Gloster Meteor — History, Specs & Stories

Gloster Meteor jet fighter in flight
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Gloster Meteor
“Meatbox”

Britain’s first jet fighter and the only Allied jet to see combat in the Second World War — a straight-winged twin-jet that chased down V-1 flying bombs, set two world air-speed records, and, in a handful of aircraft, still flies today firing live ejection seats.

5 Mar 1943First flight · prototype DG206
July 1944Only Allied jet in WWII combat
~3,900Aircraft built
616 mphWorld air-speed record · 1946
Photo: Adrian Pingstone · Public domain
RoleJet fighter, interceptor & night-fighterEraWWII & early Cold WarMotor2 × Rolls-Royce DerwentOriginUnited Kingdom · GlosterStatusRetired (warbirds fly)Fly a fighter jet yourself
Příběh

The jet that beat the doodlebugs

By the early 1940s Britain held a secret that could rewrite air combat: the centrifugal-flow turbojet pioneered by Frank Whittle and his Power Jets team. The Gloster Aircraft Company was handed the job of wrapping a fighter around it. Rather than gamble everything on one immature engine, Gloster gave the aircraft two — a twin-engine, straight-winged machine that first flew on 5 March 1943 and reached the RAF in July 1944 as the Meteor.

It went to war almost at once. No. 616 Squadron took its Meteors up against the V-1 flying bombs raining on southern England — and on 4 August 1944 a Meteor scored its first “doodlebug” kill in one of the war’s strangest dogfights: when the cannon jammed, the pilot slid a wingtip under the flying bomb’s wing and tipped it out of the sky. The Meteor was the only Allied jet to fly combat in the Second World War, though it was deliberately kept from tangling with the Luftwaffe for fear one might fall into German hands.

The Meteor never met the swept-wing Me 262 in the air, and post-war it was quickly outclassed as a dogfighter — a lesson driven home over Korea, where Australian Meteors met the MiG-15. Yet the design proved astonishingly durable. It set world speed records, soldiered on as day fighter, night-fighter, trainer, target-tug and drone, and a pair of Meteors still fly today as Martin-Baker’s ejection-seat testbeds — among the oldest jets in the sky.

Cannon jammed, so he tipped the flying bomb out of the air with his wingtip.4 August 1944 — the first Meteor V-1 kill
01How the Gloster Meteor became the only Allied jet to fight in World War II

Germany fielded the Me 262 and the Arado Ar 234; Britain answered with the Meteor. It was the only Allied jet aircraft to see operational service in the war. But its early combat was tightly constrained: political and intelligence caution kept Meteors flying anti-V-1 patrols over England rather than sweeping over the Continent, precisely so that a jet — and its Whittle-derived engines — could not be captured. Only in the closing months, from early 1945, did Meteors deploy to Europe with the Second Tactical Air Force, and even then they flew ground attack and armed reconnaissance. A Meteor and an Me 262 never met in air combat — the great jet-versus-jet duel of WWII simply never happened.

Design & Engineering

What makes the Meteor special

01

Twin centrifugal turbojets

The Meteor rode on two Whittle-derived centrifugal-flow turbojets — the Rolls-Royce Welland on the first marks, then the more powerful Rolls-Royce Derwent. Fat and robust rather than sleek, the centrifugal engine was reliable and quick to build at a time when slender axial engines were still failing. Two of them gave the Meteor a safety margin no single-jet fighter of 1944 could match: lose one and you could still fly home.

02

A jet built to be flown, not just flown once

For 1944 the Meteor was strikingly practical. It sat on a tricycle undercarriage with a nosewheel — far easier to take off and land than the tail-draggers of the day — and used air brakes to manage the clean jet’s tendency to keep accelerating. Straight, unswept wings kept it docile and honest, if ultimately slower than the swept-wing jets that followed.

03

The workhorse that would not retire

Few aircraft have worn as many hats. Beyond the day-fighter F.8, the Meteor served as night-fighter (NF.11-14), two-seat trainer (T.7), photo-recon, target tug and radio-controlled drone. Two-seat Meteors became Martin-Baker’s ejection-seat test aircraft — and are still flying live seat firings today, certifying escape systems for aircraft as modern as the F-35.

02Why the Gloster Meteor used two engines instead of one

Whittle’s early turbojets were powerful for their weight but individually modest in thrust, and jet engine reliability in the early 1940s was unproven. Gloster’s answer was redundancy: mount two engines mid-wing so the aircraft had enough thrust to be a useful fighter and could survive an engine failure. The penalty was a wider, draggier airframe and demanding handling if an engine quit on take-off — asymmetric thrust from wing-mounted jets could be lethal, and it contributed to the type’s grim training-accident record and the black nickname “Meatbox.”

03The Gloster Meteor’s straight wing and the swept-wing revolution

The Meteor was designed before swept-wing aerodynamics were understood in the West. Its straight wing made it stable, predictable and easy to fly, but it capped its speed and high-altitude performance. When the straight-winged Meteor F.8 met the swept-wing MiG-15 over Korea in 1951, the gap was brutal: the MiG was faster, climbed harder and fought better at altitude. The Meteor was soon pushed into ground attack — a vivid demonstration of how quickly the swept wing made the first generation of straight-wing jets obsolete.

Technické údaje

Full specifications

Airframe & Performance (F.8)

Posádka
1
Délka
13.59 m
Rozpětí křídel
~11.3 m
Výška
~3.96 m
Loaded weight
~7,120 kg (max ~8,660 kg)
Max speed
~950–965 km/h (~600 mph)
Servisní strop
~13,000 m (~43,000 ft)
Rozsah
~965 km (~1,110 km with drop tank)
Vyzbrojení
4 × 20 mm Hispano cannon

Propulsion & Programme

Engines
2 × Rolls-Royce Derwent 8
Thrust (each)
~16 kN (~3,600 lbf)
Early engines
Rolls-Royce Welland (F.1)
Designer
Gloster Aircraft Company
First flight
5 March 1943
Into service
July 1944 (No. 616 Sqn)
Built
~3,900 (commonly 3,947)
Unit cost
No reliable public figure
Cost per flight hour
No reliable public figure
04Why the Gloster Meteor’s specs and cost vary between sources

The Meteor was built in many marks over more than a decade, so a single “spec sheet” is always a simplification — figures here are for the definitive F.8 day fighter. Even then sources disagree: quoted top speed ranges from about 941 to 965 km/h, and weights from a ~6,600 kg loaded figure to a maximum near 8,660 kg. As a 1940s–50s British government product produced in the thousands and widely exported, the Meteor has no reliable open-market unit price or cost-per-flight-hour; any precise dollar figure you see is an estimate.

Timeline

From secret jet to living legend

1940

The order

The Air Ministry orders prototypes from Gloster to Specification F.9/40, built around Whittle’s turbojet.

1943

First flight

Prototype DG206 makes the Meteor’s maiden flight on 5 March, at Cranwell.

1944

Into service

No. 616 Squadron takes delivery in July — the only Allied jet to enter combat in WWII.

1944

First V-1 kill

On 4 August a Meteor downs a V-1 flying bomb, famously tipping it over after its cannon jammed.

1945

Over Europe

Meteors deploy to the Continent with the 2nd Tactical Air Force, flying ground attack and armed recon.

1945

First speed record

On 7 November, Gp Capt H. J. Wilson sets a world air-speed record of 606 mph — the first over 600 mph.

1946

616 mph

On 7 September, Gp Capt Teddy Donaldson pushes the record to about 616 mph off the Sussex coast.

1949

The definitive F.8

The F.8 day fighter enters service and becomes the backbone of RAF Fighter Command in the early 1950s.

1951

Korea

RAAF No. 77 Squadron takes the Meteor F.8 to war; outclassed by the MiG-15, it shifts to ground attack.

1958–now

Still firing

Martin-Baker flies Meteors as ejection-seat testbeds — and two are still airworthy in 2026.

Stories & Eyewitnesses

Twelve Gloster Meteor stories

Engineering

Whittle’s jet goes to war

The Meteor turned Frank Whittle’s turbojet from an experiment into a fighting aircraft.

Read the full story
Frank Whittle spent the 1930s fighting for backing for his centrifugal-flow turbojet. By 1943 the Gloster Meteor turned that idea into a flyable fighter, and in July 1944 it entered RAF service — the first, and only, Allied jet to reach operational combat in the Second World War. The engine that a sceptical establishment had almost ignored now powered a front-line squadron.
V-1 campaign · 1944

Tipping the doodlebug

With his cannon jammed, a Meteor pilot toppled a V-1 with his wingtip.

Read the full story
On 4 August 1944, Flying Officer “Dixie” Dean of No. 616 Squadron caught a V-1 flying bomb over southern England — and his 20 mm cannon jammed. Rather than break off, he flew alongside, slid his wingtip beneath the bomb’s wing and rolled it. The disturbed airflow toppled the V-1’s gyro and sent it spinning into the ground. It became the Meteor’s first kill and one of the most extraordinary victories of the jet age.
Strategy · 1944

The jet they kept on a leash

Meteors were held back from the Continent so no German could capture one.

Read the full story
For months the Meteor fought only over England, hunting flying bombs. Allied commanders were terrified that a jet — and above all its Whittle-derived engine — might be shot down or force-land in occupied Europe and hand the secret to Germany. Only in early 1945, with the outcome of the war no longer in doubt, were Meteors allowed across the Channel, and even then their orders steered them away from air combat with the Luftwaffe.
Records · 1945

First past 600 mph

A Meteor became the first aircraft to hold a world speed record above 600 mph.

Read the full story
On 7 November 1945, Group Captain H. J. Wilson flew a Meteor F.4 to 606 mph over the water — the first world air-speed record set by a jet and the first ever above 600 mph. The record had belonged to piston fighters; now it belonged to the turbojet, and to Britain.
Records · 1946

Donaldson’s 616

A year later a Meteor pushed the world record to about 616 mph.

Read the full story
On 7 September 1946, Group Captain Edward “Teddy” Donaldson streaked along a measured course off Rustington on the Sussex coast in a Meteor F.4 and raised the world air-speed record to roughly 616 mph. It cemented the Meteor’s place at the leading edge of early jet performance — if only briefly, before swept-wing rivals surged ahead.
Korea · 1951

Meteor versus MiG

Over Korea the straight-winged Meteor met the swept-wing MiG-15 — and came off worse.

Read the full story
In 1951 the Royal Australian Air Force’s No. 77 Squadron took its Meteor F.8s into the Korean War as interceptors. Against the swept-wing MiG-15 the Meteor was outmatched — slower, out-climbed and outfought at altitude. After hard losses, most famously on 1 December 1951 near Sunchon, the Meteor was largely withdrawn from air-to-air work and turned loose on ground targets, a role in which it excelled.
Korea

The ground-attack Meteor

Recast as a fighter-bomber, the Meteor found a role it could dominate.

Read the full story
Pulled from the interceptor mission, 77 Squadron’s Meteors spent the rest of the war attacking bridges, supply lines and troop concentrations with cannon and rockets. Over the campaign the squadron flew many thousands of sorties. The Meteor could not beat the MiG in a turning fight, but as a rugged, heavily armed ground-attack machine it proved its worth — a reminder that an aircraft outclassed in one role can still be lethal in another.
Night-fighter

Eyes in the dark

Radar-equipped Meteor night-fighters guarded Britain and its allies into the jet age.

Read the full story
As bombers grew faster, Britain needed jet night-fighters. The two-seat, radar-nosed Meteor NF.11 through NF.14, built by Armstrong Whitworth, filled the gap through the 1950s. France flew the NF.11 too. Longer, heavier and packed with a radar operator and his equipment, these Meteors were a very different aircraft from the sleek day fighter — a stopgap that served until purpose-built night-fighters arrived.
Export

The Meteor goes global

From Argentina to Israel, the Meteor armed a dozen air forces after the war.

Read the full story
The Meteor became one of the first widely exported jet fighters. Belgium and the Netherlands built it under licence; Argentina bought a hundred F.4s and used them in the 1955 revolution; Egypt, Israel and Syria flew Meteors as their first jets, sometimes against one another; Denmark, Brazil, Ecuador and France operated it too. For many nations the Meteor was the aircraft that carried them into the jet era.
Experiment

The prone-pilot Meteor

One Meteor was rebuilt so its pilot flew lying face-down in the nose.

Read the full story
To study how pilots might endure high g-forces, a Meteor F.8 known as WK935 was modified with a second, prone cockpit grafted onto the nose, where a pilot lay flat on his stomach to fly. The idea was that a horizontal pilot could better resist blackout in violent manoeuvres. It flew, but the discomfort and complexity outweighed the benefits, and the concept was abandoned — leaving one of the strangest-looking Meteors ever built.
Legacy

Still firing seats

A pair of Meteors are still flying today — as ejection-seat test aircraft.

Read the full story
Martin-Baker, the ejection-seat maker, operates two elderly two-seat Meteors (WA638 and WL419) as flying testbeds. From these aircraft they fire live ejection seats to prove new designs, including seats fitted to modern fighters. Kept immaculately airworthy for decades, they are among the oldest jets still flying anywhere in the world — the Meteor’s war long over, its working life somehow still going.
The name

“Meatbox”

Crews gave the Meteor a grimly affectionate nickname.

Read the full story
Early jets were unforgiving, and the twin-engine Meteor was especially dangerous if an engine failed on take-off: the asymmetric thrust could flip an unwary pilot into the ground. Training losses were heavy, and RAF crews gave the aircraft the black-humoured nickname “Meatbox.” It was affection laced with respect for a jet that demanded to be flown properly — and punished those who did not.
Gallery

The Meteor in pictures

A Martin-Baker Meteor in flight among the oldest jets still flying, and still used to test ejection seats.
A Martin-Baker Meteor in flight — among the oldest jets still flying, and still used to test ejection seats.Photo: Adrian Pingstone · Public domain
A preserved Gloster Meteor F.8 the definitive straight-wing day fighter.
A preserved Gloster Meteor F.8 — the definitive straight-wing day fighter.Photo: Alan Wilson · CC BY-SA 2.0
An RAAF No. 77 Squadron Meteor F.8 in Korea outclassed by the MiG-15, it became a ground-attack workhorse.
An RAAF No. 77 Squadron Meteor F.8 in Korea — outclassed by the MiG-15, it became a ground-attack workhorse.Photo: USAF · Public domain
A radar-nosed Meteor NF.11 night-fighter, the type that guarded Britain into the jet age.
A radar-nosed Meteor NF.11 night-fighter, the type that guarded Britain into the jet age.Photo: Andrew Bone · CC BY 2.0
Inside the Meteor F.8 cockpit simple analogue instruments of the first jet generation.
Inside the Meteor F.8 cockpit — simple analogue instruments of the first jet generation.Photo: Roland Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0
The extraordinary prone pilot Meteor WK935, flown from a cockpit where the pilot lay face-down.
The extraordinary “prone pilot” Meteor WK935, flown from a cockpit where the pilot lay face-down.Photo: Hugh Llewelyn · CC BY-SA 2.0
Watch

The Meteor in motion

A hand-picked Gloster Meteor documentary is on the way. Video coming soon. In the meantime, explore the stories, gallery and specifications above.

Watch

The Meteor in motion

Imperial War Museums — one of the most-watched Meteor films on YouTube.

Operations

Where the Meteor flew

Combat Record

The score that defines it

The Meteor’s war record is unusual. It never fought the Luftwaffe in the air, and against the MiG-15 over Korea it was outclassed as a dogfighter. Its lasting achievements lie elsewhere — in being first, in downing flying bombs, in speed records, and in a ground-attack war it fought hard. Air-to-air claims below are best read as claims, and Korean combat figures are contested.

~13V-1 flying bombs claimed by No. 616 Sqn, 1944
616 mphWorld air-speed record — 1946
Only oneAllied jet to see WWII combat

Compare the combat record of every military aircraft. Figures as of July 2026.

Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about the Gloster Meteor

Can I fly in a Gloster Meteor?
No — there are no public Gloster Meteor rides. A handful of Meteors still fly as warbirds and ejection-seat testbeds, but none carry paying passengers. You can, however, fly in several genuine ex-military jets today — see migflug.com/flights-prices/.
Why is the Gloster Meteor historically important?
It was Britain’s first jet fighter and the only Allied jet aircraft to see combat in the Second World War, entering RAF service in July 1944. It proved the turbojet fighter in operational service.
Did the Meteor ever fight the German Me 262?
No. Although both were operational in 1944–45, a Meteor and an Me 262 never met in air combat. Meteors were deliberately kept from the Continent early on so one could not be captured, and the opportunity never arose.
How did a Meteor tip V-1 flying bombs?
When a fighter’s cannon jammed, pilots could fly alongside a V-1, slip a wingtip just under the bomb’s wing and roll it. The disturbed airflow toppled the V-1’s gyroscope, sending it out of control. A Meteor scored its first V-1 kill this way on 4 August 1944.
How fast was the Gloster Meteor?
The F.8 day fighter reached roughly 950–965 km/h (about 600 mph). A specially prepared Meteor set the world air-speed record twice: 606 mph in 1945 and about 616 mph in 1946.
How did the Meteor do against the MiG-15 in Korea?
Poorly in air combat. The straight-winged Meteor F.8 flown by RAAF No. 77 Squadron was outclassed by the swept-wing MiG-15 and, after heavy losses in 1951, was switched mainly to ground attack. Exact kill and loss figures are contested.
Are any Gloster Meteors still flying?
Yes. Martin-Baker keeps two two-seat Meteors airworthy as ejection-seat test aircraft, and a small number fly as warbirds. They are among the oldest jets still flying in the world.
Why was the Meteor nicknamed the “Meatbox”?
The twin-engine Meteor was dangerous if an engine failed on take-off, and training losses were heavy. RAF crews gave it the grimly affectionate nickname “Meatbox.”
The part of the collection you can touch

You can’t fly the Gloster Meteor.
These, you can.

Some legends only live in museums — others are fuelled and waiting. MiGFlug has put civilians in real military jet cockpits since 2004.

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Related Aircraft

Continue the tour

The Contemporaryde Havilland VampireBritain’s second jet fighter — single-engine where the Meteor had two, and the jet many pilots stepped to next.Read the Vampire storyThe Swept-Wing AnswerF-86 SabreThe swept-wing Western fighter sent to duel the MiG-15 over Korea — the jet the straight-wing Meteor could not be.Read the Sabre storyThe NemesisMiG-15 FagotThe swept-wing Soviet fighter that outclassed the Meteor over Korea and forced it out of the air-superiority role.Read the MiG-15 story
Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked