This video is about the history of the Gloster Meteor, the first jet fighter to be used by the British Royal Air Force (RAF).
Although the Gloster Meteor was not the first jet fighter to be flown, it was the first to be used in squadron service.
The Germans had already developed jet fighters like the Arado Ar 234 and Messerschmitt Me 262, but the Gloster Meteor was the only Allied jet fighter to see service during World War II.
Despite setbacks, the Gloster Meteor eventually entered service in July 1944 with the RAF 616 Squadron. The Meteor was initially used for air defense roles and to counter V-1 flying bombs. Due to its top secret status, the Meteor was not allowed to fly over German-controlled territory until January 1945.
Listen to how legendary test pilot Eric Winkle Brown found out about the first British Jet by mere chance and how he later became its test pilot.
We also feature an insight into how the V-1 flying bomb pulse jet worked.
The V-1 flying bomb "Vergeltungswaffe 1" or "Vengeance Weapon 1" was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) designation was Fieseler Fi 103, and its suggestive name was Höllenhund (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany as Kirschkern (cherry stone) or Maikäfer (maybug).
The V-1 was the first of the Vergeltungswaffen (V-weapons) deployed for the terror bombing of London. It was developed at Peenemünde Army Research Center in 1939 by the Luftwaffe at the beginning of the Second World War, and during initial development was known by the codename "Cherry Stone". Due to its limited range, the thousands of V-1 missiles launched into England were fired from launch facilities along the French (Pas-de-Calais) and Dutch coasts or by modified He 111 aircraft.
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