Gloster Meteor T.7

Twin engine two-seat jet trainer

The Gloster Meteor T.7 was a two-seat trainer version of the famous Gloster Meteor fighter. Because the transition from the single-engine propeller powered Spitfire or Harvard to the twin-engine jetfighter was considered a too big a step for the inexperienced student pilots, the need arose to obtain a two-seater trainer. In the fifties the Belgian Air Force took on charge large amounts of British and American build jets and specifically for the transition training the Meteor T.7 and the Lockheed T-33A trainers were acquired respectively. A first batch of 3 new-build aircraft (ED1 - ED3) was delivered together with the first Meteor F.4s for the Belgian Air Force. With the introduction of the more advanced Meteor F.8 fighter two batches of respectively 4 (ED4 - ED7 in July 1951) and 5 (ED8 - ED12 in early 1953) former RAF (but unused) aircraft were delivered to boost the training assets. The arrival of the more advanced Meteor F.8 also meant that the Meteor F.4 had become obsolete. Twenty of them were converted by Avions Fairey to Meteor T.7-standards (ED13 - ED32) from 1952 onwards. Starting in September 1953 an additional 10 ex-RAF aircraft were supplied (ED33 - ED43). The majority of the Meteor T.7s were scrapped after their service life.