Meteor Eject!

RAF Jet Pilots
ISBN 1-873203-65-9
New Edition
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by Nick Carter
Former 257 Squadron RAF jet pilot recalls the Gloster Meteor, prototype ejector seats and much more...

Illustrated with a selection of archive photographs, this lively memoir of a pioneer military jet pilot – who became one of the first RAF pilots to be saved by the deployment of the newly invented ejector seat – contains a wealth of authentic detail which could be valuable to historians and researchers but is also an entertaining read for anyone with an interest in aviation history or the activities of the RAF during the Cold War years.

The Gloster Meteor was the first jet fighter aircraft to be deployed by the RAF in the early 1950s.

Nicknamed 'the meatbox' it represented an exciting new development in military aviation and every young RAF pilot wanted to fly one.

Nick Carter was one of those fortunate enough to be given this opportunity and thus became one of the first jet fighter pilots in the RAF.

But the increased speed and power of this new aircraft also brought with it greatly increased level of danger (in total 890 Meteors crashed, killing 434 pilots and 10 navigators) and to counter the threat to the well-being of its pilots a new safety device was also under development ~ the Martin-Baker ejector seat.

Nick Carter became one of the first RAF pilots to be saved by this new life-saving equipment when he 'banged out' of his Meteor after an engine failure.

Despite being quite badly injured during his emergency ejection, he was able to resume flying and went on to fly Hawker Hunters with 257 Squadron, later enjoying an unusual sojourn in Jordan when sent to train pilots for King Hussein’s Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF).

All this and much more is entertainingly described in this highly-praised and lively account of early jet flying in the Cold War years of the 1950s.