Modified Gloster Meteor F.8 WK935/7869M often referred to as the ‘Prone Meteor’, arrived at the Newark Air Museum in Nottinghamshire on 24 June 2024.

The unusual jet is on loan to the attraction from the RAF Museum. Over a two-day period, WK935 was reassembled at Newark by staff from Cosford’s Michael Beetham Conservation Centre.

The aircraft was a one-off, proof-of-concept machine used by the RAF in 1954 and 1955 to evaluate the effects of acceleration and inertia-induced forces while flying in a prone position. Its arrival at Newark complements the Reid and Sigrist Desford, also part of British prone trials, which has been within the collection since August 2022.

Museum trustee Colin Savill said: “Securing the loan of the Prone Meteor allows us to display these two unique aircraft from the golden age of British aviation together at one location, something that has never happened before.”