270734 - GLOSTER METEOR F8/FR9 In RAF Service (Photo Archive 34)

By Simon W Parry

Taken from the Publishers website:-

When two big model kit manufacturers announced that they would be launching new models of the Meteor F8/FR9, we galvanised ourselves and the team to launch our own F8/FR9 project to create this book in time for their release.

The photos were plentiful and of high quality but what do you find to write about a shiny single seat fighter that had just three aerials and an ejector seat?! Well, we did our best and to be fair, the more we got into the Meteor, the more we found. The FR9 in-particular proved to have had a very interesting lifespan and rocked some very interesting colour schemes, unlike its very plain and sensible F8 sister.

Unlike the Meteor’s wartime predecessors which lasted for just weeks and occasionally months, many Meteor airframes served for several years and received mods and upgrades along the way. We’ve done our best to point these out so that you know what to look for.

So, here we are, with a very attractive book on the F8 and FR9. We’ve learnt about the Telescrambler, pondered deeply about four black dots, and have actually grown quite fond of the old Meatbox, we hope you will too.

As usual, we’ve dug out around 120 very high-quality original photos which show the details and modifications, and have commissioned 6 in-depth colour profiles to illustrate them.

‍Other titles in the "Photo Archive" series include Supermarine Spitfire Mk 1, Messerschmitt Bf 109 Volume One, Hawker Hurricane Mk 1, Messerschmitt Bf 109 Volume Two, Avro Lancaster Mk I/III, Avro Lancaster Part 3: Mks II, V1, X, type 464 and B1, Supermarine Spitfire Mk V, Short Stirling Mk I/III, De Havilland Vampire, Messerschmitt Bf 109 E Volume Three, Bristol Beaufighter, Gloster Gladiator, Heinkel  He 111 Units, Bristol Beaufighter Mk VIC, Mk X and XI, DH Mosquito Bombers, Westland Whirlwind, Spitfire Mk IX, Hawker Typhoon Part Two, N/American Mustang in RAF Service, Avro Manchester, P-40 Tomahawk and Kittyhawk, Avro Anson Mk I, Supermarine Spitfire Mk I/II, Handley Page Halifax, Douglas Boston/Havoc, Consolidated Liberator, De Havilland Mosquito, Westland Lysander, Hawker Hurricane.