Power was returned to the internal and external lights of Armstrong-Whitworth Meteor NF.14 WS788 for the first time in more than 50 years recently

The 1954-built jet is the subject of an award-winning restoration project at Elvington’s Yorkshire Air Museum.

“We’ve got all the lighting circuits operating from the cockpit switches for the first time since the jet was withdrawn from service in 1966” the project’s Graham Buckle told FlyPast. “This was made more difficult as when the aircraft was dismantled at Kemble to be roaded to RAF Patrington in Yorkshire for gate guard duties, the wiring looms were simply cut at each transport joint.”

While the team had managed to get most of the cockpit electrics running, this was the first time they had ventured beyond the wiring looms cut behind the cockpit as they work to bring more systems back to life. Graham added: “Fortunately, aside from being cut the wiring is in great condition – it's just a time-consuming process working out which wire is which and then reinstating them!” Look out for more on this project in FlyPast’s March 2023 issue.