"The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet aircraft. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, developed by Sir Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, work on the engines had started in 1936. The Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). Nicknamed by pilots the "Meatbox", although the Meteor was not an aerodynamically advanced aircraft, it proved to be a successful and effective combat fighter.
Several major variants of the Meteor were made to incorporate technological advances during the 1940s and 1950s. Thousands of Meteors were built to serve in the RAF and other air forces, and remained in use for several decades. The Meteor saw limited action in the Second World War, while Meteors of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) provided a significant contribution to the Korean War and several other operators such as Argentina, Egypt and Israel also flew Meteors in regional conflicts. Specialised variants of the Meteor would also be developed to perform in the photo-reconnaissance and night fighter roles.
In the 1950s, the Meteor would become increasingly obsolete as more nations introduced jet fighters, many of these newcomers having adopted a swept wing instead of the Meteor's conventional straight wing; in RAF service, the Meteor was replaced by newer types such as the Hawker Hunter and Gloster Javelin. As of 2013, two Meteors, WL419 and WA638, remain in active service with the Martin-Baker company as ejection seat testbeds; two further aircraft in the UK remain airworthy, a single Meteor in Australia is also flight-capable.
A single experimental Meteor I, the "Trent-Meteor", EE227/G, powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent propeller turbines, was the first turboprop aircraft to fly on September 20th, 1945
The development of the turbojet-powered Gloster Meteor was a collaboration between the Gloster Aircraft Company and Sir Frank Whittle's firm, Power Jets Ltd. Frank Whittle formed Power Jets Ltd in March 1936 to develop his ideas of jet propulsion, Whittle himself serving as the company's chief engineer, outside of his duties as an RAF flying officer.For several years, attracting financial backers and aviation firms prepared to take on Whittle's radical ideas was difficult; in 1931, Armstrong-Siddeley had evaluated and rejected Whittle's proposal, finding it to be technically sound but at the limits of engineering ability.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, chairman of the Aeronautical Research Committee, and the Air Ministry 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 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 to manufacture a prototype aircraft powered by one of Whittle's new turbojet engines in late 1939.The single-engined proof-of-concept Gloster E28/39, 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 smaller 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 1,500 lb (680 kg), the RAE had advised that work on an aircraft of 8,500 lb (3,900 kg) all-up weight, with a static thrust of 3,200 lb (14.2 kN) should be started, with an 11,000 lb (4,990 kg) 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 was that a 8,700–9,000 lb (3,900–4,100 kg) aircraft with two or four 20 mm cannon and six 0.303 machine guns would have a top speed of 400-431 mph at sea level and 450-470 mph at 30,000 ft. In January 1941 Gloster were told by Beaverbrook that the twin jet fighter was of "unique importance" and they were to stop work on a night-fighter to F.18/40"
