Meteor Warbirds LLC | 1949 Gloster Meteor T.7 | cn G5/356460 | NX313Q
KPVG (Hampton Roads Executive Airport) - 18 JUN 2018
The World Heritage Air Museum's newly arrived Gloster Meteor T.7 on takeoff roll on RWY 10 for her first flight in North America on June 18th at Hampton Roads Executive Airport in Chesapeake, Virginia. Pilot Zachary McNeill is at the controls.
After airborne, the Meteor would fly a left downwind and do a low-level "banana pass" and then head to Elizabeth City Airport (KECG), where she will remain until Thursday, when she heads to her new home at World Heritage Air Museum (WHAM) in Detroit, Michigan.
Meteor T.7 WA591 was built at Hucclecote in 1949 and served as a pilot trainer at various bases including Stradishall, Driffield, Finningley, and the College of Warfare at Manby. It became a ground instruction airframe at St Athan but ended its military service as gate guardian of RAF Woodvale.
WA591 was rescued for preservation in 1995 by Meteor Flight, who spent nearly 16 years in cramped conditions at Yatesbury restoring it. The aircraft took to the skies again at Kemble in 2011 as G-BWMF and subsequently joined the Classic Air Force (CAF) fleet at Coventry.
In April 2018, the aircraft was disassembled at Liverpool John Lennon Airport (EGGP/LPL) and shipped from the Port of Liverpool aboard a roll-on/roll-off ship to Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
After arriving in Norfolk, Virginia on April 27, 2018, the aircraft spent three days clearing customs before being trucked the short distance by road to Hampton Roads Executive Airport (KPVG) on April 30th.
With assistance from volunteers, the team from WHAM had the Meteor’s wings back on by May 1st. She was a whole aircraft again a few days after that, and then the sometimes problematic process of FAA Certification began. The Meteor’s last flight prior to her arrival in the USA, took place in late March this year (a short hop from Coventry to Liverpool), and she had always been maintained in immaculate condition following her nearly two-decades-long restoration in the UK, so it wasn’t surprising that she received her airworthiness certificate in fairly short order on June 9th.
You can see an article on this aircraft at warbirdsnews.com/aviation-museum-news/gloster-meteor-airb...
Meteor Warbirds LLC | 1949 Gloster Meteor T.7 | cn G5/356460 | NX313Q
KPVG (Hampton Roads Executive Airport) - 18 JUN 2018
The World Heritage Air Museum's newly arrived Gloster Meteor T.7 on takeoff roll on RWY 10 for her first flight in North America on June 18th at Hampton Roads Executive Airport in Chesapeake, Virginia. Pilot Zachary McNeill is at the controls.
After airborne, the Meteor would fly a left downwind and do a low-level "banana pass" and then head to Elizabeth City Airport (KECG), where she will remain until Thursday, when she heads to her new home at World Heritage Air Museum (WHAM) in Detroit, Michigan.
Meteor T.7 WA591 was built at Hucclecote in 1949 and served as a pilot trainer at various bases including Stradishall, Driffield, Finningley, and the College of Warfare at Manby. It became a ground instruction airframe at St Athan but ended its military service as gate guardian of RAF Woodvale.
WA591 was rescued for preservation in 1995 by Meteor Flight, who spent nearly 16 years in cramped conditions at Yatesbury restoring it. The aircraft took to the skies again at Kemble in 2011 as G-BWMF and subsequently joined the Classic Air Force (CAF) fleet at Coventry.
In April 2018, the aircraft was disassembled at Liverpool John Lennon Airport (EGGP/LPL) and shipped from the Port of Liverpool aboard a roll-on/roll-off ship to Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
After arriving in Norfolk, Virginia on April 27, 2018, the aircraft spent three days clearing customs before being trucked the short distance by road to Hampton Roads Executive Airport (KPVG) on April 30th.
With assistance from volunteers, the team from WHAM had the Meteor’s wings back on by May 1st. She was a whole aircraft again a few days after that, and then the sometimes problematic process of FAA Certification began. The Meteor’s last flight prior to her arrival in the USA, took place in late March this year (a short hop from Coventry to Liverpool), and she had always been maintained in immaculate condition following her nearly two-decades-long restoration in the UK, so it wasn’t surprising that she received her airworthiness certificate in fairly short order on June 9th.
You can see an article on this aircraft at warbirdsnews.com/aviation-museum-news/gloster-meteor-airb...