In article ,
nt (Gordon) writes:

Hi the Meteor was used to shoot down V1 missiles it was quite good at it!
too so it was band from front line service i think until the end of the war.

True - it's straight line speed was perfect for the running chase. In this
footrace, its lack of maneuverability was not a hindrance. Later marks of the
fighter were quite an improvement and by all accounts corrected their earlier
faults.

In the case of the Meteor vs. V-1 situation, it's not jet a matter of
speed, so much, as the altitude at which you could reach that speed.
Jets, by and large, and most definitely, in the case of the Meteor,
develop their maximum thrust at sea level, and it begins to drop
immediately as you gain altitude. (Although not as quickly as a piston
engine above its Critical Altitude) The piston-engined fighters named
all had supercharged engines, and developed their maximum power at
heights well above Sea Level. In other words, 1000 HP at Sea Level,
and 1000 HP at 20,000' would generate teh same amount of thrust for
any particular speed. (See my previous posts on the Speed/Power
relationship). This biases the performance of the piston-powered
airplane toward the higher altitudes. A particularly germane example
is from a chart of Level Speed Performance for several types of
aircraft, from a Central Flying Establishment Report from July 12,
1946. Two of the aircraft being comared are the Meteor III and the DH
Hornet I. (Perhaps the ultimate Brit Recip fighter).
The Hornet is about 7 moh faster at 24,000 ft, and has a speed
advantage from about 22,500' through 33,000'. But a sea level, the
Meteor has an advantage of nearly 70 mph, (465 mph vs. 398.) The
other Piston fighters ahare the same basic characteristic curve,
although mot as fast as the Hornet. For example, a Mustang III, with
a V1650-7 at Military power (61"/3000R) turn in about 348 mph @ SL,
and 438 @ 27.500'. (Oh, and to be complete, the Spit XIV clocked 360
@ SL, and 448 @ 26,000'. (Griffon 65, +18 boost (67"). So,
basically, the Meteor, and, in fact, any jet, had a tremendous speed
advantage at low altitudes, even if it was at a disadvantage at high
altitude. That's what made the Meteor so useful as a V-1 interceptor.
(BTW, all of the piston fighters outclimbed the Metor III - that's why
I need to rebuild things to check on the case of high altitude Mossies
vs. Me 262s.)


--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster