 the Indian government showed an interest in both purchasing and in licensed manufacture. Petter made several visits to India and he and his design team were highly regarded by HAL. An approach was made to him to set up a design team in India.However, his relationship with Indian government officials was antagonistic due to arguments over variations in contract costs. In the late 1950s Petter rationalised his senior staff, dismissing those he thought had failed to meet his standards. However at the same time the Macmillan government was rationalising the aircraft industry and made the order for Gnat Trainers conditional on Folland merging with the Hawker Siddely group. Such a merger would effectively make Petter subordinate to Sir Sidney Camm, with whom Petter had a good relationship (Camm had provided Petter with the Hunter wind tunnel data during the development of the Gnat) but the working relationship would be intolerable. At the same period his wife Claude was showing the early signs of Parkinson's disease. These two factors prompted Petter to announce his resignation to the Hawker Siddely board on 11 November 1959, leaving Folland in the December. Personal life and retirement Throughout his education at Marborough and Cambridge Petter seems to have led a reclusive life. At Cambridge he had one close friend, John McCowan, with whom he shared an interest in motor cars. It was during a stay at the McCowan family farm that Petter met his future wife Claude, the daughter of Louis Munier a Swiss official at the League of Nations in Geneva. Teddy and Claude were