Air Atlantique's NEW Meteor Plus 'Get Involved' (Zombie from 2006)

the F-4J Phantom cockpit

You lucky so and so, that must be unique in private hands?
Pics and reports of your projects would certainly be welcomed by me.

As for the ‘blue note’ (a label that seems to get attached a bit regularly), the Welland, Derwent and Nene, all seem to make a lovely deep note when at performing a flypast at full chat, maybe something to do with the Centrifugal layout – but then the Goblin and Ghost make a terrible din!

Still bracing myself for the deluge of volunteers to work on the Meteor!

Once we get the wings and engines back on the Prince count me in for some time on the old girl 😀

Jon

Good luck to the lads at Temora with Winston’s engine work. I look forward to seeing some shots of W airborne again next season.
I heard that one of the Temora chaps had been over to Meteor Flight here in the UK a few months back to see if they had anything of use for the project.
I have a large cache of spares meself, mostly boxed or bagged new stuff.
I can send a inventory CD to them if this would be of interest.

Sorry, perhaps I should have been clearer. Those news items date to mid 2005.

The Meteor-formerly-known-as-Winston 😉 is currently airworthy, AFAIK.

Your offer is most kind. I don’t have any involvement with Temora officially, drop them a note atn Pete Pring-Shambler (who has posted here in the past) via the website. That’s a very generous offer.

And good luck with your projects.

Meteors Mk.8…

Thanks for the support pagen01 & Bruce. I’ll post some pics up soon.

I took the cockpit section of WK914 to Cockpitfest last year and may again this June (I had mentioned to a few people that I may take the F-4J Phantom cockpit in 2009 but with the transport costs being the best part of a thousand quid, it’ll probably not be going. Never mind, one day) If any of you go to “The Fest” this year come over and make yerself known.
By then ‘914 should be a lot tidier and cleaner as work is under way on a regular basis – though it never feels fast enough.
It’s that feeling you get when it’s time to down tools, clear up and go home to return again a fortnight later – it seems like an eternity in between visits. It’s a 250-mile round trip for me to get to Millom and back so I can’t get up there as often as I’d like.

Centre section restoration starts next year.

Hi James K,

Good luck to the lads at Temora with Winston’s engine work. I look forward to seeing some shots of W airborne again next season.
I heard that one of the Temora chaps had been over to Meteor Flight here in the UK a few months back to see if they had anything of use for the project.
I have a large cache of spares meself, mostly boxed or bagged new stuff.
I can send a inventory CD to them if this would be of interest.

Anon.

I spoke to the pilot flying Winston at Kemble when it 1st appeared back on the scene & he told me it only had about 80 hrs flight time left before a major overhaul including more than likely resparing was required & that it would prove far too expensive to do in this country. He said it would be sold overseas in the next year or so & wasn’t happy about it but if it was to remain flying then that would be the best thing for it.

Let’s start a campaign to buy-back the F8 from Australia – bring back the only “proper” Meteor!:p

The export of the worlds only airworthy F8 Meteor to Australia was i believe a significant loss to the british aviation scene. Kept for so long in superb condition, just before it was sold there was only one airshow booking for it that season.. and that beggars belief for something so rare and ‘different’.
I can remember seeing and hearing it at Dx a few years ago, and will never forget that very distinctive sound from its Derwent engines as it roared across the airfield. Only an early jet could sound that distinctive (much like the ‘blue note’ Hunter), and i for one would love to see it return some day.!

Sigh.

Anyone in the UK could have bought it and operated it.

The entry (purchase) price is well below the value of such a rare, historic type.

If someone had bought it in the UK, would they have been able to continue to operate it? Would it have been grounded by the first major engine inspection? (See below for Temora’s account of the engine works.)

The Classic Flight and a couple of other organisations could, perhaps have operated ‘Winston’ successfully. However are you supporting them with what they do, or are you expecting a lot for nothing?

On the positive side – The Meteor is treasured at Temora, and has undertaken more, and significantly longer range displays under Temora’s ownership than it ever did in the UK – not to mention attending most shows at ‘home’ on a year long (non-stop) display season.

As ‘Anon’ said:

Winston was a great loss but it occurred with hardly a ripple on the UK vintage aviation scene.
Whilst Winston is flying there is always an outside chance it may return to grace our air show skies but the chaps at Temora know what a little beauty they have. I heard it sold (flyable) for around the £100k mark – a fraction of the cost of a Spit.

Exactly. And I wouldn’t hold your breath, but it’s perfectly possible in theory for the Meteor to be shipped to the UK for a major show. Again, someone in the UK just needs to cough up the cash. Hmmm.

Temora have thrown huge amounts of money at setting up a remarkable facility. Rather than moaning about how it’s not in your backyard, maybe take a holiday and see it (in action) where it’s well looked after. (Yes, it’d be expensive. Sometimes ‘Mahomet has to save his pennies and go to the mountain’. 😉 I took a significantly longer and more expensive journey last year to get to Shuttleworth, La Ferte and Flying Leg Ends. I’m not rich, either.) Temora has a remarkable collection of rare and unique aircraft you’d do well to see. Australia has the world’s only airworthy Hudson, a historic type for Britain and Australia that hasn’t been considered as a flyer in any other country.

http://www.aviationmuseum.com.au/

It’s not ‘lost’ it’s being very well looked after, it’s just not under your nose.

The blue note comes from the gun ports in the nose,much the same as when you blow across the open top of a glass pop bottle,not so much the engines.

The same with the Hunter F6,the other hunters,T8 ,GA11 don’t make the note as they don’t have all the gun ports.

My understanding it was caused by the case ejector chutes, not the gun ports on the F8, while the barrels/ports of the Hunter, as you say were the cause. Bear in mind we are looking at ‘hollow sticky-out’ things in those cases. (And the Fairey Flycatcher had a ‘blue note’ in a dive, but that was different again.)

http://www.aviationmuseum.com.au/news/News.cfm

05 Jul ´05 | Meteor Engine Replacement
Museum engineers have working hard on our Gloster Meteor F.8, which is the only aircraft of its type flying in the world. The Meteor was built in 1949 and features first generation Rolls Royce Derwent Turbo Jet Engines. The Meteor is undergoing the first of two engine changes, as the current engines are close to their published overhaul limits. This is valuable experience for the Temora Aviation Museum Engineers as it is the first time the engines in this Meteor have been removed since the Museum acquired the aircraft. It is also the first time Derwents have been removed from an operational Meteor in Australia since the early 1960s.

The procedure involves the removal of the old engine, this is then followed by the clean up of the engine bay, which includes the replacement of the flexible fuel supply and oil pressure hoses, as well as a structural inspection including the jet pipe assembly. The new engine may then be installed.

Once the engine is installed, rigging checks will be carried out and engine runs will be conducted to check for leaks and for engine performance. This is followed by a test flight to ensure all the systems are functioning correctly.

16 May ´05 | Meteor’s Derwent Engines undergo inspection
The Rolls Royce Derwent 9 engines, which are used in the Museum’s Gloster Meteor F.8 are undergoing a major inspection. Temora Aviation Museum Engineering’s engine specialist David Finch is in the process of performing an inspection on the critical components. The aim of the one-off inspection is to allow for the identification of any component defects within the engines. This is necessary, as the manufacturer didn’t place a life limit on the rotating components when the engines were constructed back in the 1940s.

As the Museum owns the only flying Meteor F.8 in the world, this means Dave gets the lucky job of working on some of the rarest serviceable turbo jet engines on the planet. We asked Dave what it was like to work on the engines, he said, “The inspection is a challenge, but it’s rewarding because there are only a handful of engineers that get the opportunity to work on such a rare airworthy aircraft. So I feel very privileged.”
Parts from the engines that have required replacement have been mainly sourced from the UK, all other necessary parts were manufactured at various locations in Australia. The last time these engines were disassembled for inspection was in May 1968.

Have manual, will travel……

If I lived in the area, I would be there like a shot – indeed, I considered buying it before you did, but, too many other projects, and too far away at the mo.

Best of luck with it

Bruce

The blue note comes from the gun ports in the nose,much the same as when you blow across the open top of a glass pop bottle,not so much the engines.

The same with the Hunter F6,the other hunters,T8 ,GA11 don’t make the note as they don’t have all the gun ports.

Silly me.. i thought it was a characteristic of a certain mk/type of engine.!

Wish I could help Anon, but that’s one hell of a commute!
I wish you all the best with your project as I do like the Meatbox 8. Keep us updated with pics etc.

Still bracing myself for the deluge of volunteers to work on the Meteor!

It’ll be like Sting says in The Police song “Message in a bottle”:

Woke up this morning, don’t believe what I saw,
hundred million PM’s waiting on the For…..um.

There can’t be (m)any Gloster Meteor enthusiasts in Cumbria/Lancs then?

(lonely) Anon.

Meteor Flight

Getting back to the original thread…

As a member of Meteor Flight I have been informed that, effectively, Meteor Flight is disbanding and current memberships will be transferred to the Classic Flight membership for one year – for no additional charge.
Meteor Flight do not have the facilities for the completion, flying and maintenance, to say nothing of the funds, to allow the operation of the T.7.
This has been taken over by Classic Flight though I understand MF’s engineer(s) will continue to work on the T.7, and receive some support from Martin Baker also.
Perhaps someone from Meteor Flight can tell us the precise facts if I am incorrect with any of the above.

And diverging off-thread slightly…

My own Meteor (F.Mk.8, s/n WK914) is under rebuild to static running condition though there is much to be done yet to reach that stage. I too like the earlier-tailed aircraft but the scarcity of Mk.8’s in the UK make the ownership of this jet all the more special.
Im my opinion, the Mk.8 Meteor is a type which warbird enthusiasts have by-passed. Even though it is a truly classic front-line fighter, conventionally constructed, easy to maintain, spares in plentiful supply, simple, reliable engines, etc, etc, it has been by-passed and overlooked for far too long.
There used to be hundreds of the things which were mass-scrapped, shot at, shot down, burned for fire practice and, even now it surprises me that there weren’t far more of them flying in civilian hands through the years when they were so easy to obtain. Winston was a great loss but it occurred with hardly a ripple on the UK vintage aviation scene.
Whilst Winston is flying there is always an outside chance it may return to grace our air show skies but the chaps at Temora know what a little beauty they have. I heard it sold (flyable) for around the £100k mark – a fraction of the cost of a Spit.
The same can be said of the F-86 Sabre – a contemporary of the Meteor – hundreds of which were built yet there are only a handful flying in the US.
I remember only a few short years ago an article in Flypast saying that you could buy a virtually airworthy specimen for about £20k.

So, if you live within 50 miles of Millom, Cumbria, and are a Meteor enthusiast, you can always come and help restore WK914.

I expect to find my PM mailbox full by this time tomorrow evening!:D

Anon.

I can remember seeing and hearing it at Dx a few years ago, and will never forget that very distinctive sound from its Derwent engines as it roared across the airfield. Only an early jet could sound that distinctive (much like the ‘blue note’ Hunter), and i for one would love to see it return some day.!

The blue note comes from the gun ports in the nose,much the same as when you blow across the open top of a glass pop bottle,not so much the engines.

The same with the Hunter F6,the other hunters,T8 ,GA11 don’t make the note as they don’t have all the gun ports.

Hi DGH Sorry if this sounds like a silly question but i have looked on the classic flight website but i can not find a section on Volunteering. Do i just e mail them to tell them that i am interested.

thank you

Anthony

Hello Anthony, until earlier this year you would have just needed to contact me but I’ve passed the position on now but if you send me your details I will pass them onto Simon.

All the best,

Dave 🙂

Let’s start a campaign to buy-back the F8 from Australia – bring back the only “proper” Meteor!:p

The export of the worlds only airworthy F8 Meteor to Australia was i believe a significant loss to the british aviation scene. Kept for so long in superb condition, just before it was sold there was only one airshow booking for it that season.. and that beggars belief for something so rare and ‘different’.
I can remember seeing and hearing it at Dx a few years ago, and will never forget that very distinctive sound from its Derwent engines as it roared across the airfield. Only an early jet could sound that distinctive (much like the ‘blue note’ Hunter), and i for one would love to see it return some day.!

See here.

http://www.meteorflight.com/

Why do people love the F8 so much? I much prefer the earlier shaped rear fin/tailplane.

Let’s start a campaign to buy-back the F8 from Australia – bring back the only “proper” Meteor!:p

WA591 has recently moved to Kemble. All the other airframes have been sold off, as have many of the spares. One forumite here has one of the airframes in his custody.

Bruce

Oops! Can my post be deleted?
Also begs the question, what is the current status of Meteor WA591?

Old, old thread – beware!

Great news and I wish the flight all the best, and would love to volunteer but it is a fair old haul from St Athan!