A young lad from Beltinge watched the World Speed Record attempt at Herne Bay in November, 1945. He drew one of the course balloons and also of the radar set.
Pictures are:
1: Drawing of the balloon.
2: Photo of the sighting balloons.
3: Photo of the radar set.
4: Photo of Wilson and Greenwood.
5: Photo of Gloster Meteor EE455.
7 November 1945: Group Captain Hugh Joseph Wilson, CBE, AFC, Royal Air Force, Commandant of the Empire Test Pilots’ School, Cranfield, set the first world speed record with a jet-propelled airplane, and the first speed record by an airplane in excess of 600 miles per hour (965.6 kilometers per hour), when he flew the Gloster Meteor F Mk.IV to 975.68 kilometers per hour (606.26 miles per hour) at an altitude of 250 feet (76.2 meters) over a course from the Herne Bay Pier to Reculver Point, along the south coast of the Thames Estuary. Two Meteor F Mk.III fighters, EE454 and EE455, were modified on the production line to the new Mk.IV version to attempt the speed record. The Rolls-Royce Derwent Mk.I turbojet engines were replaced with Derwent Mk.V turbojets which produced 3,500 pounds of thrust, each. The wings were shortened, the tips reshaped and the canopy was cut down. The airplanes were lightened and all armament removed. The surfaces were smoothed and painted in a gloss finish. EE454 retained the standard camouflage while EE455 was painted in a distinctive yellow-gold colour.
Group Captain Wilson set the record flying EE454 with Gloster’s chief test pilot Eric Stanley Greenwood flying EE455 to a slightly slower 603 miles per hour (970.43 kilometers per hour).
Article from The Argus, Melbourne, Victoria. Thursday 8 November 1945 (part of)
AIR SPEED RECORD SMASHED. BRITISH METEOR PLANE ATTAINS 613 MPH
Second Machine averages 606 mph
NEW WORLD AIR SPEED RECORDS WERE ESTABLISHED YESTERDAY BY TWO BRITISH PILOTS FLYING GLOSTER METEOR JET PLANES.
Mr Eric Greenwood, the Gloster Aircraft Co's chief pilot, averaged 606-mph flying over the official course prescribed by international law.
A little earlier Group-Capt H. J. Wilson, flying the Gloster Meteor plane Britannia, had made four test runs at the following speeds: 600 mph, 602 mph, 592 mph, and 613 mph, or an average of 602 mph.
Mr Greenwood's speeds in his four runs were: 601 mph, 612 mph, 602 mph, and 601 mph.
Press Association says Group Captain Wilson's attempts were trial runs, but were officially timed, and may be officially confirmed as a record attempt. Greenwood's speed was 10 miles a minute, or one mile in six seconds. The previous official world speed record was 469.22 mph, made by a German, Fritz Wendel, late in April, 1939. Significantly, as it turned out, he flew a Messerschmitt 109R, and, also significantly, the record which Wendel broke had been held by a German Heinkel at 463.39 mph.
Before that Italy had held the record, but still further back Britain had taken it with a series of Supermarine planes whose basic design was used later for the Spitfires which saved Britain and the world against Germany's Messerschmitt fighters.
The Meteor fighter was used toward the end of the war against flying bombs and in the last few weeks on the Western front. The RAF nicknamed it "Squirt," but had great admiration for it, not only for its speed, but also for its astounding maneuverability.
There is little noise and less vibration in the cockpit of the Meteor in flight, and its engine controls are far simpler than in a propeller-driven plane. It is a single-seater with two Rolls-Royce made jet units, the plane being built by the Gloster Aircraft Co on the basic designs of Air-Commodore Frank Whittle, Britain's number one jet man.
Weather conditions over Herne Bay, Kent, was good but not perfect for the trials. Wilson, however, set times which may be put forward as a claim. He took off from Manston aerodrome and climbed to 400ft, half-circling over the Isle of Thanet. Then he lined up his flight with balloons flying along the coast and red marker floats offshore.
Britannia's nose came down slightly, bringing Wilson diving and sweeping past a small group of spectators and timing officials at approximately 100ft. On the first run a 12 mph wind offset Wilson slightly, bringing Britannia close to Reculver Towers.
Streaming long trails of vapour from its twin jets, Britannia swept up and circled over the Isle of Sheppey, from which Wilson again dived to take a perfect entry into the course, again at about 100ft. This time he was dead between the markets.
His subsequent runs were equally perfectly piloted, with a final achievement of 613 mph. Following Britannia over the last run came a Mosquito plane, which acted as observer, carrying a sealed barograph. The Mosquito appeared to be lumbering slowly at 300 mph after the swift passing Britannia.
Wilson told reporters after the flight that he used only two-thirds of the permitted power. "It amounts to this, I had plenty in hand," he said.
Greenwood's runs were all perfect, although a gathering industrial haze over the Isle of Sheppey spoiled his horizon. He set the new record one hour after Wilson's was announced.
Like Wilson's Britannia, Greenwood's yellow-painted Meteor differed very little from standard aircraft going into production for the RAF. Wilson watched Greenwood.
The pilots are stated to be asking permission to use more engine thrust in an attempt to push up the record higher still. Asked about conditions in the cockpit, where the speed of the plane through the air increases the heat as much as 30 degrees, Wilson said he was already experimenting with a refrigeration system.
