Gloster Meteor

Written and designed by Jim Young Find the entire feature on page 34 in the January 2012 issue.

Order Plans from AMA Plans Service

THE GLOSTER METEOR was Britain’s first jet fighter, and the Allies’ first operation jet. It started service in 1944 and served the Royal Air Force and other air forces for several decades.

Initially, the Meteor was used to knock down V-1 flying bombs. The Meteor was forbidden to fly over German-held territory for fear of it falling into enemy hands. Later, its mission was armed reconnaissance and ground attack, where it took out enemy aircraft still on the ground.

A few Meteors were lost to friendly fire because they were mistaken as Me-262s. A new, white paint job was specified to help with this. The Meteor also saw action in the Korean War at the hands of Australian pilots.

When not in combat, the Meteor set speed records and was piloted in an original aerobatic maneuver: the Zurabatic Cartwheel. Acting Chief Test Pilot, Janusz Zurakowski (a story in his own right), perfected the maneuver using the asymmetrical thrust available from the widely spaced engines.

More than a dozen variants of the Meteor were developed. The T.7 version was developed as a two-seat trainer to support the many air forces converting to jets. The T.71/2 I modeled is owned and operated by Martin Baker. Martin operates two Meteors out of Chalegrove, United Kingdom, as test beds for ejection seats.

Martin’s WA638 Gloster Meteor T.7 is believed to be the oldest operational jet in the world. Its restoration was completed in 2001 with a new high-visibility, glossy, black paint scheme. It was the perfect Meteor to model.

The Meteor is a seldom-modeled aircraft and presented several engineering challenges in its design. The cruciform tail and engine nacelles embedded in the wings had to be designed to be strong, but also easy to build.

Using CAD and laser cutting, I designed several features into the parts and several jigs to aid construction. This design is not for beginning builders or fliers. Its construction requires some advanced building techniques including planking, fiberglassing, and retracts installation. A short kit of laser-cut parts and a vacuum-formed canopy is available from the author.

Read page 34 of the January 2012 issue of Model Aviation for the complete build article.

You can also visit http://www.theparkpilot.com/pages/BuildIt/spitfire.htm, to download plans for the British spitfire. Read the entire article on page 40 in the Winter 2012 issue.