Meteor - not the rock type - raining
Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:32 am
The Gloster Meteor had a bad service record in use - crashes totalled 890 in which it killed 450 aircrew.
1953 was the worse year in which 153 aircrew alone it seems according to research.
I thought single engine jets were the threat but seems the twins are just as bad.
1953 was the worse year in which 153 aircrew alone it seems according to research.
I thought single engine jets were the threat but seems the twins are just as bad.
Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:04 am
A lot of those losses were training losses, as the Meteor was a very unforgiving a/c to fly on a single engine, and asymmetric handling was a necessary part of the training regime.
In asymmetric flying, the Meteor reqd. a LOT of physical effort on the rubber bars at low IAS. And to compound matters, the T.7 dual control trainer version didn’t have any bang seats, so compounding the loss rate of aircrew.
Here’s an amusing but scary quote from a RAF pilot that was going through training back in the 1970’s, about the pre-flight brief he had before a back seat ride in the T.7 that the RAF retained at the Central Flying School.
I was lucky enough to get a few back seat rides in Meteor T7 WA669 'Clementine' at Brawdy in the 1970s.
"If we lose one on take-off, below xxx knots I'll throttle back the other and crash straight ahead, hopefully on the RW" went the brief, "above xxx knots I'll say 'LEFT' or 'RIGHT'. Push as hard as you can with that leg whilst I curse, swear, jettison the ventral and attempt to keep the old girl flying. It will go very quiet until we're away from the ground, then I'll fly a very careful asymmetric circuit and landing after which we'll leg it to the pub and get pi$$ed!" it concluded.
This a/c mentioned above, along with a Vampire T.11 were known as the Vintage Pair, and performed regularly throughout the 1970’s and into the 1980’s before both being lost in a fatal mid-air collision at the Mildenhall Air Fete in 1986. A reserve Meteor T.7 was ‘activated’ after this to continue flying displays, but this too was lost in a fatal airshow accident two years later.
The Meatbox was not an easy a/c to operate.
In asymmetric flying, the Meteor reqd. a LOT of physical effort on the rubber bars at low IAS. And to compound matters, the T.7 dual control trainer version didn’t have any bang seats, so compounding the loss rate of aircrew.
Here’s an amusing but scary quote from a RAF pilot that was going through training back in the 1970’s, about the pre-flight brief he had before a back seat ride in the T.7 that the RAF retained at the Central Flying School.
I was lucky enough to get a few back seat rides in Meteor T7 WA669 'Clementine' at Brawdy in the 1970s.
"If we lose one on take-off, below xxx knots I'll throttle back the other and crash straight ahead, hopefully on the RW" went the brief, "above xxx knots I'll say 'LEFT' or 'RIGHT'. Push as hard as you can with that leg whilst I curse, swear, jettison the ventral and attempt to keep the old girl flying. It will go very quiet until we're away from the ground, then I'll fly a very careful asymmetric circuit and landing after which we'll leg it to the pub and get pi$$ed!" it concluded.
This a/c mentioned above, along with a Vampire T.11 were known as the Vintage Pair, and performed regularly throughout the 1970’s and into the 1980’s before both being lost in a fatal mid-air collision at the Mildenhall Air Fete in 1986. A reserve Meteor T.7 was ‘activated’ after this to continue flying displays, but this too was lost in a fatal airshow accident two years later.
The Meatbox was not an easy a/c to operate.