The Meteor’s Challenger

Cue (NZERS), Issue 36, 30 November 1945, Page 19

The Meteor’s Challenger

On September 21, 1908, at Le Mans, France, Wilbur Wright piloted an aircraft which broke all previous speed records. He flew 56 miles in 1 hour 31 % minutes—an average speed of nearly 37 m.p.h. Now, 37 years later, the jet-propelled Gloster Meteor has exceeded 600 m.p.h. in level flight.

Aircraft designers have always striven to pass the next century in speed. It took many years to raise the limit from the 150 m.p.h. mark for service aircraft at the end of the Great War to the 300 m.p.h. of fighters with which World War II was commenced. But development in the six years of the war was exceptionally rapid and the speed of fighters has doubled. With jet propulsion still by no means fully

developed, the next decade may see even more breath-taking figures established. The latest British jet-plane, the de Havilland Vampire, for example, is expected by its designers to eclipse the Meteor’s amazing record. The Vampire, from all accounts, is a remarkable aircraft. It has never yet been given full throttle and has exceeded 500 m.p.h. by a considerable margin. Powered by the de Havilland Goblin jet unit, this new British fighter resembles the well-known Lockheed Lightning in appearance and is of all metal construction with a "pressurised” cabin for the pilot. Its operational ceiling is nearly 50,000 feet.