INTERMEDIATE BUILD
Massimo Santarossa goes for a record attempt with Special Hobby’s 1/72 Gloster Meteor
GLOSTER METEOR MK.4
Gloster’s Meteor has gone down in the annals of aviation history as being the first jet fighter to serve with the RAF. The initial unit to operate the type was 616 Squadron, during 1944, and despite being considered obsolete by the 1950s, it wasn’t retired fully for another 20 years. It should therefore come as no surprise that the Meteor claimed its share of aviation records. On November 7, 1945, two RAF Meteors were used to capture the aviation world speed record; EE454, flown by Wing Commander Hugh Joseph Wilson CBE, AFC and Two Bars, while Gloster Chief Test Pilot Eric Stanley Greenwood OBE, was at the controls of EE455. The two aircraft each made four passes over a 3km course, flying as low as 250ft (75m). Both pilots made runs approaching or surpassing 600mph (966km/h), with Wilson’s average speed being the higher of the two at 606.26mph (975.68km/h). This record would stand for almost a year, only to broken by another RAF Meteor.
