Gloster Meteor

Fighter · Gloster Aircraft Company · United Kingdom

Gloster Meteor
ⓘ licence & creditChris Phutully / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gloster_Meteor_Centenary_of_Military_Aviation_2014_(cropped).jpg
Typical crew1
Engines2 × Rolls-Royce Welland/Derwent (jet)
First flight1943
Number built3,947

Photographs

Poster advertising for the Gloster Meteor
ⓘ licence & creditGloster Aircraft Company / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gloster_Meteor_poster_June_1950.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditGlostermeteorc010 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gloster_Meteor_C-010_Expo_2023_IMPA_TRQ.jpgView source & full licence →
A77-851
ⓘ licence & creditAndrew Arch from Melbourne, Australia / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gloster_Meteor_(5600785654).jpgView source & full licence →
Gloster Meteor T7 - hot & hazy at Duxford
ⓘ licence & creditJohn5199 / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duxford_Jubilee_Airshow_2012_(7296283894)_(2).jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditAnthony Parkes / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crash_Wreckage_of_Gloster_Meteor_Aircraft_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2710382.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPhilip Halling / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armstrong_Whitworth_Meteor_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6303561.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditPhilip Halling / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armstrong_Whitworth_Meteor_-_geograph.org.uk_-_6303556.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditAndré Cros / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:23.02.69_Concorde_roule_et_l%C3%A8ve_le_nez_(1969)_-_53Fi1851.jpgView source & full licence →
20130831-Airshow2013-320
ⓘ licence & creditAlex Elena / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20130831-Airshow2013-320_(9824918604).jpgView source & full licence →
Pictured for the 20th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain in 1960 is a unique line-up of RAF fighters from the Battle of Britain to the present day (in 1960). From bottom to top: Hawker Hurricane IIc (LF363), Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX (PM631), Gloster Meteor F.8 (WL164), Hawker Hunter FGA.9 (XE610/J), Gloster Javelin FAW.9R (XH894/R) and English Electric Lightning F.1 (XM137/F) *Some of these images have had some dodging and burning done and have been retouched to remove detritus and dust and scratch marks only* *Organization: RAF *Object Name: T-2077 *Category: MOD *Supplemental Categories: Aircraft, Equipment, People, Historic, Fighters *Keywords: Lightning, Historic Aircraft, RAF, Royal Air Force, Historic, Formation, Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Gloster Meteor, Hawker Hunter, Gloster Javelin, English Electric Lightning, Cold War Era, RAF 100 *Country: UK
ⓘ licence & creditAir Historical Branch-RAF / OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:100_years_of_the_RAF_MOD_45163617.jpgView source & full licence →

About

The Gloster Meteor was Britain’s first operational jet aircraft and the only Allied jet to see combat in the Second World War. It grew from the pioneering turbojet work of Frank Whittle’s Power Jets, married to a conventional twin-engined Gloster airframe; the prototype flew in 1943 and the first Meteors reached No. 616 Squadron in July 1944.

The Meteor’s combat debut was against the V-1 flying bomb. The pulse-jet “doodlebugs” flew too fast for many piston fighters to catch, but the jet-powered Meteor could run them down, destroying over a dozen — in one celebrated case by tipping a V-1’s wing to topple it, after the fighter’s cannon jammed. Late in the war Meteors moved to the Continent. With four 20 mm cannon and steady development, the type went on to form the backbone of post-war RAF Fighter Command, with nearly 4,000 built.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Gloster Meteor — Wikipedia and Jet legends: the Gloster Meteor — Forces News. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Engines