Sea Meteor F Mk 3

This page is about the British jet fighter Sea Meteor F Mk 3. For other versions, see Meteor (Family).

Sea Meteor F Mk 3

Sea Meteor F Mk 3

Description

The Sea Meteor F Mk 3 is a rank British jet fighter with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.

At first sight, most pilots that take the Sea Meteor out believe it has just what they always wanted from the Meteor F.3 - speed. Because of this, they often try to do what they did in the F.3 - turn fighting - and end up without wings. The key difference between the Meteor F.3 and the Sea Meteor is the weaker wings. While you could pull full G's in the Meteor F.3 and get away with it, the Sea Meteor will instantly rip if mishandled above 700 km/h. Use your airbrakes and try to tame the speed of the Sea Meteor in a dive, because if you go too fast downwards, it won't be compression that kills you - your incapability of pulling up rests on the weakness of your wings. Your straight-line speed is truly an upgrade from the F.3, and now even the dreaded B-57s will have a hard time running away from you - in fact, the fully-upgraded Sea Meteor usually hits its redline speed in a straight line, and can easily rip its wings off in level flight if you are not careful.

General info

Flight performance

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 2,439 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	880	853		20.3	21.5	29.8	28.2	325
Upgraded	948	927		19.8	20.0	42.8	36.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
850		495	462	290	~9	~4

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 450	< 600	< 520	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass	Wing loading (full fuel)
Rolls-Royce Derwent 5		2	5,629 kg	197 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)		Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		5m fuel	19m fuel
443 kg	Centrifugal-flow turbojet		5,989 kg	6,829 kg	6,940 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (100%)
Condition	100%	WEP	5m fuel	19m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	1,587 kgf	N/A	0.53	0.46	0.46
Optimal	1,587 kgf (0 km/h)	N/A	0.53	0.46	0.46

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
• 12.7 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.
• 12.7 mm Steel plate in the nose.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Sea Meteor F Mk 3 is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.V cannons, nose-mounted (200 rpg top-left, 190 rpg top-right, 190 rpg bottom-left, 200 rpg bottom-right = 780 total)

The 4 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.V cannons can cause massive damage if properly aimed. However, their muzzle velocity is somewhat average and the air targets belt (easily the best one) does not contain tracers at all, so you must get used to the lead angles while grinding the ammo upgrade.

Usage in battles

The Sea Meteor F Mk 3 is navalised version of the Meteor F Mk 3. While the navalised components (tail hook, stronger gear, etc.) have added approximately 1,250 kg to the aircraft's weight, the Sea Meteor has also had its Derwent 2 engines replaced with vastly more powerful Derwent 5 engines. The end result is that the Sea Meteor has a ~25% increase in thrust to weight ratio over the Meteor F Mk 3. This improvement gives the Sea Meteor excellent acceleration and speed compared to its predecessor.

The Sea Meteor is essentially a much more powerful Meteor F Mk 3, and can be played as such. The good handling characteristics of the original Mk 3 are retained, but acceleration, speed, and energy retention are all vastly improved. The main drawback is that the increased weight and speed of the aircraft makes wing ripping much more of a problem, you should be careful during turns and remember that you can pull less Gs than the regular Mk 3. The speed of the Sea Meteor also needs to be kept in check, if left to its own devices it will quite happily accelerate until the wings fall off, even in level flight. If you need to slow yourself down when diving on enemy aircraft the airbrakes should be your first port of call, by keeping the engines spooled up you allow yourself to rapidly accelerate away from your target after an attack.

Enemies worth noting

• F-84G models - They have a similar top speed to the Sea Meteor F Mk 3 and a higher wing rip speed. The higher wing rip speed gives the F-84Gs an advantage in a high speed dive.
• La-200 - It is faster and has a higher wing rip speed than the Sea Meteor F Mk 3 and will be able to catch up to the Sea Meteor when speeding away.
• IL-28 (Family) - It has a similar top speed to the Sea Meteor F Mk 3.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good turn time
• Plenty of cannon ammo (190 RPG on two of the guns, 200 RPG on the other two)
• Extremely fast
• Good acceleration
• Very good energy retention
• Faster than most aircraft it faces when down-tiered

Cons:

• Loses manoeuvrability at higher speeds
• Wings rip easily both due to speed and g-load
• It is possible to exceed wing rip speed in level flight
• Average velocity guns makes aiming hard
• Lacklustre roll rate

History

Archive of the in-game description

The Gloster Meteor was the RAF's first jet powered aircraft, and the only Allied jet to see combat in the Second World War. An all-metal, single-seat fighter with two turbojet engines, it first entered service in 1944. The aircraft's development started in August 1940 and was given Air Ministry approval in November of the same year. The Ministry of Aircraft Production drew up the official F.9/40 specifications for a heavy interceptor fighter to be designated as Type G.41; the first prototype fighter flew on March 5th 1943 at RAF Cranwell. At the beginning of 1944, the aircraft was launched into full-scale production under the designation of Gloster Meteor F.Mk.I (Type G.41A). The type entered service with No 616 Squadron who, after conversion to the Meteor from their Spitfire Mk.VIIs, used the ground breaking fighter to successfully intercept V-1 'flying bombs' which were being launched from bases in occupied Europe to attack targets in England. The Gloster Meteor F.Mk.III fighter that entered service in August 1944 became the first full-scale production version of the aircraft. The F.Mk.III version was powered by two Rolls-Royce Derwent Mk.I turbojet engines producing 910 kg of thrust. Furthermore, a number of changes were introduced in the design: the dive flaps were improved, the fuel quantity was increased, and the airframe was partially reinforced. Externally, the F.Mk.III differed from the F.Mk.I by its new cockpit canopy, which was not side-opening but sliding. The fighter's armament consisted of four 20 mm British Hispano Mk.II cannons with 200 rounds per gun in the upper pair and 190 rounds per gun in the lower pair. A 180-gallon (818 L) fuel tank could be suspended under the fuselage. Two 100-gallon (455 L) external fuel tanks could also be mounted under the wing panels. As an experiment, the suspension of two 500 b (227 kg) or 1,000 (454 kg) bombs or 16 rockets was attempted. The first F.Mk.III fighters produced in September 1944 had Rolls-Royce Welland engines producing 770 kg of thrust, as the Rolls-Royce Derwents were not yet mass-produced. These aircraft were designated as the G.41C. The 16th and subsequent production aircraft were the first to have standard Derwent Mk.I engines; these were designated as the G.41D. The last 15 production aircraft assembled were the G.41E version, with extended nacelles designed for the subsequent version of the F.Mk.4. In 1948, two production aircraft were converted to the Gloster (Sea) Meteor F.Mk.3 version for Royal Navy test flights from aircraft carriers. The fighters had their armament removed, a landing hook fitted, and the gear legs reinforced. The Derwent Mk.1 engines were replaced with Derwent Mk.5 models. These aircraft performed 32 landings on board HMS Illustrious. The Gloster Meteor was the first British production jet fighter and the only Allied jet aircraft to take part in World War II. The first F.Mk.IIIs were delivered to the front in the end of January 1945. Jet aircraft were considered to be secret and, as a result, a great number of limitations were imposed on their combat use. This included a complete withdrawal of permission to operate over German held territory in case the revolutionary technology was captured by the enemy. Meteors did eventually operate out of Belgium as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, where they were employed in ground attack and reconnaissance missions. The total number of F.Mk.III Gloster Meteors built was 210, but service after the end of the Second World War would see further development and operational sorties in combat.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Sea Meteor F Mk 3 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Dangerously Underrated: Sea Meteor Mk3 - Spit_flyer

See also

Related development

• Meteor (Family)

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance | Russian forum only
• [Wikipedia] Gloster Meteor