Meteor F Mk.8 G.41K
This page is about the British jet fighter Meteor F Mk.8 G.41K. For other versions, see Meteor (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Gloster Meteor F Mk 8 G.41K represents a notable chapter in the evolution of jet-powered flight, particularly within the context of British aviation history. Developed from earlier iterations of the Gloster Meteor, which was the Allies' first operational jet fighter during World War II, the Mk 8 variant featured improvements such as a lengthened fuselage and more powerful Rolls-Royce Derwent 8 engines, enhancing its speed, maneuverability, and combat capabilities.
Serving primarily with the Royal Air Force, the Meteor F Mk 8 was deployed in a variety of roles, including interceptor and fighter-bomber, during the early Cold War period. Although it saw limited combat, its versatility allowed for effective use in ground-attack missions and minor skirmishes.
The Meteor F Mk 8 had a top speed of over 600 mph and could reach altitudes around 43,000 feet. It remained in RAF service into the late 1950s, marking the transition to more advanced jet fighters. Its legacy continues in aviation museums, celebrating its role in the jet age's development.
The Meteor F Mk.8 G.41K is a rank V British jet fighter with a battle rating of 7.7 (AB) and 8.0 (RB/SB)that was introduced in Update 1.29. It is one of the old top tier planes, that is still very capable in the current game due to it's flight performance, armament and position in the tech tree. Only older player and tech tree completitionists tend to have this plane since it is sitting at the bottom of a 4 plane "folder" inside the tech tree. This means that 3 planes need to be researched before being able to research this plane.
Even though it is a first generation jet fighter, It is very capable at 1v1s fights even against F-16s and Mig-29s, however this does not mean it should be taken into such Battle Ratings, as it lacks countermeasures, and is effectively a sitting duck. At it's own Battle Rating, the only missiles it faces are Aim-9Bs and R-3S, which are very easy to kinetically dodge.
The guns however are lacking in damage, making it very hard to kill enemy planes even if you damage them multiple times. It remains a decent and beloved plane by many older players, which is an absolute joy to fly, however it is not the beast that it was before.
General info
Flight performance
Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 100 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
Stock | 920 | 897 | 12500 | 24.1 | 24.7 | 33.6 | 31.7 | 325 |
Upgraded | 976 | 962 | 22.2 | 23.0 | 47.4 | 40.2 |
Details
Features | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear | Drogue chute |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
Limits | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
999 | 390 | 495 | 462 | 290 | ~11 | ~5 |
Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
< 560 | < 600 | < 620 | N/A |
Engine performance
Engine | Aircraft mass | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Engine name | Number | Basic mass | Wing loading (full fuel) | |||
Rolls-Royce Derwent 8 | 2 | 5,496 kg | 216 kg/m2 | |||
Engine characteristics | Mass with fuel (no weapons load) | Max Takeoff Weight | ||||
Weight (each) | Type | 7m fuel | 20m fuel | 23m fuel | ||
443 kg | Centrifugal-flow turbojet | 5,953 kg | 6,796 kg | 7,020 kg | 8,061 kg | |
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB) | Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (100%) | |||||
Condition | 100% | WEP | 7m fuel | 20m fuel | 23m fuel | MTOW |
Stationary | 1,633 kgf | N/A | 0.55 | 0.48 | 0.47 | 0.41 |
Optimal | 1,633 kgf (0 km/h) |
N/A | 0.55 | 0.48 | 0.47 | 0.41 |
Survivability and armour
- 38 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
- 12.7 mm Steel plate in the nose.
- 12.7 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.
- Critical components located at the front and wings of the aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Offensive armament
The Meteor F Mk.8 G.41K is armed with:
- 4 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.V cannon, nose-mounted (200 rpg top + 190 rpg bottom = 780 total)
At 8.0, the stock Hispano Mk V's are terrible since they are highly inaccurate and generally inconsistent, which is made worse by the fact that in most games aircraft will fly much faster than you, forcing firing ranges to be higher and reducing the window of time in which a shot can be made.
When they are upgraded, they are all round good guns for the BR sporting a good ammunition capacity and a decent velocity. The damage can be quite inconsistent however.
Suspended armament
The Meteor F Mk.8 G.41K can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- Without load
- 2 x 1,000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 bombs (2,000 lb total)
- 8 x HVAR rockets
- 8 x RP-3 rockets
Usage in battles
The Meteor F Mk 8 G.41K is a versatile platform for multiple tasks both in ground and air battles, featuring a competitive armament in air battles and tremendous firepower in ground battles. It is capable of dominating the air in air and ground battles.
When in air battles:
The Meteor has primarily 3 roles when it comes to air battles: fighter, attacker, bomber. At its br, the Meteor is one of the competitive jet section, not over exceeding in one side but not underperforming either.
As a fighter:
The Meteor is capable of being on par with many planes at its battle rating. Different from most other British fighters, but the same as the other Meteors and similar to the Swift F.1, it has a Boom and Zoom role when it comes to fighting as it will not be able to turn fight like the Vampire FB 5 or the Venom FB.4. It should be noted that the Meteor will not outrun most of the enemy jets encountered at its br unlike the Swift F.1. The pilot should maintain energy at all times since the acceleration is not great. When engaging heavier and bigger planes (like enemy attackers and bombers both player and AI) the pilot should always try to maintain either higher altitude than them to make Boom and Zoom or stay under their belly to take advantage of their weakspots (Tu-4 and B-29 are the exceptions for belly attacks as they have ventral turrets).
As an attacker:
The ordnance the Meteor carries is enough to do some ground striking, destroying pillboxes, enemy tanks, artillery outposts, anti air emplacements, etc. There is no rule on which armament the attacker should use, it all depends on the pilot's discretion, map, battle rating, etc. It is recommended to use ground targets belts due to the AP ammunition but universal belts may be enough to deal with light armoured vehicles and light pillboxes, leaving the ordnance for heavier and more armoured threats.
As a bomber:
Due to being a jet, it is able to be a lighting strike bomber. This means to fly the Meteor at a really low altitude (also known as lawn-mowing) with bombs (1,000 lb H.E. M.C. Mk.13 bombs are recommended for base bombing) with a 2-4 second time fuse. When the Meteor is on a base, the pilot should drop the bombs really low to the ground to ensure accuracy as no bombsight is able to be used. It may require practice on how and when to drop the bombs. The 2-4 second fuse makes the plane be able to move to a safe zone away from the blast zone. When no time fuse is set, the Meteor will be forced to drop the bombs at a higher altitude or be prompt to be killed in the blast zone with assault fuse.
When in ground battles:
The Meteor has only 1 role in ground battles primarily (superiority fighter can be used but it is not recommended to do so), Close Air Support (CAS). The variety of ordnance is enough to be used in all situations depending on the pilot's discretion. RP-3 are launched in pairs (or in salvo depending on the pilots discretion and rocket settings) and will disable or destroy even the heaviest armour encountered with a couple of rockets. The con of rockets is that they are hard to aim, practice will be required. Bombs, on the other hand, are more forgiving when it comes to accuracy as the blast zone is bigger and are able to destroy one or more targets at a time, disable modules (tracks, barrel, engine, etc) or just mark them with fragmentation. The con of bombs is that a fuse might have to be added depending on the way the pilot wants to drop them (lighting strike, dive-bombing, etc), they are also heavier than the rockets, making the attacker more vulnerable to anti-air fire and dogfighting.
When it comes to just the 20 mm cannons, it should be noted that most vehicles the Meteor will encounter (Leopard 1, XM-1, BMP-2, etc) will have a poorly armoured roof which the armour-piercing shells will penetrate. Heavier targets (ZTZ-59D1, T-62, T-10M) will only be able to be killed with suspended ordnance as they will not be able to penetrate the roof.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Engines are a massive improvement over previous models, with high speed and acceleration rates compared
- Great at turning below 650 km/h
- Good climb rate
- Controllable roll rate
- Able to carry suspended payloads (unlike other Meteors)
- The flight performance is still good when carrying bombs
Cons:
- Compression
- Hispano Mk V cannons have poor accuracy, and are borderline unusable when stock
- Wing controls tend to lose control ability at higher speeds
- Poor energy retention, struggles to keep up with some aircraft
- Limited visibility out of the rear of the cockpit
History
Archive of the in-game description | |
---|---|
Faced with an increasing quality in the standard of potential adversaries by the late 1940s, Gloster designers embarked on developing a new version of their Meteor fighter, designated the Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 (Type G.41K). The first prototype F.Mk.8 was converted from a production F.Mk.4, before a full prototype flew on October 12th 1948. Production began in 1949 and, after the RAF stood up its first operational squadrons in 1950, export versions were then produced. The F.Mk.8 differed in a number of key areas from the F.Mk.4 on which it was based; the F.Mk.8 had an elongated fuselage and the tail assembly was changed, both features incorporated to increase stability. An extra 432-litre fuel tank was also added and a blown cockpit canopy was mounted to increase visibility. The F.Mk.8 was powered by Rolls-Royce Derwent Mk.8 turbojet engines producing 1,630 kg of thrust. The diameter of the engine's air intakes was increased, adding approximately 100 kg of thrust to each engine, bringing the aircraft's maximum speed to 950 km/h. The wing structure was significantly reinforced, with additional alloy steels being used in the framework. The nacelle structure was changed yet again to improve access. The F.Mk.8 had the F.Mk.4's 20mm British Hispano Mk.II cannons replaced by Hispano Mk.V cannons of the same calibre but with a higher rate of fire, reliability and ballistic characteristics. A standard mount to suspend HVAR missiles was provided under the wing panels. The F.Mk.8 was the first Meteor to be fitted with a Martin Baker ejection seat; the pilot's chances of survival in an emergency were significantly increased, but the large headrest impaired his rear view. 747 Gloster Meteor F.Mk.8 fighters were produced by April 1954 and were (at various times) in service with over 40 RAF squadrons. From 1950 to 1955, the Meteor F.Mk.8 was the mainstay of RAF Fighter Command. The F.Mk.8 aircraft were also accepted for service with the Air Forces of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands and Syria. Meteors of the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) took part in the Korean War although they were outmatched by the more modern MiG 15; although several MiG 15s were destroyed by pilots of 77 Squadron RAAF, losses were heavier and the Meteor was re-roled to ground attack. Experience in the Korean War highlighted the fact that, even with significant upgrades to its original design, the Meteor was now outclassed by more modern fighters. Different Gloster Meteor versions were flown in training and auxiliary units until the last Meteor trainers were phased out of service with the RAF in 1965. |
Media
- Skins
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the aircraft;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Gloster Aircraft Company, Limited | |
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Fighters | Gladiator Mk II · Sea Gladiator Mk I · Gladiator Mk IIF · Gladiator Mk IIS · Tuck's Gladiator Mk II |
Jet Fighters | Meteor F Mk 3 · Sea Meteor F Mk 3 · Meteor F Mk 4 G.41F · Meteor F Mk 4 G.41G · Meteor F Mk.8 G.41K · Meteor F Mk.8 Reaper |
Javelin F.(A.W.) Mk.9 | |
Export | J8A · Iacobi's J8A · ␗Gladiator Mk I · ▄Gladiator Mk I |
▄Meteor F Mk.8 · Meteor F.8 · Meteor NF.13 | |
See Also | Fokker |
Britain jet aircraft | |
---|---|
Blackburn | Buccaneer S.1 · Buccaneer S.2 · Buccaneer S.2B |
British Aerospace | Harrier GR.7 · Sea Harrier FRS.1 (e) · Sea Harrier FRS.1 · Sea Harrier FA 2 |
British Aircraft Corporation | Strikemaster Mk.88 |
English Electric | Canberra B Mk 2 · Canberra B (I) Mk 6 · Lightning F.6 · Lightning F.53 |
Gloster | Meteor F Mk 3 · Sea Meteor F Mk 3 · Meteor F Mk 4 G.41F · Meteor F Mk 4 G.41G · Meteor F Mk.8 G.41K · Meteor F Mk.8 Reaper |
Javelin F.(A.W.) Mk.9 | |
de Havilland | Vampire F.B.5 · Venom FB.4 · Sea Venom FAW 20 · Sea Vixen F.A.W. Mk.2 |
Hawker | Sea Hawk FGA.6 · Hunter F.1 · Hunter F.6 · Hunter FGA.9 · Harrier GR.1 · Harrier GR.3 |
Panavia | Tornado GR.1 · Tornado F.3 · Tornado F.3 Late |
SEPECAT | Jaguar GR.1 · Jaguar GR.1A · Jaguar IS |
Supermarine | Attacker FB 1 · Attacker FB.2 · Scimitar F Mk.1 · Swift F.1 · Swift F.7 |
Foreign | Phantom FG.1 (USA) · Phantom FGR.2 (USA) · F-4J(UK) Phantom II (USA) |
South Africa | ▄JAS39C |
India | ▄MiG-21 Bison |