The Gloster Meteor is a British single-seater, twin-engine, full-metal fighter jet from the end of World War II. The flight of the prototype took place on March 5, 1943, and the machine began to hit the linear units in the summer of 1944. The 616 squadron RAF was the first to receive aircraft. George Carter was in charge of the entire project. The prototypes used the de Havilland Halford H.1 engine, but the series aircraft used Rolls-Royce Derwent I engines. The Meteor was the first mass-produced Allied jet fighter and the second in the world - after the Me262. During World War II, it was used primarily to combat V1 flying bombs. It is worth noting that in the course of the hostilities, there was never a single air fight between a Meteor and any German plane, despite the fact that on the ground the Gloster company annihilated about 40 enemy machines. The plane was also heavily used after 1945, especially by Australian troops during the Korean War. In total, a dozen or so versions of this machine were created, the most widely produced of which are: F.3 and F.4 (fighter-bomber versions from World War II), T.7 (two-person, training version, created in 1948), F. 8 (improved version of the F.4, in service from 1950). Technical data: length: 13.59m, wingspan: 11.32m, height: 3.96m, maximum speed: 965km / h, climb speed: 35.6m / s, maximum range: 965km, maximum ceiling 13,100m, armament: permanent - 4 20mm Hispano cannons, sling - up to 908 kg of bombs or unguided rockets.
