The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the only allied jet to see service in World War 2. It was a very successful early jet fighter and 3,947 Meteors of all versions had been manufactured by 1955.

The Meteor was a simple but effective first generation jet fighter.

Development began in 1940 to make use of the newly developed Whittle jet engine. Ten prototypes were ordered and the first one flew for the first time on 5 March 1943.

An order for 300 production Meteor F.1s was placed in June 1943 and the first one made its maiden flight on 12 January 1944.

Only 20 Meteor F.1s were manufactured, the remainder of the order being made as later versions.

Twelve Meteor F.1s were delivered to 616 Squadron where they entered service in August 1944 with the role of intercepting V-1 flying bombs.

This model represents a Meteor F.1, EE222 of 616 Squadron, RAF, at Manston in 1944..

Dragon 1/72 kit. Completed in November 2016.