Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Single-seat, twin engine, jet fighter

Power Plant:

Two 2,000 lbst Rolls Royce Welland I (Derwent I) centrifugal compressor turbojets

Specifications:

Armament:

Four 20 mm Hispano Mk III cannon

History:

In 1940 the design staff at Gloster Aircraft commenced design of an operational jet fighter to meet specification F.9/40, the aircraft built being the only Allied jet aircraft to see operational service during World War II. On 7 February 1941 the British Ministry of Aircraft Production placed an order for 12 prototypes (serials DG202 to DG213), eight of the prototypes being eventually completed, taxiing trials of the first with Rover W.2B turbojets providing 1,000 lbst commencing on 43 July 1942.

Eventually DG202 was fitted with Rover B.23 engines providing 1,526 lbst and this aircraft flew for the first time on 24 July 1943. The Halford H.1 turbojet rated at 1,500 lbst then became available and these were installed in the fifth prototype, which flew on 5 March 1943. A number of engines were then fitted from various manufacturers, including Power Jets W.2/500 and W.2/700, Metrovick F.3/1, Rolls Royce W.2B/23 and Rolls Royce W.2B/37.

An order for 20 aircraft was then placed with Gloster Aircraftfor a machine to be known as the Thunderbolt but this was later changed to Meteor. First production aircraft were known as the Meteor I and had Rolls Royce W.2B/23 Welland 1 engines providing 1,700 lbst. The first production Meteor I (EE210) was shipped to the United States in exchange for a Bell YP-59A Comet in 1944.

The Meteor II was a proposed variant with 2,700 lbst de Havilland Goblin I engines; and the Meteor III was the first variant manufactured in quantity, the first 15 Mk IIIs (or F.3) differing from the Mk I in having a sliding canopy in place of the sideways hinged canopy, increased fuel and some airframe refinements. From the 16th airframe Derwent I engines providing 2,000 lbst were installed. In combat the new jet aircraft saw little aerial opposition and were mostly used for ground attack duties.

The Meteor F.3, as it had become known, continued in production until replaced by the Meteor IV in 1945, the last 15 F.3s having lengthened engine nacelles, which change was continued on production aircraft which followed, being fitted with Derwent V engines. A total of 280 Meteor F.3s was completed but most of these were delivered after the conclusion of hostilities. These aircraft have received various appellations, the Meteor F.3, Meteor F.III, Meteor III, and Meteor Mk III.

An example of the Meteor was flown by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). One Meteor F.3 (NZ6001 – ex EE395) saw service from 1946 to 1950. It arrived at Auckland on 23 December 1945, the aircraft being on loan from the British Air Ministry as an appreciation of the support of New Zealander aircrew over the years, and to assist in training military personnel on the operation of jet aircraft. The aircraft arrived in New Zealand on board the New Zealands Shipping Company’s vessel ‘Paparoa’ and was conveyed to RNZAF Hobsonville for erection, this beginning in early 1946.

This aircraft made its first New Zealand flight on 11 February 1946 in the hands of Sqd Ldr Robert McKay, who had previously been a fighter pilot in Europe and was at one stage attached to the Jet Conversion Unit at RAF Molesworth in Cambridgeshire. On 9 March 1946 the aircraft was displayed at RNZAF Station, Ardmore and it then made a seven-week nationwide tour, this beginning on 21 March when it flew to Waipapakauri, where it was refuelled before flying to Kerikeri, eventually returning to Ardmore.

Over the following weeks it visited Rukuhia, Ohakea, New Plymouth, Gisborne and other centres. On 14 April that year it was taken through the 805 km/h (500 mph) barrier in a shallow dive at Paraparaumu. Further flights were made over south-island cities. The tour ended on 9 May when the aircraft flew to Wigram where two months were spent converting Central Flying School pilots on to the jet aircraft, 56 pilots being converted before they moved on to the de Havilland Vampire, which the RNZAF was to receive.

The loan of the aircraft from the British Air Ministry was for a period of one year which would have expired in January 1947 but the Meteor remained in service with the RNZAF, being displayed at a number of military and civil events before, in 1950, being sold to the New Zealand Government for $10,000 (£5,000) to be used for technical training. Its last flight was made on 16 September 1950 when it flew from Ohakea to Whenuapai to participate in Battle of Britain commemorations.

The aircraft was then taken to Hobsonville for training as an Instructional Airframe [INST.147] but by 1957 Vampires were entering RNZAF service and the Meteor became redundant.  It was sold by tender in May 1957. It was taxied across the airfield and reduced to scrap. One of the aircraft’s engines has survived at the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) Museum in Auckland.

The first Meteor obtained by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was an F.4 (also known as the IV), being an ex-RAF machine (EE427), which became A77-1. This machine was delivered to No 1 Aircraft Depot at Laverton, VIC in May 1946, was assembled and was allocated to the RAAF in the following month. It was flown by No 1 Aircraft Performance Unit (APU), mainly for tropical trials, but was damaged in a heavy landing at Darwin, NT in February 1947 and scrapped. Parts of this aircraft have survived and have been placed on display at the Darwin Aviation Museum. Photographic evidence has revealed this aircraft operated in RAF camouflage and markings for most of its life but could have had A77-1 painted on the aircraft before its accident.