Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor was the RAF's first jet fighter
aircraft.
Development began in November 1940 following the
appearance of the turbojet designed by Frank Whittle.
Designed by George Carter of the Gloster Aircraft
Company, eight prototypes were produced; in the beginning
the craft was named the Thunderbolt, but confusion with
the American Republic P-47 led to a name change to
Meteor.
The Gloster Meteor made its first test flight on March 5,
1943, the fifth prototype, piloted by Michael Daunt,
making it into the air powered by two de Havilland
Halfors H.1 turbojets. This was not the first flight by a
jet-powered aircraft in Britain: that had taken place
almost two years earlier on May 15, 1941 That flight was
made by an experimental Gloster E. 28/39 powered by a
single Whittle W.1 engine with 390 kg of thrust. The
initial production Mk. I had a maximum speed of 417 mph
at 3000m and had a range of 1610 km, powered by two
Rolls-Royce W.2B/23C turbojet engines providing 771 kg of
thrust each (the Halfors engines had been reserved by de
Havilland for that company's own Vampire jet aircraft).
It was 12.60 m long with a span of 13.10 m, an empty
weight of 3695 kg, and a maximum take-off weight of 6255
kg. The construction was all-metal with conventional low
straight wings, the turbojets were mid-mounted in the
wings, and the tailplane was high-mounted to keep it
clear of the jet exhaust. It was armed with four 20 mm
Hispano cannons. Late versions, beginning with the F.8 in
1948 were the first British production aircraft to be
equipped with ejector seats
The first aircraft were delivered to the Royal Air Force
on July 12, 1944 and one was also sent to the US in
exchange for a Bell YP-59A Airacomet for comparative
evaluation. The Meteor Mk. I saw action for the first
time on July 27, 1944 against the V1 Flying Bomb. The
Meteor never saw aerial combat against the Luftwaffe
despite flying missions over Germany from January 1945,
using the Mk. III variant from bases in Belgium.
Production of the aircraft continued until 1954 and
almost 3,900 were made, mainly the Mk. 8. The Meteor was
also operated by the airforces of Argentina, Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, France, Egypt, Israel, Syria and Sweden.
Although many Gloster Meteors survive in Museums and
collections only five remain airworthy, four in the
United Kingdom and a F8 fighter which was exported to
Australia in 2002.