| Korean War veteran sighted in Adelaide. |
[Sep. 25th, 2006|07:09 pm]
rampagingguppy
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| [ | Tags | | | aviation | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  ecstatic | ] |
Well, here we go: post number one!
I was driving to a client's office for work a few weeks ago, and I happened to pass near the Parafield Airport. I was slowing down to make a turnoff, and then a row of parked planes caught my eye and the following thought process went through my head:
1) Hey, that plane has no propeller. How interesting, I wonder what kind of-
2) METEOR!!! STOP THE CAR!!!
Fortunately the left side of my brain cast a logical veto at that point, or I might have caused a nasty traffic accident by jamming on the brakes right there and then. As it was, I parked by the side of the road a little way past the turnoff, then legged it back with my camera. And yup, there it was, a real live Gloster Meteor jet fighter, sitting right there in front of me:
( Photos behind the cut.Collapse )
Anyhow, you can read the tail number from the photos, so I did a quick Google on "A77-867" and was a little surprised to immediately find a complete biography of the aircraft. It's a Meteor F.8 variant, built for the Royal Air Force in 1952 and originally numbered WK685. Before it could be delivered, it was diverted to the Royal Australian Air Force and sent to Japan. Renumbered A77-867, it served in Korea from 1952 to 1955 with 77 Sqn, 91 Wing RAAF.
I really can't explain why I was so delighted to find a collection of streamlined aluminium, more than twice as old as I am, parked in that service area, or why I had to stop and go running back to take photos of it. All I know is that A77-867 is beautiful, and I'm glad I had the chance to see it this once. |
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disappointed