As the Gloster Meteor entered RAF service, it was originally charged with destroying the V-1 flying bombs that were being sent indiscriminately in the direction of southern Britain. The first Meteor victory over a Doodlebug occurred on the 4th August 1944, when Flying Officer T.D ‘Dixie’ Dean spotted a V-1 flying in the direction of Tunbridge Wells. Placing his Meteor EE216 in a shallow dive to build up speed, he lined up the V-1 in his gunsight and fired – after a short burst, all four guns jammed. Dean was determined not to let the Doodlebug get away and manoeuvred his Meteor alongside the flying bomb, wing tip to wing tip. When he was positioned as close as he safely could, he flicked the control column of his Meteor and banked sharply away – the sudden airflow disruption caused the V-1 to go out of control and crash without causing injury on open ground. Dean had the first Meteor victory over the V-1 and was the first pilot to use the risky ‘tip and run’ tactic to destroy one these feared flying bombs. Gloster Meteor F.Mk 1Designed as a turbojet-powered fighter in a time when piston-engined aircraft still dominated the skies, the Gloster Meteor first flew on March 5, 1943. The Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the only Allied jet aircraft to see service during WWII. It debuted around the same time as the German Me 262, but was not used for dogfighting—instead, Meteors were used to combat the V1 Flying Bomb. The Meteor's service during WWII was limited, but it saw combat during the Korean War and was used by the Royal Australian Air Force and by the Air Forces of more than a dozen other nations until its ultimate retirement in the 1970s.© Copyright 2003-2017 The Flying Mule, Inc. Corgi Aviation Archive Collector SeriesThe Corgi "Aviation Archive" range presents highly-detailed, ready-made diecast models of military and civilian aircraft. The vast Aviation Archive range has become the standard by which all other diecast airplane ranges are judged. Each Corgi model is based on a specific aircraft from an important historical or modern era of flight, and has been authentically detailed from original documents and archival library material. Famous airplanes and aviators from both military and commercial airline aviation are all honored.Corgi "Aviation Archive" diecast airplanes feature:
© Copyright 2003-2017 The Flying Mule, Inc. | |||||||||||||
|