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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0584.PDF
358 FLIGHT METEOR Mk 8 Newly Released Details of Performance and Tankage: Ground-attack Development WHEN our first description of the Gloster Meteor 8appeared in Flight of October 6th, 1949, officialrestrictions prohibited any mention of performance and fuel tankage. These restrictions have now been removed and it can be disclosed that this mark of Meteor has a maximum speed of 516 knots, climbs to 30,000ft in 65 min, and has a range, with a tankage of 795 gallons, of 955 nautical miles. Other performance figures are given later. Release of the new information coincides with the arrival of a Royal Australian Air Force Meteor 8 Squadron in Korea. The type is superseding the large numbers of Meteor 4s now serving with the R.A.F. and with the air forces of Hol- land, Belgium and Denmark, and is being built in Holland by the Fokker company. Components are to be assembled by Avions Fairey at Gosselies, Belgium. The Meteor 8 is distinguished from the Mk 4 in having a completely redesigned tail unit, lengthened fuselage, revised cockpit enclosure, and a new type of wing-root fillet. The leading edge of the tailplane has a pronounced sweep- back, and the tailplane/elevator assembly is square-tipped. Elevator and rudder areas have been decreased and tailplane incidence has been reduced from 1 deg to zero. The sections of all surfaces are thinner than formerly. The characteristic Meteor fin-cum-skid beneath the tail has been deleted, but the upper fin has been correspondingly increased in area, as well as being changed in outline. The fuselage terminates in a cone-shaped fairing. The manufacturers claim that improvements incorporated in the Meteor 8 are directed towards "the continuance of its excellent handling qualities up to its limiting Mach number and maximum altitude." They further observe that, though immediate requirements and training demands have neces- sitated employment of the type on high-altitude interception duties, provision for carrying ground-attack armament has, since the advent of the Meteor 4, formed part of the Meteor's operational equipment. For ground attack the Meteor is able to make a controlled and steady approach to the target, aided The Meteor 8 is highly manoeuvrable even when carrying two 1,000 Ib. bombs, as seen here. by the wing-mounted air brakes. The thrust/weight ratio, particularly after the bombs and rocket projectiles have departed, is such that acceleration is of an unusually high order. Alternative ground-attack loads are two 1,000 lb bombs, carried on special pylon-type mountings, or as many as sixteen rocket projectiles. The standard built-in armament remains as four 20 mm. British Hispano guns, with more than 770 rounds of ammunition. A development of the Meteor 8 exhibited at the last S.B.A.C. Display is a private-venture variant for specialized ground-attack duties. This will carry four 1,000 lb bombs under wings and fuselage, or twenty-four 95 lb R.P.s (wings and fuselage); or five external tanks (wing tanks, under-wing and ventral) of 580 gallons total capacity; or, in place of the ventral tank, two extra guns, making a total of six. These extra guns are housed in a large fairing which WOUIQ Shown for the first time in thM "Flight" copyright drawing are the internal fufl, tanks of the Meteor 8. In conjunction with the wHt§^nd belly tgfliu. these confer a considerably longer" range than was attained by previous marks of the Meteor.
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