3 The Meteor would also see service in the Korean War and it would serve with many countries around the world. Unlike the Bell P-59 Airacobra and Messerschmitt Me 262 which would be shelved after the war, production of the Meteor would continue until 1954. A production order of 210 Meteor F.Mk IIIs was issued in 1944, but the bulk of these were built too late to see service during the war. While the war ended with 1,422 Me 262s produced, only a fraction of Meteors were completed in that time. However, it was restricted from flying over enemy territory, lest it be shot down and its secrets revealed to the enemy. Whereas, the Meteor was limited to home defense against Luftwaffe V-1 Buzz Bombs, but it did serve later on the continent and performed escort duty on bombing missions, which allowed Allied fighters to gain experience in confronting jet fighters. They shot down 12 bombers and one fighter for the loss of three Me 262s. The high explosive warhead of only one or two of these rockets was capable of downing a B-17. This action also marked the first use of the new R4M rockets. 37 Me 262s of Jagdeschwder 7 (JG 7) intercepted a force of 1,221 bombers and 632 escorting fighters. On March 18, 1945, Me 262 fighter units were able, for the first time, to mount large scale attacks on Allied bomber formations. In the time it was in operation, the Me 262 claimed a total of 542 Allied victories for a ratio of 5:1. Since the Me 262 was fighting on its home turf, it engaged in combat against Boeing B-17s and Allied fighters. Early jet engines consumed excessive amounts of fuel, which limited their range. Jet fighters now encountered each other on a daily basis and the Meteor struggled to compete with the superior Mig 15.Īlthough the Meteor saw service in World War II, its missions paled in comparison to the Messerschmitt Me 262. Aerial combat with jet fighters would not happen until the Korean War, which surprisingly brought the Russians into the picture. Near the end of the war, it was thought that perhaps the Me 262 and Meteor would engage in jet combat for the first time in history, but it was not to be. 1 And more than a hundred Me 262s were lost in air-to-air combat against enemy piston-engine fighters, whereas not a single Meteor was lost to enemy action. The Meteor’s engines could operate 180 hours before overhaul, while the Me 262's Jumo 004 engines were required to be overhauled after only 10 hours. By the end of the war, the Me 262 and Meteor were leagues apart in safety and reliability. The Luftwaffe was being drained maintaining a defense on the Russian front and the Hawker Typhoon was proving itself against the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 at low altitude. Had the Allies been in charge of production, the Me 262 might have never entered service.īritain had the luxury to evaluate, develop and refine the Meteor, but as the war progressed, the Meteor became less urgent. Germany had its back against the wall and the Me 262 was rushed into production, taking a heavy toll on its pilots. However, the Meteor was actually the better airplane. The Meteor airframe however, was more conventional in design-it was powered with the soon-to-be obsolete centrifugal-flow engines and then largely forgotten. The Me 262 gets most of the attention for the development of jets, due to its Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow engines and sleek swept-back wings. It finally took Rolls Royce to get the project back on track again. The Meteor could have surpassed the Me 262 in performance and numbers, but partly due to bureaucratic bungling, the Meteor project nearly died. The Allies wanted to ensure the Meteor was airworthy before entering service. Its engines weren’t fully developed and it was a dangerous aircraft to fly. The most notable jet fighter at the time was the Messerschmitt Me 262, which was well along in production, but at a price. The jet engine was still in its infancy and not a proven technology-more years were needed to perfect it. It had straight wings, and was not much faster than the fastest piston-fighters at the time, such as the P-51 Mustang, Spitfire and Hawker Tempest. However, apart from its radical departure in propulsion, it was conventional in design and never considered to be “cutting edge” in performance. The Gloster Meteor was the first British operational jet fighter and the only Allied jet aircraft to reach operational status during World War II. If you can see the video controls but the video doesn't play click the link below. Try using the 'object' element listed further down the page. If you are reading this, it is because your browser does not support the 'video' element. The Gloster Meteor was the only Allied jet fighter to see service during World War II.
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