I received this rare picture from the lady who took it , probably in 1945 or 46 at Beauvais-Tillé. It's an early version of the Gloster Meteor. The groundcrew (or civilians?) is apperently discovering the aircraft for the first time. Enjoy!
What a great shot Skipper, they must be looking through those holes in the wings wondering where the propellers have gone. Hard to imagine that there was a time when people (quite possibly still alive now) would never have seen a jet engine before. A real turning point in history well captured. Cheers, Adam.
The Gloster was clearly inspired by the Me262. I will try to scan a higher resolution to be able to read the serial number . The lady who sent me this picture is still alive and kicking.
I should have said they were two parallel programmes, but they almost look like twins. In fact the Gloster gets a small advantage in range and the Me 262 was a little faster. I managed to read part of the serial nummer which is ..789, possibly from 616 Squadron. Gloster Meteor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From the engine nacelles it looks like the F.4 or higher as the earlier versions were more tapered . This would fit in with the date of 1945/46 too as the protypes with the Derwent 5 engines were tested (though production didn't start until 1947). And the proportions of the wings (which were clipped for the later models from the F.4) also seem to fit.
The meteor looks much bigger but could be an illusion. almost looks like a jet version of the mosquito.
The photo is of a Meteor III (you can tell by the engine nacelle shape). The Meteor is wholly a British design owing nothing to Willy Messerschmitt's aircraft. It is actually a pretty good, if pedestrian, design solidly built and it served well into the 50's with the RAF as a nightfigher (the later models morphed into some rather bizzare forms like the NF 12 or NF 14). On the whole, the "meatbox" as it became known was to be, postwar, a mediocre aircraft forced on the RAF due to budget constraints that soldiered on in true British stoic fashion long after it should have been abandoned. The last models on active duty didn't get retired until 1961!
I also think of a III version. The colours also fit . In fact the Gloster Meteor was outdated from an aerodynamical point of view as early as 1945, but the huge investments made it necessary to keep this aircraft for over a decade. It served in the Korea war.
I think Amrit is right, the more pictures I see the more it seems to be an F4. I enlarged the serial number and it could (maybe ) be NF789? I'm not too sure about the N . Thanks for this Amrit.
Found some nice shots of Belgian F.4s that enable good comparisons. From: Part 1: EF1 - EF24 - Belgian Military Aircraft
And this has to be the strangest conversion ever! The photo is from: Gloster Meteor F.8 For more details: Gloster Meteor F8 Prone Position airplane pictures & aircraft photos - RAF Museums
And it flies too ! Incredible, I'd be scared to death in the front cockpit! Thanks for this adtionnal info, the lady will be happy, she called this morning and asked me about it.
I was at Cosford a few weeks ago and to do it some justice the prone Meteor is actually better looking and more in proportion in the flesh than that picture implies. Definitely something of the 'scary death trap' about the front pilot's section though. Cheers, Adam.
