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The Gloster Meteor was the first British
jet fighter Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
and the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
' only
jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, jet ...
to engage in combat operations during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking
turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, a ...
engines, pioneered by
Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with inventing the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 fo ...
and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, although work on the engines had been under way since 1936. The Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with No. 616 Squadron RAF. The Meteor was not a sophisticated aircraft in its aerodynamics, but proved to be a successful combat fighter. Gloster's 1946 civil Meteor F.4 demonstrator ''G-AIDC'' was the first civilian-registered jet aircraft in the world. Several major variants of the Meteor incorporated technological advances during the 1940s and 1950s. Thousands of Meteors were built to fly with the RAF and other air forces and remained in use for several decades. The Meteor saw limited action in the Second World War. Meteors of the
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF) fought in the
Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...
. Several other operators such as Argentina, Egypt and Israel flew Meteors in later regional conflicts. Specialised variants of the Meteor were developed for use in photographic
aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of im ...
and as
night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...
s. The Meteor was also used for research and development purposes and to break several aviation records. On 7 November 1945, the first official airspeed record by a jet aircraft was set by a Meteor F.3 at . In 1946, this record was broken when a Meteor F.4 reached a speed of . Other performance-related records were broken in categories including flight time endurance, rate of climb, and speed. On 20 September 1945, a heavily modified Meteor I, powered by two
Rolls-Royce Trent The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofans produced by Rolls-Royce. It continues the three spool architecture of the RB211 with a maximum thrust ranging from . Launched as the RB-211-524L in June 1988, the prototype first ...
turbine engines driving propellers, became the first
turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
aircraft to fly.King ''Flight'' 27 May 1955, p. 727. On 10 February 1954, a specially adapted Meteor F.8, the "Meteor Prone Pilot", which placed the pilot into a
prone position Prone position () is a body position in which the person lies flat with the chest down and the back up. In anatomical terms of location, the dorsal side is up, and the ventral side is down. The supine position is the 180° contrast. Etymolo ...
to counteract inertial forces, took its first flight.Young 1985, p. 83. In the 1950s, the Meteor became increasingly obsolete as more nations developed jet fighters, many of these newcomers having adopted a
swept wing A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investiga ...
instead of the Meteor's conventional straight wing; in RAF service, the Meteor was replaced by newer types such as the
Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Ro ...
and
Gloster Javelin The Gloster Javelin is a twin-engined T-tailed delta-wing subsonic night and all-weather interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s. The last aircraft design to bear the Gloster na ...
. As of 2018, two Meteors, ''G-JSMA'' and ''G-JWMA'', remain in active service with the
Martin-Baker Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited is a British manufacturer of ejection seats and safety-related equipment for aviation. The company's origins were originally as an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection s ...
company as
ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rock ...
testbeds. One further aircraft in the UK remains airworthy, as does another in Australia.


Development


Origins

The development of the
turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, a ...
-powered Gloster Meteor was a collaboration between the
Gloster Aircraft Company The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963. Founded as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H H Martyn & Co Ltd of Chelte ...
and Frank Whittle's firm, Power Jets Ltd. Whittle formed Power Jets Ltd in March 1936 to develop his ideas of jet propulsion, Whittle himself serving as the company's chief engineer. For several years, attracting financial backers and aviation firms prepared to take on Whittle's radical ideas was difficult; in 1931,
Armstrong-Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...
had evaluated and rejected Whittle's proposal, finding it to be technically sound but at the limits of engineering capability. Securing funding was a persistently worrying issue throughout the early development of the engine. The first Whittle prototype jet engine, the Power Jets WU, began running trials in early 1937; shortly afterwards, both Sir
Henry Tizard Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (23 August 1885 – 9 October 1959) was an English chemist, inventor and Rector of Imperial College, who developed the modern "octane rating" used to classify petrol, helped develop radar in World War II, and led the fir ...
, chairman of the
Aeronautical Research Committee The Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (ACA) was a UK agency founded on 30 April 1909, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. In 1919 it was renamed the Aeronautical Research Committee, later becoming the Aeronautical ...
, and the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of Stat ...
gave the project their support. On 28 April 1939, Whittle made a visit to the premises of the Gloster Aircraft Company, where he met several key figures, such as George Carter, Gloster's chief designer. Carter took a keen interest in Whittle's project, particularly when he saw the operational Power Jets W.1 engine; Carter quickly made several rough proposals of various aircraft designs powered by the engine. Independently, Whittle had also been producing several proposals for a high-altitude jet-powered bomber; following the start of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and the Battle for France, a greater national emphasis on fighter aircraft arose. Power Jets and Gloster quickly formed a mutual understanding around mid-1939. In spite of ongoing infighting between Power Jets and several of its stakeholders, the Air Ministry contracted Gloster in late 1939 to manufacture a
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...
aircraft powered by one of Whittle's new turbojet engines. The single-engined proof-of-concept
Gloster E28/39 The Gloster E.28/39, (also referred to as the Gloster Whittle, Gloster Pioneer, or Gloster G.40) was the first British jet-engined aircraft and first flew in 1941. It was the fourth jet to fly, after the German Heinkel He 178 (1939), the It ...
, the first British jet-powered aircraft, conducted its maiden flight on 15 May 1941, flown by Gloster's chief test pilot, Flight Lieutenant Philip "Gerry" Sayer. The success of the E.28/39 proved the viability of jet propulsion, and Gloster pressed ahead with designs for a production fighter aircraft. Due to the limited thrust available from early jet engines, it was decided that subsequent production aircraft would be powered by a pair of turbojet engines. In 1940, for a "military load" of , the
Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), before finally losing its identity in me ...
(RAE) had advised that work on an aircraft of all-up weight, with a total static thrust of should be started, with an design for the expected, more powerful, W.2 and axial engine designs. George Carter's calculations based on the RAE work and his own investigations were that a aircraft with two or four 20 mm cannons and six 0.303 machine guns would have a top speed of at sea level and at . In January 1941 Gloster were told by
Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...
that the twin jet fighter was of "unique importance", and that the company was to stop work on a night-fighter development of their F.9/37 to Specification F.18/40.


Prototypes

In August 1940, Carter presented Gloster's initial proposals for a twin-engined jet fighter with a
tricycle undercarriage Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle ...
. On 7 February 1941, Gloster received an order for twelve prototypes (later reduced to eight) under Specification F9/40.James 1971, pp. 245–248. A letter of intent for the production of 300 of the new fighter, initially to be named ''Thunderbolt,'' was issued on 21 June 1941; to avoid confusion with the USAAF
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber ...
which had been issued with the same name to the RAF in 1944, the aircraft's name was subsequently changed to ''Meteor.''James 1971, p. 247.Goulding 1986, p. 144. During the aircraft's secretive development, employees and officials made use of the codename ''Rampage'' to refer to the Meteor, as similarly the
de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...
would initially be referred to as the ''Spider Crab''. Test locations and other key project information were also kept secret.Shacklady 1962, p. 25. Although
taxiing Taxiing (rarely spelled taxying) is the movement of an aircraft on the ground, under its own power, in contrast to towing or pushback where the aircraft is moved by a tug. The aircraft usually moves on wheels, but the term also includes aircr ...
trials were carried out in 1942, it was not until the following year that any flights took place due to production and approval holdups with the
Power Jets W.2 The Power Jets W.2 was a British turbojet engine designed by Frank Whittle and Power Jets (Research and Development) Ltd. Like the earlier Power Jets W.1, the reverse-flow combustion configuration included a double-sided centrifugal compress ...
engine powering the Meteor. On 26 November 1942 production of the Meteor was ordered to stop due to the delays at subcontractor
Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...
, which was struggling to manufacture the W.2 engines on schedule; considerable interest was shown in Gloster's E.1/44 proposal for a single-engine fighter, unofficially named Ace. Gloster continued development work on the Meteor and the production-stop order was overturned in favour of the construction of six (later increased to eight) F9/40 prototypes alongside three E.1/44 prototypes.Shacklady 1962, p. 19. Rover's responsibilities for development and production of the W.2B engine were also transferred to
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
that year.Shacklady 1962, p. 41. On 5 March 1943, the fifth prototype, serial ''DG206'', powered by two substituted de Havilland Halford H.1 engines owing to problems with the intended W.2 engines, became the first Meteor to become airborne at
RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...
, piloted by Michael Daunt.Mason 1992, p. 339. On the initial flight, an uncontrollable yawing motion was discovered, which led to a redesigned larger rudder; however, no difficulties had been attributed to the groundbreaking turbojet propulsion.Shacklady 1962, p. 21. Only two prototypes flew with de Havilland engines because of their low flight endurance. Before the first prototype aircraft had even undertaken its first flight, an extended order for 100 production-standard aircraft had been placed by the RAF.Boyne 2002, p. 262. The first Whittle-engined aircraft, ''DG205/G'', flew on 12 June 1943 (later crashing during takeoff on 27 April 1944) and was followed by ''DG202/G'' on 24 July. ''DG202/G'' was later used for deck handling tests aboard
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
.James 1971, p. 249. ''DG203/G'' made its first flight on 9 November 1943, later becoming a ground instructional airframe. ''DG204/G'', powered by Metrovick F.2 engines, first flew on 13 November 1943; ''DG204/G'' was lost in an accident on 4 January 1944, the cause believed to have been an engine compressor failure due to overspeed. ''DG208/G'' made its début on 20 January 1944, by which time the majority of design problems had been overcome and a production design had been approved. ''DG209/G'' was used as an engine testbed by Rolls-Royce, first flying on 18 April 1944. ''DG207/G'' was intended to be the basis for the Meteor F.2 with
de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...
engines, but it did not fly until 24 July 1945, at which time the Meteor 3 was in full production and de Havilland's attention was being redirected to the upcoming
de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...
; consequently the F.2 was cancelled.Goulding 1986, pp. 148–149.James 1971, p. 358.


Into production

On 12 January 1944, the first Meteor F.1, serial ''EE210/G'', took to the air from
Moreton Valence Moreton Valence is a village and civil parish south-west of Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. The village is on the A38, just east from the river Severn. The estimated population of the civil parish in 2016 was 165. The Gloucester and Shar ...
in Gloucestershire. It was essentially identical to the F9/40 prototypes except for the addition of four nose-mounted 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk V cannon and some changes to the
canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...
to improve all-round visibility.James 1971, pp. 304–305. Due to the F.1's similarity to the prototypes, they were frequently operated in the test program to progress British understanding of jet propulsion, and it took until July 1944 for the aircraft to enter squadron service. ''EE210/G'' was later sent to the U.S. for evaluation in exchange for a pre-production Bell YP-59A Airacomet, the Meteor being flown first by
John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fl ...
at
Muroc Army Airfield Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is Ed ...
on 15 April 1944. Originally 300 F.1s were ordered, but the total produced was reduced to 20 aircraft as the follow-on orders had been converted to the more advanced models. Some of the last major refinements to the Meteor's early design were trialled using this first production batch, and what was to become the long-term design of the engine nacelles was introduced upon ''EE211''. The original nacelles had been discovered by the RAE to suffer from
compressibility In thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, the compressibility (also known as the coefficient of compressibility or, if the temperature is held constant, the isothermal compressibility) is a measure of the instantaneous relative volume change of a f ...
buffeting at higher speeds, causing increased drag; the re-designed longer nacelles eliminated this and provided an increase in the Meteor's maximum speed. The lengthened nacelles were introduced on the final fifteen Meteor IIIs. ''EE215'' was the first Meteor to be fitted with guns; ''EE215'' was also used in engine reheat trials, the addition of reheat increasing top speed from 420 mph to 460 mph. and was later converted into the first two-seat Meteor. Due to the radical differences between jet-powered aircraft and those that it replaced, a special ''Tactical Flight'' or ''T-Flight'' unit was established to prepare the Meteor for squadron service, led by
Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...
Hugh Joseph Wilson. The Tactical Flight was formed at
Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...
in May 1944, the first Meteors arriving the following month, upon which both tactical applications and limitations were extensively explored. On 17 July 1944, the Meteor F.1 was cleared for service use. Shortly afterwards, elements of the Tactical Flight and their aircraft were transferred to operational RAF squadrons. The first deliveries to No. 616 Squadron RAF, the first operational squadron to receive the Meteor, began in July 1944. When the F.2 was cancelled, the Meteor F.3 became the immediate successor to the F.1 and alleviated some of the shortcomings of the F.1. In August 1944, the first F.3 prototype flew; early F.3 production aircraft were still fitted with the Welland engine as the Derwent engine's production was just starting at this point. A total of 210 F.3 aircraft were produced before they were in turn superseded by production of the Meteor F.4 in 1945.Shacklady 1962, p. 45. Several Meteor F.3s were converted into navalised aircraft. The adaptations included a strengthened undercarriage and arrester hook. Operational trials of the type took place aboard . The trials included carrier landings and takeoffs. Performance of these naval prototype Meteors proved to be favourable, including takeoff performance, leading to further trials with a modified Meteor F.4 fitted with folding wings; a 'clipped wing' was also adopted. The Meteor later entered service with the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
, but only as a land-based trainer, the Meteor T.7, to prepare pilots of the
Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...
for flying other jet aircraft such as the de Havilland Sea Vampire. While various marks of Meteor had been introduced by 1948, they had remained very similar to the prototypes of the Meteor; consequently, the performance of the Meteor F.4 was beginning to be eclipsed by new jet designs. Gloster therefore embarked on a redesign programme to produce a new version of the Meteor with better performance. Designated ''Meteor F.8'', this upgraded variant was a potent fighter aircraft, forming the bulk of RAF Fighter Command between 1950 and 1955. The Meteor continued to be operated in a military capacity by several nations into the 1960s.


Night fighter

To replace the increasingly obsolete
de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden ...
as a
night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...
, the Meteor was adapted to serve in the role as an interim aircraft. Gloster had initially proposed a night fighter design to meet the Air Ministry specification for the Mosquito replacement, based on the two seater trainer variant of the Meteor, with the pilot in the front seat and the navigator in the rear.Williams '' Aeroplane Monthly'' April 1995, p. 6–7. Once accepted however, work on the project was swiftly transferred to Armstrong Whitworth to perform both the detailed design process and production of the type; the first prototype flew on 31 May 1950. Although based on the T.7 twin seater, it used the fuselage and tail of the F.8, and the longer wings of the F.3. An extended nose contained the AI Mk 10 (the 1940s Westinghouse SCR-720) Air Intercept radar. As a consequence the 20 mm cannons were moved into the wings, outboard of the engines. A ventral fuel tank and wing mounted drop tanks completed the Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF.11.Williams 1984, pp. 45–46. As
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
technology developed, a new Meteor night fighter was developed to use the improved US-built APS-21 system. The ''NF.12'' first flew on 21 April 1953. It was similar to the NF 11 but had a nose section longer;Williams 1984, pp. 50–51. the fin was enlarged to compensate for the greater keel area of the enlarged nose and to counter the airframe reaction to the sideways oscillating motion of the radar scanner which caused difficulty aiming the guns, an anti-tramp motor operating on the rudder was fitted midway up the front leading edge of the fin. The NF.12 also had the new Rolls-Royce Derwent 9 engines and the wings were reinforced to handle the new engine.James 1971, p. 297.Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 44. Deliveries of the NF.12 started in 1953, with the type entering squadron service in early 1954,Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' June 1995, p. 14. equipping seven squadrons (Nos 85, 25, 152, 46, 72, 153 and 64);James 1971, p. 366. the aircraft was replaced over 1958–1959. The final Meteor night fighter was the ''NF.14''. First flown on 23 October 1953, the NF.14 was based on the NF.12 but had an even longer nose, extended by a further 17 inches to accommodate new equipment, increasing the total length to and a larger bubble canopy to replace the framed T.7 version.Williams 1984, pp. 51–53. Just 100 NF.14s were built; they first entered service in February 1954 beginning with No. 25 Squadron and were being replaced as early as 1956 by the
Gloster Javelin The Gloster Javelin is a twin-engined T-tailed delta-wing subsonic night and all-weather interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s. The last aircraft design to bear the Gloster na ...
. Overseas, they remained in service a little longer, serving with No. 60 Squadron at Tengah, Singapore until 1961. As the NF.14 was replaced, some 14 were converted to training aircraft as the ''NF(T).14'' and given to No. 2 Air Navigation School on
RAF Thorney Island Royal Air Force Thorney Island or more simply RAF Thorney Island is a former Royal Air Force station located on Thorney Island, West Sussex, England, west of Chichester and east of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Station history The airfield wa ...
until transferring to No. 1 Air Navigation School at RAF Stradishall where they served until 1965.


Design

The first operational version of the Meteor, designated as the Meteor F.1, apart from the minor airframe refinements, was a straightforward 'militarisation' of the earlier F9/40 prototypes.Shacklady 1962, p. 29. The dimensions of the standard Meteor F.1 were long with a span of , with an empty weight of and a maximum takeoff weight of . Despite the revolutionary turbojet propulsion used, the design of the Meteor was relatively orthodox and did not take advantage of many aerodynamic features used on other, later jet fighters, such as
swept wing A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investiga ...
s; the Meteor shared a broadly similar basic configuration to its German equivalent, the
Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: " Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: " Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the Ge ...
, which was also aerodynamically conventional. It was an all-metal aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage and conventional low, straight wings with mid-mounted turbojet engines and a high-mounted
tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail ( empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyropl ...
clear of the jet exhaust. The Meteor F.1 exhibited some problematic flying characteristics typical of early jet aircraft; it suffered from stability problems at high
transonic Transonic (or transsonic) flow is air flowing around an object at a speed that generates regions of both subsonic and supersonic airflow around that object. The exact range of speeds depends on the object's critical Mach number, but transoni ...
speeds, large trim changes, high
stick Stick or the stick may refer to: Thin elongated objects * Twig * The weapon used in stick fighting * Walking stick, a device to facilitate balancing while walking * Shepherd's crook * Swagger stick * Digging stick * Swizzle stick, used to sti ...
forces and self-sustained yaw instability (snaking) caused by airflow separation over the thick tail surfaces.Loftin, L.K. Jr
Chapter 11: Early Jet Fighters
''NASA SP-468. Quest for Performance: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft.'' (1985) NASA. Retrieved: 24 April 2006.
The longer fuselage of the Meteor T.7, a two-seater trainer, significantly reduced the aerodynamic instability that the early Meteors were known for. Later Meteor variants would see a large variety of changes from the initial Meteor F.1 introduced to service in 1944. Much attention was given to raising the aircraft's top speed, often by improving the airframe's aerodynamic qualities, incorporating the latest engine developments, and increasing the strength of the airframe. The Meteor F.8, which emerged in the late 1940s, was considered to have substantially improved performance over prior variants; the F.8 was reportedly the most powerful single-seat aircraft flying in 1947, capable of ascending to within five minutes.


Construction

From the outset, each Meteor was constructed from several modular sections or separately produced units, a deliberate design choice to allow for production to be dispersed and for easy disassembly for transport. Each aircraft comprised five main sections: nose, forward fuselage, central section, rear fuselage and tail units; the wings were also built out of lengthwise sections. The forward section contained the pressure cabin, gun compartments, and forward undercarriage. The centre section incorporated much of the structural elements, including the inner wing, engine nacelles, fuel tank, ammunition drums, and main undercarriage. The rear fuselage was of a conventional semi-monocoque structure. Various aluminium alloys were the primary materials used throughout the structure of the Meteor, such as the stressed
duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of ''Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its ...
skin.Shacklady 1962, p. 12. Across the Meteor's production life, various different companies were subcontracted to manufacture aircraft sections and major components; due to the wartime workload on producing fighter aircraft such as the
Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...
and
Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...
, neither Gloster nor the wider
Hawker Siddeley Group Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...
were able to internally meet the production demand of 80 aircraft per month.Shacklady 1962, p. 13.
Bristol Tramways Bristol Tramways operated in the city of Bristol, England from 1875, when the Bristol Tramways Company was formed by Sir George White, until 1941 when a Luftwaffe bomb destroyed the main power supply cables. History The first trams in Brist ...
produced the forward fuselage of the aircraft, the
Standard Motor Company The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tract ...
manufactured the central fuselage and inner wing sections, the
Pressed Steel Company Pressed Steel Company Limited was a British car body manufacturing business founded at Cowley near Oxford in 1926 as a joint venture between William Morris, Budd Corporation of Philadelphia USA, which held the controlling interest, and a Br ...
produced the rear fuselage, and
Parnall Aircraft Parnall was a British aircraft manufacturer that evolved from a wood-working company before the First World War to a significant designer of military and civil aircraft into the 1940s. It was based in the west of England and was originally known a ...
made the tail unit. Other main subcontractors included
Boulton Paul Aircraft Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer that was incorporated in 1934, although its origins in aircraft manufacturing began earlier in 1914, and lasted until 1961. The company mainly built and modified aircraft under co ...
, Excelsior Motor Radiator Company,
Bell Punch The Bell Punch Company was a British company manufacturing a variety of business machines, most notably several generations of public transport ticket machines and the world's first desktop electronic calculator, the Sumlock ANITA. History The ...
, Turner Manufacturing Company, and
Charlesworth Bodies Charlesworth Bodies Limited of Much Park Street, Coventry, owned a coachbuilding business that had been founded in 1907 by Charles Gray Hill and Charles Steane. Principal product The company manufactured bodies in short runs for low-volume manu ...
; as many of these firms had little or no experience producing aircraft, both quality and interchangeability of components were maintained by contractually enforced adherence to Gloster's original drawings. From the Meteor F.4 onwards, Armstrong Whitworth began completing whole units at their
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
facility in addition to Gloster's own production line.Shacklady 1962, p. 54. Belgian aviation firm
Avions Fairey Avions Fairey was the Belgian-based subsidiary of the British Fairey Aviation that built aircraft for the Belgian government. It subsequently separated from the UK parent and became SONACA. History In the late 1920s, the ''Aéronautique Mili ...
also produced the Meteor F.8 under licence from Gloster for the
Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belg ...
; a similar licence manufacturing arrangement was made with Dutch company
Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...
to meet the
Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...
's order.Shacklady 1962, p. 74.


Engines

The ''Meteor F.1'' was powered by two Rolls-Royce Welland turbojet engines, Britain's first production jet engines, which were built under licence from Whittle's designs. The Meteor embodied the advent of practical jet propulsion; in the type's service life, both military and civil aviation manufacturers rapidly integrated turbine engines into their designs, favouring its advantages such as smoother running and greater power output. The Meteor's engines were considerably more practical than those of the German Me 262 as, unlike the Me 262, the engines were embedded into the wing in nacelles between the front and rear spars rather than underslung, saving some weight due to shorter landing gear legs and less massive spars.Geoffery 19 July 1945, pp. 70–71. The W.2B/23C engines upon which the Welland was based produced of thrust each, giving the aircraft a maximum speed of at and a range of . It incorporated a hydraulically driven engine starter developed by Rolls-Royce, which was automated following the press of a starter button in the cockpit. The engines also drove hydraulic and vacuum pumps as well as a generator via a
Rotol Dowty Propellers is a British engineering company based in Brockworth, Gloucestershire that specialises in the manufacture, repair and overhaul of propellers and propeller components for customers around the world. It is owned by General Elect ...
gearbox fixed on the forward wing spar; the cockpit was also heated by
bleed air Bleed air is compressed air taken from the compressor stage of a gas turbine upstream of its fuel-burning sections. Automatic air supply and cabin pressure controller (ASCPCs) valves bleed air from high or low stage engine compressor sections. Lo ...
from one of the engines. The acceleration rate of the engines was manually controlled by the pilot; rapid engine acceleration would frequently induce
compressor stall A compressor stall is a local disruption of the airflow in the compressor of a gas turbine or turbocharger. A stall that results in the complete disruption of the airflow through the compressor is referred to as a compressor surge. The severity of ...
s early on; the likelihood of compressor stalls was effectively eliminated upon further design refinements of both the Welland engine and the Meteor itself. At high speeds the Meteor had a tendency to lose directional stability, often during unfavourable weather conditions, leading to a 'snaking' motion; this could be easily resolved by throttling back to reduce speed. Based upon designs produced by Power Jets, Rolls-Royce produced more advanced and powerful turbojet engines. Beyond numerous improvements made to the Welland engine that powered the early Meteors, Rolls-Royce and Power Jets collaborated to develop the more capable Derwent engine, which as the Rover B.26 had undergone a radical re-design from the W.2B/500 while at Rover. The Derwent engine, and the re-designed Derwent V based on the Nene, was installed on many of the later production Meteors; the adoption of this new powerplant led to considerable performance increases. The Meteor often served as the basis for the development of other early turbojet designs; a pair of Meteor F.4s were sent to Rolls-Royce to aid in their experimental engine trials, ''RA435'' being used for reheat testing, and ''RA491'' being fitted with the
Rolls-Royce Avon The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ...
, an axial-flow engine. From their involvement in the development of the Meteor's engines,
Armstrong-Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...
, Bristol Aircraft,
Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...
, and
de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...
also independently developed their own gas turbine engines.


Performance

During development, sceptical elements of the Air Ministry had expected mature piston-powered aircraft types to exceed the capabilities of the Meteor in all respects except that of speed; thus, the performance of early Meteors was considered favourable for the interceptor mission, being capable of out-diving the majority of enemy aircraft. The conclusion of in-service trials conducted between the Meteor F.3. and the Hawker Tempest V was that the performance of the Meteor exceeded the Tempest in almost all respects and that, barring some manoeuvrability issues, the Meteor could be considered a capable all-round fighter. Pilots formerly flying piston-engine aircraft often described the Meteor as being exciting to fly. Ex-RAF pilot
Norman Tebbit Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit (born 29 March 1931) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1981 to 1987 as Secretary of State for Employment (1981–1983), Secretary of State for Trad ...
stated of his experience of the Meteor: "Get airborne, up with the wheels, hold it low until you were about 380 knots, pull it up and she would go up, well we thought then, like a rocket". Early jet engines consumed a lot more fuel than the piston engines they replaced so the Welland engines imposed considerable flight-time limitations on the Meteor F.1, leading to the type being used for local interception duties only. In the post-war environment, there was considerable pressure to increase the range of interceptors to counter the threat of bombers armed with
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
s.Shacklady 1962, p. 129. The long-term answer to this question was
in-flight refuelling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...
; several Meteors were provided to Flight Refuelling Limited for trials of the newly developed probe-and-drogue refuelling techniques. This capability was not incorporated in service Meteors, which had already been supplanted by more modern interceptor aircraft at this point. A total of 890 Meteors were lost in RAF service (145 of these crashes occurring in 1953 alone), resulting in the deaths of 450 pilots. Contributory factors in the number of crashes were the poor brakes, failure of the landing gear, the high fuel consumption and consequent short flight endurance (less than one hour) causing pilots to run out of fuel, and difficult handling with one engine out due to the widely set engines. The casualty rate was exacerbated by the lack of ejection seats in early series Meteors; the much higher speed that the aircraft was capable of meant that to bail out pilots might have to overcome high g forces and fast-moving airflow past the cockpit; there was also a greater likelihood of the pilot striking the horizontal tailplane. Ejection seats were fitted in the later F.8, FR.9, PR.10 and some experimental Meteors.Shacklady 1962, p. 73. The difficulty of baling out of the Meteor had been noted by pilots during development, reporting several contributing design factors such as the limited size and relative position of the cockpit to the rest of the aircraft, and difficulty in using the two-lever jettisonable hood mechanism.


Operational service


Second World War

No. 616 Squadron RAF was the first to receive operational Meteors: a total of 14 aircraft were initially delivered. The squadron was based at
RAF Culmhead Royal Air Force Culmhead or more simply RAF Culmhead is a former Royal Air Force station, situated at Churchstanton on the Blackdown Hills in Somerset, England. It had three tarmac runways that are now in poor condition and the control tower ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...
and had been equipped with the Spitfire VII.Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 48. The conversion to the Meteor was initially a matter of great secrecy.Shacklady 1962, p. 28. Following a conversion course at
Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...
attended by the squadron's six leading pilots, the first aircraft was delivered to Culmhead on 12 July 1944. The squadron and its seven Meteors moved on 21 July 1944 to
RAF Manston Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpo ...
on the east
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
coast and, within a week, 32 pilots had been converted to the type. The Meteor was initially used to counter the
V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany ...
threat. 616 Squadron Meteors saw action for the first time on 27 July 1944, when three aircraft were active over Kent. These were the first operational jet combat missions for the Meteor and for the Royal Air Force. After some problems, especially with jamming guns, the first two V1 "kills" were made on 4 August. By war's end, Meteors had accounted for 14 flying bombs. After the end of the V-1 threat, and the introduction of the ballistic
V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...
, the RAF was forbidden to fly the Meteor on combat missions over German-held territory for fear of an aircraft being shot down and salvaged by the Germans. No. 616 Squadron briefly moved to
RAF Debden Royal Air Force Debden or more simply RAF Debden is a former Royal Air Force station located southeast of Saffron Walden and approximately north of the village of Debden in North Essex, England History The airfield was opened in April 1937 ...
to allow
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
(USAAF) bomber crews to gain experience and create tactics in facing jet-engined foes before moving to
Colerne Colerne is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of the town of Corsham and northeast of the city of Bath. It has an elevated and exposed position, above sea level, and overlooks the Box valley to ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. For a week from 10 October 1944 a series of exercises were carried out in which a flight of Meteors made mock attacks on a formation of 100 B-24s and B-17s escorted by 40 Mustangs and Thunderbolts. These suggested that, if the jet fighter attacked the formation from above, it could take advantage of its superior speed in the dive to attack the bombers and then escape by diving through the formation before the escorts could react. The best tactic to counter this was to place a fighter screen 5,000 ft above the bombers and attempt to intercept the jets early in the dive. The exercise was also useful from No. 616 Squadron's perspective, giving valuable practical experience in Meteor operations.Shacklady 1962, p. 32. No. 616 Squadron exchanged its F.1s for the first ''Meteor F.3''s on 18 December 1944. These first 15 F.3s differed from the F.1 in having a sliding canopy in place of the sideways hinging canopy, increased fuel capacity and some airframe refinements. They were still powered by Welland I engines. Later F.3s were equipped with the Derwent I engines. This was a substantial improvement over the earlier mark, although the basic design still had not reached its potential.
Wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
and flight tests demonstrated that the original short
nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attache ...
s, which did not extend far fore and aft of the wing, contributed heavily to compressibility buffeting at high speed. New, longer nacelles not only cured some of the compressibility problems but added at altitude, even without upgraded powerplants. The last batch of Meteor F.3s featured the longer nacelles; other F.3s were retrofitted in the field with the new nacelles. The F.3 also had the new Rolls-Royce Derwent engines, increased fuel capacity, and a new larger, more strongly raked
bubble canopy A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility. The designs of bubble canopies can drastically vary; s ...
. Judging the ''Meteor F.3''s were ready for combat over Europe, the RAF finally decided to deploy them on the continent. On 20 January 1945, four Meteors from 616 Squadron were moved to Melsbroek in Belgium and attached to the Second Tactical Air Force, just under three weeks after the Luftwaffe's surprise
Unternehmen Bodenplatte Operation Bodenplatte (; "Baseplate"), launched on 1 January 1945, was an attempt by the Luftwaffe to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries during the Second World War. The goal of ''Bodenplatte'' was to gain air superiority during th ...
attack on New Year's Day, in which Melsbroek's RAF base, designated as Allied
Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 1 ...
"B.58", had been struck by piston-engined fighters of
JG 27 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27) "''Afrika''" was a fighter wing of the Luftwaffe during World War II. The wing was given the name "Africa" for serving in the North African Campaign predominantly alone in the period from April 1941 to Septemb ...
and
JG 54 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 54 (JG 54) was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during the Second World War. JG 54 flew most of its missions on the Eastern Front where it claimed more than 9,600 aircraft shot down. It was the second-highest scoring wing in the Luftw ...
. The 616 Squadron Meteor F.3s' initial purpose was to provide air defence for the airfield, but their pilots hoped that their presence might provoke the Luftwaffe into sending Me 262 jets against them. At this point the Meteor pilots were still forbidden to fly over German-occupied territory, or to go east of Eindhoven, to prevent a downed aircraft being captured by the Germans or the Soviets. In March, the entire squadron was moved to Gilze-Rijen Air Base and then in April, to
Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...
. The Meteors flew armed
reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...
and ground attack operations without encountering any German jet fighters. By late April, the squadron was based at Faßberg,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
and suffered its first losses when two aircraft collided in poor visibility. The war ended with the Meteors having destroyed 46 German aircraft through ground attack.
Friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...
through misidentification as Messerschmitt Me 262s by Allied anti-aircraft gunners was more of a threat than the already-diminished forces of the Luftwaffe; to counter this, continental-based Meteors were given an all-white finish as a recognition aid."CL 2934."
''Imperial War Museum.'' Retrieved: 3 June 2012.
Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 49.


Post-war

The next-generation ''Meteor F.4'' prototype first flew on 17 May 1945, and went into production in 1946 when 16 RAF squadrons were already operating Meteors. Equipped with Rolls-Royce Derwent 5 engines, the smaller version of the Nene, the F.4 was faster than the F.1 at sea level (585 against 415), but the reduced wings impaired its rate of climb. The F.4 wingspan was 86.4 cm shorter than the F.3 and with blunter wing tips, derived from the world speed record prototypes. Improvements included a strengthened airframe, fully pressurised cockpit, lighter
aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
s to improve manoeuvrability, and
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
trim adjustments to reduce snaking. The F.4 could be fitted with a drop tank under each wing, and experiments were carried out with carriage of underwing stores and also in lengthened
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
models. Because of increased demand, F.4 production was divided between Gloster and Armstrong Whitworth. The majority of early F.4s did not go to the RAF: 100 were exported to Argentina, seeing action on both sides in the 1955 revolution;Cicaleso, del Gaizo and Rivas 2003, pp. 69–72. in 1947, only RAF Nos. 74 and 222 squadrons were fully equipped with the F.4. Nine further RAF squadrons converted from 1948 onwards. From 1948, 38 F.4s were exported to the Dutch, equipping four squadrons (322, 323, 326 and 327) split between bases in
Soesterberg Soesterberg is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Soest, and lies about 5 km northeast of Zeist, on the road between Amersfoort and Utrecht. It was the location of Soesterberg Air Base History ...
and
Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of th ...
until the mid-1950s. In 1949, only two RAF squadrons were converted to the F.4, Belgium was sold 48 aircraft in the same year (going to 349 and 350 squadrons at Beauvechain) and Denmark received 20 over 1949–1950. In 1950, three more RAF squadrons were upgraded, including No. 616 and, in 1951, six more. A modified two-seater F.4 for jet-conversion and advanced training was tested in 1949 as the ''T.7''. It was accepted by the RAF and the
Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...
and became a common addition to the various export packages (for example 43 to Belgium between 1948 and 1957, a similar number to the Netherlands over the same period, two to Syria in 1952, six to Israel in 1953, etc.). Despite its limitations – unpressurised cockpit, no armament, limited instructor instrumentation – more than 650 T.7s were manufactured. The T.7 remained in RAF service into the 1970s. As improved jet fighters emerged, Gloster decided to modernise the F.4 while retaining as much of the manufacturing tooling as possible. The result was the definitive production model, the ''Meteor F.8'' (G-41-K), serving as a major RAF fighter until the introduction of the
Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Ro ...
and the Supermarine Swift. The first prototype F.8 was a modified F.4, followed by a true prototype, ''VT150'', that flew on 12 October 1948 at
Moreton Valence Moreton Valence is a village and civil parish south-west of Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. The village is on the A38, just east from the river Severn. The estimated population of the civil parish in 2016 was 165. The Gloucester and Shar ...
. Flight testing of the F.8 prototype led to the discovery of an aerodynamic problem: after ammunition was expended, the aircraft became tail-heavy and unstable around the pitch axis due to the weight of fuel in fuselage tanks no longer being balanced by the ammunition. Gloster solved the problem by substituting the
tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...
of the abortive G 42 single-engined jet fighter. The F.8 and other production variants successfully used the new tail design, giving the later Meteors a distinctive appearance, with taller straighter edges compared with the rounded tail of the F.4s and earlier marks. The F.8 also featured a fuselage stretch of , intended to shift the aircraft's
centre of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may ...
and also eliminate the use of
ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...
formerly necessary in earlier marks due to the subsequent elimination from the design of two of the originally designed six installed cannon. The F.8 incorporated uprated engines, Derwent 8s, with thrust each combined with structural strengthening, a Martin Baker
ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rock ...
and a "blown" teardrop cockpit canopy that provided improved pilot visibility. Between 1950 and 1955, the Meteor F.8 was the mainstay of
RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...
, and served with distinction in combat in Korea with the RAAF as well as operating with many air forces worldwide, although it was clear that the original design was obsolete compared with contemporary swept-wing fighters such as the
North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing ...
and the
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...
. Initial deliveries of the F.8 to the RAF were in August 1949, with the first squadron receiving its fighters in late 1950. Like the F.4, there were strong export sales of the F.8. Belgium ordered 240 aircraft, the majority assembled in The Netherlands by Fokker. The Netherlands had 160 F.8s, equipping seven squadrons until 1955. Denmark had 20, ordered in 1951, the last F.8s in front-line service in Europe. The RAAF ordered 94 F.8s, which served in the Korean War. Despite arms embargoes, both Syria and Egypt received F.8s from 1952, as did Israel, each using their Meteors during the Suez Crisis. Brazil ordered 60 new Meteor F.8s and 10 T.7 trainers in October 1952, paying with 15,000 tons of raw cotton.James 1971, p. 369. In the 1950s, Meteors were developed into effective photo-
reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...
,
training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
and
night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...
versions. The fighter reconnaissance (FR) versions were the first to be built, replacing the ageing Spitfires and Mosquitos then in use. Two ''FR.5''s were built on the F.4 body; one was used for nose section camera tests, the other broke up in midair while in testing over Moreton Valence. On 23 March 1950, the first ''FR.9'' flew. Based on the F.8, it was 20 cm longer with a new nose incorporating a remote control camera and window and was also fitted with additional external ventral and wing fuel tanks. Production of the FR.9 began in July. No. 208 Squadron, then based at Fayid, Egypt was the first to be upgraded followed by the 2nd Tactical Air Force in
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
, No. 2 Squadron RAF at
Bückeburg Bückeburg (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Population: 21,0 ...
and
No. 79 Squadron RAF ("Nothing can stand against us") , dates=1 August 1917 (RFC) – 15 July 191922 March 1937 – 30 December 194515 November 1951 – 1 January 19612 January 1967 – 31 August 1992 , country= United Kingdom , allegiance= , branch= Royal Air For ...
at RAF Gutersloh flew the FR.9 from 1951 until 1956. In
Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 peopl ...
,
No. 8 Squadron RAF Number 8 Squadron (sometimes written as No. VIII Squadron) of the Royal Air Force last operated the Boeing E-3D Sentry AEW1 ( AWACS) from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. As of 2020, the RAF AWACS fleet was made up of three Sentry AEW1s, down fr ...
was given FR.9s in November 1958 and used them until 1961.Harrison 2001, p. 31. Ecuador (12), Israel (7) and Syria (2) were foreign customers for the FR.9.Harrison 2001, p. 28. In 1951, 29, 141, 85 and 264 squadrons each received a number of NF.11 aircraft, the first of the Meteor night fighters.Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' May 1995, p. 22. It was rolled out across the RAF until the final deliveries in 1954.James 1971, p. 293. A "tropicalised" version of the NF.11 for the Middle East was developed; first flying on 23 December 1952 as the ''NF.13''. The aircraft equipped
No. 219 Squadron RAF No. 219 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was founded in 1918 and disbanded in 1957 after four separate periods of service. During the First World War it served as a coastal defence unit, and through most of the Second World War and the 1950s it op ...
at Kabrit and No. 39 Squadron at Fayid, both in Egypt. The aircraft served during the
Suez crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
and remained with No. 39 Squadron after they were withdrawn to Malta until 1958. Several problems were encountered: the heavily framed T.7 canopy made landings tricky due to limited visibility, the under-wing external fuel tanks tended to break up when the wing cannons were fired, and gun harmonisation, normally set to about 400 yards, was poor due to the wings flexing in flight. Belgium (24), Denmark (20) and France (41) were foreign customers for the NF.11.Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' June 1995, pp. 10–12. Ex-RAF NF.13s were sold to France (two), Syria (six), Egypt (six) and Israel (six).Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' June 1995, p. 12. In addition to the armed, low altitude operation, tactical FR.9 variant, Gloster also developed the ''PR.10'' for high altitude missions.Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 55. The first prototype flew on 29 March 1950 and was actually converted into the first production aircraft. Based on the F.4, it had the F.4-style tail and the longer wings of the earlier variant. All the cannons were removed and a single camera placed in the nose with two more in the rear fuselage; the canopy was also changed. The PR.10 was delivered to the RAF in December 1950 and were given to No. 2 and No. 541 squadrons in Germany and No. 13 Squadron RAF in Cyprus. The PR.10 was rapidly phased out from 1956; rapid improvements in
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
technology and the introduction of newer aircraft capable of flying at greater altitudes and speeds had rendered the aircraft obsolete.


Argentina

Argentina became the first overseas operator of the Meteor, placing an order for 100 F Mk.4s in May 1947. The Meteor's procurement led to Argentina becoming the second air force in the Americas to operate jet aircraft. The Argentine Meteors were first used in combat during the 16 June 1955 rebellion when, in an attempt to kill
Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected ...
, rebel-flown aircraft bombed the
Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (, eng, Pink House) is the office of the president of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the president lives at the Quinta de ...
. A loyalist Meteor shot down a rebel AT-6, while another strafed rebel-held Ezeiza airport. The rebels seized Morón Airport and Air Base, base of the Meteors, and used several captured aircraft to perform multiple attacks against loyalist forces and the Casa Rosada before the rebellion was defeated by day's end.Cicalesi and Rivas 2002, pp. 122–123. A second revolt, the
Revolución Libertadora ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') was the coup d'état that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on 16 September 1955. Background President Perón was first elected in 1946. In 1949, a ...
broke out on 16 September 1955, with, again, both sides operating the Meteor. The rebels seized three Meteors. Government Meteors flew strafing attacks against the rebel-held destroyers ''Rioja'' and ''Cervantes'', and several landing ships near Rio Santiago on 16 September and attacking Pajas Blancas airport near the city of Córdoba, damaging several
Avro Lincoln The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and I ...
bombers. The rebel-flown Meteors were used to attack loyalist forces attacking Córdoba, losing one of their number on 19 September to an engine failure caused by use of automobile petrol instead of
jet fuel Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial a ...
.Cicalesi and Rivas 2002, p. 124. The acquisition of
North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing ...
s in 1960 allowed the remaining Meteors to be transferred to the ground attack role. In this role, the aircraft were refitted with bomb pylons and rocket rails; the bare metal colour scheme was also discarded for a camouflage scheme.Cicalesi and Rivas 2002, p. 126. Argentine Meteors were used to attack rebels during attempted uprisings in September 1962 and April 1963.Cicalesi and Rivas 2002, p. 125. The type was ultimately withdrawn from service in 1970.


Australia

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) acquired 113 Meteors between 1946 and 1952, 94 of which were the F.8 variant."ADF Aircraft Serial Numbers: RAAF A77 Gloster Meteor F 8."
''adf-serials.com.'' Retrieved: 8 August 2010.
The first RAAF Meteor was an F.3 delivered for evaluation in June 1946.Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 69. Australia's F.8s saw extensive service during the
Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...
with
No. 77 Squadron RAAF No. 77 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It is controlled by No. 81 Wing, and equipped with Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighters. The squadr ...
, part of
British Commonwealth Forces Korea British Commonwealth Forces Korea (BCFK) was the formal name of the British Commonwealth army, naval and air units serving with the United Nations (UN) in the Korean War. BCFK included Australian, British, Canadian, Indian, and New Zealand units. ...
. The squadron had personnel from the RAF and other Commonwealth air forces attached to it. It had arrived in Korea equipped with piston-engined
Mustangs The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once- domesticated animals, t ...
. To match the threat posed by
MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...
jet fighters, it was decided to reequip the squadron with Meteors. Jet conversion training was conducted at Iwakuni, Japan, after which the squadron returned to the Korean theatre in April 1951 with about 30 Meteor F.8s and T.7s. The squadron moved to Kimpo Air Base in June, and was declared combat ready the following month. More advanced designs, such as the F-86 Sabre and Hawker P.1081, were considered but would not be available within a realistic time frame; the Meteor proved to be considerably inferior in combat against the MiG-15 in several respects, including speed and manoeuvrability at high altitude. On 29 July 1951, 77 Squadron began operating their Meteors on combat missions. The squadron had mainly been trained for
ground attack In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movemen ...
and had difficulty when assigned to bomber escort duty at sub-optimum altitudes. On 29 August 1951, eight Meteors were on escort duty in "
MiG Alley "MiG Alley" was the name given by United Nations (UN) pilots during the Korean War to the northwestern portion of North Korea, where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea. It was the site of numerous dogfights between UN fighter pilots and ...
" when they were engaged by six MiG-15s; one Meteor was lost and two were damaged.Andrews 1965, p. 6. On 27 October, the squadron achieved its first probable followed by two probables six days later. On 1 December the Battle of Sunchon took place between 14 Meteors and at least 20 MiG-15s – in North Korean markings but operated secretly by the elite Soviet 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (176 GIAP). The Australians lost three Meteors, with one pilot killed and two captured, while claiming one MiG destroyed and one damaged. Russian records and accounts, which became public after the end of the Cold War, suggested that no MiGs from 176 GIAP were lost.Igor Seidov & Stuart Britton, 2014, ''Red Devils over the Yalu: A Chronicle of Soviet Aerial Operations in the Korean War, 1950–53'', Solihull, England; Helion & Company, pp. 272–276. At the end of 1951, due to the superiority of the MiGs in air combat – as well as the Meteor's favourable low-level performance and sturdy construction, RAAF commanders had 77 Squadron returned to ground-attack.Andrews 1965, p. 7. In February 1952, more than a thousand ground-attack sorties were flown and these continued until May 1952, when 77 Squadron switched to fighter sweeps. The last encounter between the Meteor and the MiG-15 was in March 1953, during which a Meteor piloted by Sergeant John Hale recorded a victory.Andrews 1965, p. 8. By the end of the conflict, the squadron had flown 4,836 missions, destroying six MiG-15s, over 3,500 structures and some 1,500 vehicles. About 30 Meteors were lost to enemy action in Korea, the vast majority shot down by anti-aircraft fire on ground-attack operations. The RAAF began introducing the locally-built CAC Sabre powered by the
Rolls-Royce Avon The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ...
, in 1955, which relegated Meteors to training and secondary duties. A number of Meteors would be assigned to the reserve
Citizen Air Force The Air Force Reserve or RAAF Reserve is the common, collective name given to the reserve units of the Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , ma ...
, while others were configured as pilotless drone aircraft or for target towing. No. 75 Squadron RAAF was the last Australian squadron to operate the Meteor; notably, it had operated a three-unit aerobatic team, named "The Meteorites".Andrews 1965, p. 9.Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 70.


Egypt

Although Egypt's first order for the Meteor was placed in 1948, the rising tension in the region led to the imposition of a series of arms embargoes. Twelve F Mk.4s were eventually delivered between October 1949 and May 1950,James 1971, p. 263. along with three T Mk.7s.James 1971, p. 270. Twenty-four F Mk.8s were ordered in 1949, but this order was stopped by an embargo. A further order for 12 ex-RAF F.8s was placed in December 1952, of which four were delivered before the order was cancelled, with the final eight being delivered in 1955,James 1971, p. 280. along with three more T Mk.7s. and six NF Mk.13s, all ex-RAF aircraft.James 1971, p. 298. Britain had allowed the Meteor sales as part of an effort to foster and support good relations; tensions over the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popula ...
led to arms sales being suspended once again. Egyptian Meteors participated in the fighting during the Suez Crisis of 1956, typically being used in ground attack missions against Israeli forces.Nicolle ''Air Enthusiast'' No 112, p.57.Nicolle ''Air Enthusiast'' No 113, pp. 36–37. In one incident, an Egyptian Meteor NF Mk.13 claimed to have damaged an RAF
Vickers Valiant The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's " V bomber" strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in respon ...
bomber.Nicolle ''Air Enthusiast'' No 113, p. 43. An aerial bombing campaign of Egyptian airfields by Anglo-French forces resulted in several aircraft being destroyed on the ground; the Egyptian Air Force subsequently withdrew from combat within the Sinai region.Nicolle ''Air Enthusiast'' No 114, p. 54.


Syria

Meteors were the first jet aircraft of the fledgling
Syrian Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War * ...
. It acquired 25 of them between 1952 and 1956. Although the British were willing to supply aircraft, they did not supply combat training or radar. As Syria became more aligned with
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-r ...
and Egypt, British support for Meteor operations was withdrawn and Syrian pilots began training with their Egyptian counterparts. During the Suez Crisis, the RAF performed high altitude reconnaissance flights over Syria by
English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...
aircraft from bases in Cyprus. Lacking radar to track the aircraft, the Syrian Air Force developed a ground spotter network that reported information by telephone to intercept the flights. On 6 November 1956, a Syrian Meteor shot down a Canberra of No. 13 Squadron RAF, which crashed in Lebanon. In 1957, Syria began to replace its Meteors with new MiG-17s from the Soviet Union.


France

The
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Ar ...
was keen to acquire jet aircraft as part of its re-equipment program following the Second World War. In 1953, 25 new-build aircraft were diverted from RAF orders to fulfil a French order; a further 16 ex-RAF NF.11s were purchased in 1954 and delivered between September 1954 and April 1955,Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' June 1995, pp. 10–11. these being supplemented by about 14 T Mk.7s.James 1971, pp. 271–272. The NF Mk.11s replaced the Mosquito night fighter with the Escadre de Chasse (EC) 30, serving with that Wing until replaced by the Sud Aviation Vautour in 1957. Several Meteors were then transferred to ECN 1/7 in Algeria, which saw combat in the
Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
, operating from Bône, while others were used for training Vautour night fighter crews. The Vautour was retired from French Air Force service in 1964.Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' June 1995, p. 11.Williams 1984, p. 49. Five Meteor NF.11s were transferred to the Centre d’Essais en Vol (Flight Test Centre) in 1958, where they were used as equipment testbeds and chase planes, and were later joined by two NF Mk.13s and two NF Mk.14s. The test aircraft were used in a wide variety of experiments, including radar and missile tests and during the development of
Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...
.Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' June 1995, pp. 11–12.


Israel

Due to tensions between the newly formed nation of Israel and its neighbours, both sides had commenced an arms race which led to jet aircraft being vigorously purchased by various countries in the region. In 1953 Israel ordered four T Mk.7s and 11 F Mk.8s, with delivery continuing until early 1954. The F Mk.8s were modified to carry American HVAR rockets but were otherwise identical to RAF aircraft.Aloni ''Air Enthusiast'' Fifty, pp. 39–40. A second batch of seven refurbished FR Mk.9s and two more T Mk.7s was delivered in 1955.Aloni ''Air Enthusiast'' Fifty, p. 42. In 1956, Israel purchased six NF Mk.13s, with three delivered that year, and the remaining three, delayed by an arms embargo, in 1958.Aloni ''Air Enthusiast'' Fifty, p. 44. Five more T Mk.7s were later purchased, these were converted from ex-Belgian F Mk.4s and were fitted with the Mk.8 tail.Aloni ''Air Enthusiast'' Fifty, p. 47. On 1 September 1955, an Israeli Meteor shot down an Egyptian
de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...
, the first jet aircraft to be shot down in the theatre. The Meteor played a key role during the Suez Crisis; on 28 October 1956, an Israeli NF.13 took part in
Operation Tarnegol Operation Tarnegol ( he, תרנגול, Rooster) was an Israeli Air Force operation carried out on the eve of the 1956 Suez Crisis. It witnessed an Israeli Gloster Meteor NF.13 intercept and destroy an Egyptian Ilyushin Il-14 carrying high-ranking ...
, in which it successfully located and shot down an Egyptian
Ilyushin Il-14 The Ilyushin Il-14 (NATO reporting name: Crate) was a Soviet twin-engine commercial and military personnel and cargo transport aircraft that first flew in 1950 in aviation, 1950, and entered service in 1954. The Il-14 was also manufactured in Eas ...
that had been carrying several high-ranking Egyptian military officers on the eve of the crisis. The operation had intended to shoot down the Il-14 that was supposed to be carrying the supreme commander of the Egyptian armed forces,
Abdel Hakim Amer Mohamed Abdel Hakim Amer ( arz, محمد عبد الحكيم عامر, ; 11 December 1919 – 13 September 1967) was an Egyptian military officer and politician. Amer served in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and played a leading role in the m ...
, however a different aircraft had been inadvertently attacked and destroyed instead.Aloni 2001, p. 24. After deploying paratroopers east of the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popula ...
, the
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...
continued to support them on the ground predominantly using its jet aircraft, fearing its propeller-driven aircraft would be vulnerable against Egypt's jet fighters. While initially flying
combat air patrol Combat air patrol (CAP) is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft. A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, ...
missions, the Meteors and other Israeli aircraft could not prevent effective attacks by Egyptian aircraft on the ground forces. Israeli officers came to recognise that the Meteor was outclassed by Egyptian MiG-15s, and subsequently limited the Meteor's employment as a fighter against other aerial adversaries. Following the start of the Anglo-French bombing campaign against Egyptian airbases, the Egyptian Air Force mostly withdrew from combat in the Sinai, allowing Israeli aircraft to operate unhindered. The Mk.8s remained in front line service until 1956, and were then used as training aircraft. The NF Mk.13s remained in operational use until 1962.Aloni ''Air Enthusiast'' Fifty, p. 47–48.


Record setting

Late in 1945, two F.3 Meteors were modified for an attempt on the world air speed record. On 7 November 1945 at Herne Bay in Kent, UK, Group Captain Hugh "Willie" Wilson set the first official air speed record by a jet aircraft of TAS.James 1971, pp. 257–258.Butler and Buttler 2006, p. 60. In 1946,
Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...
Edward "Teddy" Donaldson broke this record with a speed of TAS, in ''EE549'', a Meteor F.4.James 1971, pp. 258–259. On 4–5 April 1950, Sqn Ldr Janusz Żurakowski set an international speed record London-Copenhagen-London in a production standard F.8 (''VZ468''). Suitably impressed, the Danes later purchased the type. Another "claim to fame" was the Meteor's ability to perform the " Zurabatic Cartwheel", an aerobatics manoeuvre named after Gloster's acting Chief Test Pilot, it was first demonstrated by Meteor G-7-1 ''G-AMCJ'' prototype at the 1951 Farnborough Air Show; the Meteor, due to its widely set engines, could have individual engines throttled back and forward to achieve a seemingly stationary vertical cartwheel. Many Meteor pilots went on to "prove their mettle" by attempting the same feat. On 7 August 1949, the Meteor III, ''EE397'', on loan from the RAF and flown by
Flight Refuelling Ltd Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
(FRL)
test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...
Patrick Hornidge, took off from Tarrant Rushton and, refuelled 10 times by the Lancaster tanker, remained airborne for 12 hours and 3 minutes, receiving of fuel from the tanker in ten tanker contacts and flying an overall distance of , achieving a new jet endurance record. Meteor F.8 ''WA820'' was adapted during 1948 to take two
Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire The Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire is a British turbojet engine that was produced by Armstrong Siddeley in the 1950s. It was the ultimate development of work that had started as the Metrovick F.2 in 1940, evolving into an advanced axial flow de ...
turbojets, and from Moreton Valence, on 31 August 1951, established a time-to-height climb record. The pilot was
Flt Lt Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...
Tom Prickett, of
Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...
. A height of 9,843 ft was reached in 1 min 16 sec, 19,685 ft in 1 min 50 sec, 29,500 ft in 2 min 29 sec, and 39,370 ft in 3 min 7 sec.
Air Service Training Air Service Training (AST) is an organisation in Perth, Scotland, that has been training engineers and pilots for airlines, maintenance organisations and the military since 1931.
Ltd were responsible for the conversion.


Variants

;Gloster F.9/40 :Prototypes, eight built: * DG202/G powered by two Rover W2B jet engines, first flown 24 July 1943.James 1987, pp. 357–358. * DG203/G powered by two Power Jets W2/500 engines, first flown 9 November 1943. * DG204/G powered by two Metrovick F2 axial jet engines, unlike the other F.9/40s the engines were mounted under the wing, first flown 13 November 1943. * DG205/G powered by two Rover W2B/23 jet engines, first flown 12 June 1943. * DG206/G powered by two Halford H1 jet engines, the first to fly on 5 March 1943. * DG207/G powered by two Halford H1 jet engines, first flown 24 July 1945, became the prototype F.2 variant. * DG208/G powered by two Rover W2B/23 engines, first flown 20 January 1944. * DG209/G powered by two Rover W2B/27 engines, first flown 18 April 1944. ;Meteor F.1 :First production aircraft built between 1943 and 1944, 20 built. ;Meteor F.1, Trent turboprop :One-off engine test bed, converted from former No. 616 Squadron RAF operational F.1 serial number ''EE227'', for the
Rolls-Royce Trent The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofans produced by Rolls-Royce. It continues the three spool architecture of the RB211 with a maximum thrust ranging from . Launched as the RB-211-524L in June 1988, the prototype first ...
turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
engine making it the world's first turboprop-powered aircraft.James 1987, p. 251. The undercarriage was lengthened to give ground clearance for the initial 7 ft 7 inch
Rotol Dowty Propellers is a British engineering company based in Brockworth, Gloucestershire that specialises in the manufacture, repair and overhaul of propellers and propeller components for customers around the world. It is owned by General Elect ...
airscrews. First flying in September 1945, it was not shown publicly until June 1946. It was found that separate controls for thrust and constant speed units required a lot of skill to manage. It was then flown with higher engine thrust and smaller propellers to enable development of a combined control system. The development programme was complete by 1948. ;Meteor F.2 :Alternative engined version with two Halford H1s – one of the F.9/40s was used as prototype and trials by de Haviland, did not enter production.James 1987, p. 252. ;Meteor F.3 :Derwent I powered, with sliding canopy. First flown 11 September 1944, 210 built (first 15 were Welland-powered).James 1987, pp. 253–257. ;Meteor F.4 :Derwent 5 powered with strengthened fuselage, 489 built by Gloster and 46 by Armstrong Whitworth for the Royal Air Force.James 1987, pp. 257–264. The F.4 was also exported to Argentina (50 aircraft), Belgium (48 aircraft), Denmark (20 aircraft), Egypt (12 aircraft), Netherlands (38 aircraft). ;Meteor FR.5 :One-off fighter reconnaissance version of the F.4. Fitted with vertical cameras in the nose instead of the four cannon and with oblique cameras in the fuselage. Destroyed on maiden flight, 15 June 1949.James 1987, p. 264. ;Meteor F.6 :Proposed swept-wing variant of the F.4, not built. ;Meteor T.7 :Two-seat trainer variant of the F.4, company prototype first flew 19 March 1948, 640 production aircraft for the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy (43) and 72 for export (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, France, Israel, Netherlands). Avions Fairey modified 20 Belgian Air Force F.4s to T.7 standard. ;Meteor F.8 :Greatly improved from the F.4. Longer fuselage, greater fuel capacity, standard ejection seat and modified tail (derived from the E.1/44). A prolific frontline fighter in the RAF during 1950–54, this variant was ordered by the RAAF, with which it saw action in the Korea War. ; Meteor F.8 Prone Pilot :One-off experimental prone pilot F.8, ''WK935'' modified by Armstrong Whitworth. ;Meteor F.8 jet deflection test-bed: One F.8 (RA490) modified with
Rolls-Royce Nene The Rolls-Royce RB.41 Nene is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The Nene was a complete redesign, rather than a scaled-up Rolls-Royce Derwent"Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited 1989, , p.111 ...
engines cantilevered forward of the wings and "deflection boxes" to direct jet exhaust downwards for jet-lift. ;Meteor FR.9 :Fighter armed reconnaissance version of the F.8, first flown 23 March 1950, 126 built by Gloster for the Royal Air Force. Former RAF aircraft were later sold to Ecuador, Israel and Syria. ;Meteor PR.10 :Photo reconnaissance version of the F.8, first flown 29 March 1950, 59 built for the Royal Air Force. ;Meteor NF.11 :Night Fighter variant with Airborne Interception (AI) radar designed and built by Armstrong Whitworth, three prototypes followed by 311 production aircraft for the Royal Air Force and 20 for the Royal Danish Air Force. ;Meteor NF.12 :Longer nosed version of the NF.11 with American AN/APS-21 radar, this was balanced by a slightly larger fin, first flown on 21 April 1953, 100 built by Armstrong Whitworth. ;Meteor NF.13 :Tropicalised version of the NF.11 to replace the Mosquito NF.36 for service with 39 Squadron in Malta and Cyprus and 219 Squadron based in Egypt. The first of 40 production aircraft built by Armstrong Whitworth was first flown on 21 December 1952. Former Royal Air Force aircraft were later sold to Egypt (6 aircraft), France (2 aircraft), Israel (6 aircraft) and Syria (6 aircraft). ;Meteor NF.14 :NF.11 with new two-piece blown canopy rather than the heavy-framed version. It also had a longer nose giving a length of 51 ft 4 in. Prototype modified from an NF.11 was first flown 23 October 1953 and was followed by 100 production aircraft built by Armstrong Whitworth for the Royal Air Force. ;Meteor U.15 :
Target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operational ...
conversion of the F.4, 92 modified by
Flight Refuelling Ltd Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
.James 1987, pp. 300–302. ;Meteor U.16 :Target drone conversion of the F.8, 108 modified by Flight Refuelling. ;Meteor TT.20 :High speed target towing conversion of the NF.11 for the Royal Navy by Armstrong Whitworth, 20 former Royal Air Force NF.11s were modified. Four additional conversions of four NF.11s of Royal Danish Air Force, after conversion these were flown by civil operators on behalf of the Danish military.James 1987, pp. 302–303. ;Meteor U.21 :Target drone conversion of the F.8 for the Royal Australian Air Force by Flight Refuelling, some aircraft modified in Australia by Fairey Aviation of Australasia using Flight Refuelling supplied modification kits. ;Ground Attack Fighter :Also known as the Reaper, it was a F.8 modified by Gloster as a private venture ground attack fighter. The modification allowed the carriage of external Rocket-Assisted Take-Off Gear (
RATOG JATO (acronym for jet-assisted take-off) is a type of assisted take-off for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets. The term ''JATO'' is used interchangeably with the (more specific ...
), added a 57mm cannon in the lower fuselage and tip tanks. First flown 4 September 1950, only one was built.James 1987, pp. 283–286. ;Gloster CXP-1001 :A single-engine version of the Meteor proposed by Gloster as a pursuit fighter for the
Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force, retroactively known by its historical name the Chinese Air Force and unofficially referred to as the Taiwanese Air Force, is the military aviation branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces, currently based ...
. None were built.


Operators


Military operators

; * Argentine Air Force ordered 100 F.4s in May 1947, comprising 50 ex-RAF aircraft and 50 newly built.James 1971, p. 262. Deliveries started in July that year,Cicaleso, del Gaizo and Rivas 2003, p. 69. the Meteor remaining in service until 1970, when the last examples were replaced by
Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach number, Mach 2 ...
s.Cicaleso, del Gaizo and Rivas 2003, p. 72. ; *
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
operated 104 aircraft from 1946 to 1947 (1× F.3) and 1951 to 1963 (94× F.8, 9× T.7, 1× NF.11). ** No. 22 Squadron RAAF ** No. 23 Squadron RAAF ** No. 75 Squadron RAAF **
No. 77 Squadron RAAF No. 77 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It is controlled by No. 81 Wing, and equipped with Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighters. The squadr ...
; *
Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belg ...
received 40 aircraft of F.4 variant, 43 of T.7 variant, 240 of F.8 variant and 24 aircraft of NF.11 variant. ; * Biafran Air Force purchased two Meteor NF 14s through a cover company. One crashed during a ferry flight between
Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
and
Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...
, while the second was abandoned at
Bissau Bissau () is the capital, and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and ...
,
Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...
.Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' July 1995, p. 44. An attempt to purchase a further two ex-Danish target tugs via a German intermediary was discovered by the ''
Bundesnachrichtendienst The Federal Intelligence Service (German: ; , BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor's Office. The BND headquarters is located in central Berlin and is the world's largest intelligence h ...
'', the West German intelligence service, and stopped by grounding the aircraft.Williams ''Aeroplane Monthly'' July 1995, pp. 46–47. ; *
Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...
received 62 aircraft in F.8 and TF.7 variants. * 2°/1°GAvCa * 1°/1°GAvCa * 1°/14°GAv ; *
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
— from 1945 to 1950, one Meteor III and Meteor T.7 were used for tests and evaluation by the RCAF. ; *
Royal Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force ( da, Flyvevåbnet, lit=The Flying weapon) (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of The Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Defence. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was ...
— 20 F.4/F.8, 20× NF.11 and 6× T.7 in service from 1949 to 1962, replaced by 30 Hunter Mk 51 since 1956.Schrøder 1991, pp. 1–64. ; *
Ecuadorian Air Force The Ecuadorian Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana, FAE) is the Air arm of the Military of Ecuador and responsible for the protection of the Ecuadorian airspace. Mission To develop the military air wing, in order to execute institutional ...
; *
Royal Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية المصرية, El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīya), is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all milit ...
— used 12× F.4, 6× T.7, 12× F.8 and 6× NF.13 from 1949 to 1958,IsraDecal Studio, IAF-63, Middle East Mereors, instruction booklet some of them saw action during Suez Crisis in 1956, replaced by
MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...
bis. ; *
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Ar ...
; *
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
– Meteor TT.20 target towing aircraft. ; *
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...
** 117 Squadron (First Jet Squadron) — from 1953 to 1962, 4× T.7, 11× F.8, 7× FR.9, and 5× "T.7.5" or "T.8" variants (T.7 with F.8's tail, ex Belgian Air Force).aeroflight.co.uk 117 Squadron
/ref> ** 119 Squadron (Bat Squadron) — from 1956 to 1963, 5× NF.13 variant.aeroflight.co.uk 119 Squadron
/ref> (ordered 6 aircraft, but one has crashed during ferry flight to Israel.) ** 107 Squadron (Knights of the Orange Tail Squadron) — from 1962 to 1964, some F.8 and FR.9 variants, ex 117 sqn.aeroflight.co.uk 107 Squadron
/ref> ** 110 Squadron (Knights of The North Squadron) — from 1962 to early 1970s, some T.7 and T.8 variants, ex 117 sqn. and some F.8 and FR.9 variants, ex 107 sqn.aeroflight.co.uk 110 Squadron
/ref> ; *
Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...
— 60× F.4 used 1948–1957, along with 160× F.8 1950–1959, replaced by
Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Ro ...
. ** 322 Squadron RNLAF; 323, 324, 325, 326, 327 and 328 Squadrons *
Dutch Naval Aviation Service The Netherlands Naval Aviation Service ( nl, Marineluchtvaartdienst, shortened to MLD) is the naval aviation branch of the Royal Netherlands Navy. History World War I Although the MLD was formed in 1914, with the building of a seaplane bas ...
; *
Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeal ...
** No. 14 Squadron RNZAF in Cyprus, operated two Meteor T.7 aircraft hired from the RAF. ** Various squadrons, one F.3 used for pilot jet conversion training, then trade training airframe. ; *
South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...
– Meteor F.3 aircraft, in service from 1946 to 1949. ; *
Syrian Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War * ...
— used some T.7, F.8, FR.9 variants, and 6× NF.13 variant, from 1951 to early 1960s. ; *
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
*
Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...
; *
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
tested one aircraft and returned it to UK after tests.


Civilian operators

; * Svensk Flygtjänst AB Three Meteor T.7 and four Meteor T.T.20 for target towing between 1955 and 1974. ; * DERA
Llanbedr Llanbedr () is a village and community south of Harlech. Administratively, it lies in the Ardudwy area, formerly Meirionnydd, of the county of Gwynedd, Wales. History Ancient monuments at Llanbedr include Neolithic standing stones; the St ...
*
Martin-Baker Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited is a British manufacturer of ejection seats and safety-related equipment for aviation. The company's origins were originally as an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection s ...
Aircraft Company *
Flight Refuelling Ltd Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
(FRL) were lent the RAF Meteor III ''EE397'' for use in probe-and-drogue trials. This aircraft set a world jet endurance record of 12 hours and 3 minutes on 7 August 1949 *
Classic Air Force Classic Air Force was a charitably-based aircraft preservation organisation sited in Coventry, West Midlands. Specialising in classic aircraft from the period between the end of the Second World War and the close of the Cold War, it preserved ...


Surviving aircraft

Although many Meteors survive in museums, collections and on pylons in public spaces, only five remain airworthy. * – Three of the airworthy Meteors are in the United Kingdom: :*Two Meteor T.7/F.8 Hybrids used by Martin-Baker as ejection seat test aircraft "G-JMWA/WA638" & "WL419". Both are last recorded as being at Chalgrove. :*Former RAF NF.11 (''G-LOSM''), that was also built at Coventry, is currently registered to a private owner (Classic British Jets Collection, Bruntingthorpe). * – A former RAF F.8 ''VH-MBX'' at the Temora Aviation Museum with Royal Australian Air Force markings as 'A77-851'. Ownership was transferred to the RAAF in July 2019 and it is operated by the Air Force Heritage Squadron (Temora Historic Flight). * – A former RAF T7 ''WA591/G-BWMF'' is now in the
Planes of Fame Air Museum Planes of Fame Air Museum is an aviation museum in Chino, California,World Wa ...
in Chino, California.


Specifications (Meteor F.8)


Notable appearances in media


See also


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* Aloni, Shlomo. ''Arab-Israeli Air Wars 1947–82''. Osprey Publishing, 2001. . * Aloni, Shlomo. "The Jet Age: Gloster Meteor in Israeli Service". ''
Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...
'', Fifty, May to June 1993, pp. 38–48. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. . * Andrews, C.F. "The Gloster Meteor F.8" ''Aircraft in Profile, Volume 1/Part1''. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 4th revised edition 1975 (first published in 1965). . * Ashley, Glenn. ''Meteor in Action''. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 1995. . * * Bowyer, Chaz. ''Postwar Military Aircraft 2: Gloster Meteor''. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd., 1985. . * Boyne, Walter J. ''Air Warfare: an International Encyclopedia: M-Z''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2002. . * Butler, Phil and Tony Buttler. ''Gloster Meteor: Britain's Celebrated First-Generation Jet''. Hersham, Surrey, UK: Midland Publishing, 2006. . * Buttler, Tony. ''Secret Projects: British Fighters and Bombers 1935 -1950 (British Secret Projects 3)''. Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. . * Caruana, Richard J. and Richard A. Franks. ''The Gloster & AW Meteor''. Kingsway, Bedford, UK: SAM Publications, 2004. . * Cicalesi, Juan Carlos and Santiago Rivas. "Argentina's Meteors: Latin America's first jet fighters". ''International Air Power Review'', Volume 7, Winter 2002. pp. 120–128. Norwalk, Connecticut, USA: AIRtime Publishing. . . * Cicalesi, Juan Carlos, César del Gaizo and Santiago Rivas. "Into the Jet Age: The Gloster Meteor in Argentina". ''Air Enthusiast'' No. 104, March/April 2003, pp. 68–73. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. .
"Meteor 8."
''Flight'', 6 October 1949. pp. 465–469.

''Flight'', 25 October 1945, pp. 444–446. * Geoffery, G

''Flight'', 19 July 1945. pp. 70–73. * Golly, John and Bill Gunston. ''Jet''. Eloy Gutierrez, 2010. . * Goulding, James. ''Interceptor: RAF Single Seat Multi-Gun Fighters''. London: Ian Allan, 1986. . * Green, William. ''Warplanes of the Second World War, Vol. 2.'' London: Macdonald & Co Ltd, 1968, First edition 1960. * Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Great Book of Fighters''. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing, 2001. . * Harrison, W.A. "Forgotten Breed ... The RAF's Last 'Shufti' Meteors". ''
Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...
'', No 93, May/June 2001, pp. 26–33. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. . * Jabber, Paul. ''Not by War Alone: Security and Arms Control in the Middle East''. University of California Press, 1981. . * James, Derek N. ''Gloster Aircraft since 1917''. London: Putnam, 1971. . * James, Derek N. ''Gloster Aircraft since 1917'' (2nd Edition). London: Putnam, 1987. . * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. . * Jones, Barry. ''Gloster Meteor''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press Ltd., 1998. . * King, H. F
"Mars to Javelin, Gloster aircraft of forty years"
''
Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
'', Vol. 67, No. 2418, 27 May 1955, pp. 713–731. * Loftin, L.K. Jr. ''Quest for Performance: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft''. NASA SP-468. Retrieved: 22 April 2006. * Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter Since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. 1992. . * Nicolle, David. "Suez: The Other Side: Part Two". ''Air Enthusiast'', No 112, July/August 2004. pp. 48–57. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. . * Nicolle, David. "Suez: The Other Side: Part Three". ''Air Enthusiast'', No 113, September/October 2004. pp. 36–44. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. . * Nicolle, David. "Suez: The Other Side: Part Four". ''Air Enthusiast'', No 112, November/December 2004. pp. 52–60. Stamford, UK: Key Publishing. . * Nijboer, Donald. ''Meteor I Vs V 1 Flying Bomb, 1944''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2012.. * Partridge, J.J. "The Gloster Meteor F.IV" ''Aircraft in Profile, Volume 4''. Windsor, Berkshire, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 2nd revised edition 1970 (original in 1966). . * Pavelec, Sterling Michael. ''The Jet Race and the Second World War''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing, 2007. . * Schrøder, Hans. ''Royal Danish Airforce''. København, Denmark: Tøjhusmuseet, 1991. . * Shacklady, Edward. ''The Gloster Meteor''. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1962. * Spick, Mike. ''The Illustrated Directory of Fighters''. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Zenith Imprint, 2002. . * Spring, Ivan. "Springbok Jet Age: The Gloster Meteor III in SAAF service". ''Air Enthusiast'', No. 55, Autumn 1994, pp. 8–12. * Sturtivant, Ray. ''British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917–1990''. Naval Institute Press, 1990. . * Sturtivant, Ray and Theo Ballance. ''The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm.'' Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1994. . * * Williams, Ray. "The Night-Fighting Meteor". ''
Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...
'', Twenty-five, August–November 1984, pp. 44–59. Bromley, Kent, UK: Fine Scroll. . * Williams, Ray. "Meteor Night Fighters: Part One". ''Aeroplane Monthly'', April 1995, Vol. 23, No 4, Issue No. 264, pp. 6–10. * Williams, Ray. "Meteor Night Fighters: Part Two". ''Aeroplane Monthly'', May 1995, Vol. 23, No 5, Issue No. 265, pp. 18–22. * Williams, Ray. "Meteor Night Fighters: Part Three". ''Aeroplane Monthly'', June 1995, Vol. 23, No 6, Issue No. 266, pp. 10–24. * Williams, Ray. "Meteor Night Fighters: Part Four". ''Aeroplane Monthly'', July 1995, Vol. 24 No 1, Issue No. 267, pp. 42–47. * Yonay, Ehud. ''No Margin for Error: The Making of the Israeli Air Force.'' New York: Pantheon Books, 1993. . * Young, Michael G. "Prone Meteor." ''Aviation News,'' Vol. 13, No. 22, 22 March–4 April 1985. * Zuk, Bill. ''Janusz Zurakowski: Legends in the Sky''. St. Catharine's, Ontario: Vanwell, 2004. .


External links


Temora Aviation Museum Meteor F.8



Vic Flintham (aviation historian): Meteor




a 1949 ''Flight'' article

a 1951 ''Flight'' article {{ADF aircraft designations 1940s British fighter aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1943 Cruciform tail aircraft Gloster Meteor Twinjets World War II British fighter aircraft World War II jet aircraft of the United Kingdom