Britain’s Gloster Meteor was revolutionary and the only turbojet-powered plane flown by the allies in the Second World War.

Frank Whittle, the RAF Officer and engineering genius who invented the jet engine was just 21 when he came up with his astonishing idea. Hot gas is ignited, blasts back, pushes the engine forward and spins a turbine. His amazing innovation enabled planes to go faster and much higher, above the weather. 

At first, the Air Ministry failed to see the value of Whittle’s brainchild, and wasted many years until the idea was developed.

The Gloster Meteor finally entered combat in 1944, only just before the German jetfighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262. The Meteor was a key fighter during the Korean War in the 1950s and was a trailblazer for the thousands of jets that criss-cross our skies today.

Frank Whittle retired an Air Commodore and was later knighted.