Initially to be called ‘Thunderbolt’, it was changed to Meteor to avoid confusion with the USAAF Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. In August 1940, Gloster’s proposals for a twin-engined jet fighter led to an initial order of twelve prototypes (later reduced to eight) in February 1941. V1 Flying Bombs Aka Banned Pictures of Flying Bomb Killing Grounds (1944), British Pathe. The first V1s fell on London on 13th June 1944 and from then to March 1945, around 6,000 people would be killed and 40,000 injured throughout Europe. The most deadly V1 attack of the war in London occurred on June 18, 1944, when a V1 hit the Royal Military Chapel, Wellington Barracks, killing 58 civilians and 63 service personnel.
By May, the Air Ministry cancelled the project sighting the difficulty of using the remote-control system in combat conditions.Īgain, as with many developments, the designer, Fritz Gosslau, who had begun work on remote-controlled aircraft back in 1936, persisted with the idea and production was approved in June 1942. Back in November 1939 the proposal for a remote-controlled aircraft carrying a payload of 1,000kg (2,200lb) over 310 miles was submitted, then refined in April 1940. The V1 flying bomb, also known as the doodlebug or ‘buzz bomb’ to many, was another project to be initially shunned by the Air Ministry, this time in Germany. You can watch the second video on the link above.
#Gloster meteor cockpit code#
NOTE: The IWM had made what should be a second video above, available online, and to embed on this and other sites, but as we have experienced before, this was made unavailable as of and their new code to embed this video does not work even on. The single engined aircraft was flown by Gloster’s chief test pilot, Flight Lieutenant Philip “Gerry” Sayer on 15th May 1941 and powered by the Whittle W.1 engine.įilm of the Gloster E 28/39 jet and Spitfire F 21 in an aircraft recognition study © IWM. With the threat of war, the Air Ministry contracted Power Jets to build a jet engine to power an experimental aircraft to be built by Gloster Aircraft Company, the E28/39 which would prove the jet engine concept. Note: This image has been altered to show correctly from that published by IWM.īack in 1935, without the necessary money to renew his patent, Whittle was contacted by a fellow pilot, Rolf Williams and his business partner Collingwood Tinling to cover the cost of the patent and to setup manufacture of the engine. The models on his desk are the first British prototype jet aircraft to fly and of the Meteor, the first jet to enter service with the RAF. Known as the ‘father of the jet engine’, the prototype of which was ‘bench run’ in 1937. During 1943 to 1946 Air Commodore Whittle was attached to Power Jets Ltd for the development of the Aircraft Gas Turbine for Jet Propulsion. Portrait of Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle at his desk. On 27th August 1939 he developed a jet engine which flew for the first time in a Heinkel He 178 by Captain Erich Warstiz, but the flight was marked by the loss of the engine shortly after take-off by a bird-strike. These papers were studied carefully by Dr Hans von Ohain in Germany who registered his own patent for a turbojet in 1936. He patented his idea for a centrifugal compressor-driven turbojet engine in 1930. At the same time, his mathematical talent was spotted and he was recommended for officer and pilot training. Whittle knew that for man to fly faster, he would have to fly at a greater altitude where the air was thinner and that the conventional propeller would not be capable. In 19, further work was carried out on turboprop engines, which still suffered from the same limitations.īy 1926, Frank Whittle, an apprentice in the RAF, had developed his own theory of using gas turbines to power aircraft at speeds and altitudes impossible for piston driven engines. It was powered by wood, coal and other flammable substances, however the heat-resistant materials required to fully take advantage of the design were not available. The first gas-turbine ‘jet’ engine was originally patented and built by John Barber of Nottingham in 1792. In July 1944, the first operational jet squadron was initially based at Manston and was tasked with countering the V1 flying bomb threat to London. RAF Manston yet again played its part in history when the jet engine age was born. The Battle of Britain Monument – London.The Battle of Britain Memorial – Capel-le-Ferne.The Kent Battle of Britain Museum, Hawkinge.Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum – Manston.
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