Profile – Gloster Meteor

The World’s First Operational Jet Fighter

The Gloster Meteor

The date was August 4, 1944, the time 1616 hours, the place over Tonbridge in the south of England. On patrol at an altitude of around 6000 feet, Flying Officer T. D. ‘Dixie’ Dean of 616 Squadron, RAF, spotted a ‘Diver’ – code name for the Fieseler Fi103 ‘V-1’ flying bomb- some 3000 feet below him.

Dean nosed his twin-engine fighter down towards the small, black pulsejet-powered device to launch a head-on attack at a speed of around 450mph. But luck was to desert Dean, his aircraft’s four 20mm Hispano cannon refusing to fire on this first pass. Dean repositioned himself for a second pass, but again while perfectly placed his guns let him down.

Determined not to lose his quarry, Dean flew alongside the V-1 and positioned his wingtip just below it. Gently rocking his wings, Dean caused the air pressure beneath the robot aircraft’s wing to change. It went into a bank which ultimately toppled its gyro stabilizer sending it crashing harmlessly to earth.

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