For military aircraft buffs

[perry owens]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... light.html

Perry Owens

[gak]

I'd forgotten about those - Great stuff - thanks!

[olyinaz]

Always great to hear about an old bird once again taking to the skies. Thanks!

[retmech]

Looks like it might have been the forerunner to the B57 Canberra bomber made by Martin.

[jd45]

Anybody know if they saw combat? jd45

[olyinaz]

Anybody know if they saw combat? jd45

Yes, they did, but I don't think they ever engaged German jet fighters (a pity).

From http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/wor ... Meteor.htm :

"The first batch of 20 Meteors were delivered to the RAF on June 1, 1944. Assigned to No. 616 Squadron, the aircraft replaced the squadron's M.VII Supermarine Spitfires. Moving through conversion training, No. 616 Squadron moved to RAF Manston and began flying sorties to counter the V-1 threat. Commencing operations on July 27, they downed 14 flying bombs while assigned to this task. That December, the squadron transitioned to the improved Meteor F.3 which had improved speed and better pilot visibility.

Moved to the Continent in January 1945, the Meteor largely flew ground attack and reconnaissance missions. Though it never encountered its German counterpart, the Messerschmitt Me 262, Meteors were often mistaken for the enemy jet by Allied forces. As a result, Meteors were painted in an all-white configuration for ease of identification. Before the end of the war, the type destroyed 46 German aircraft, all on the ground. With the end of World War II, development of the Meteor continued and it became the RAF's primary fighter."

[jd45]

Thanx oly. jd45

[Hawkeye2]

The Canberra was built by English Electric beginning in '49 and later built under license by Martin ('53) in the US. Other than having 2 engines mounted in the wings there is no connection.