gloster meteor T7 WA669

[sagindragin]

can anyone tell me the wording on the side please

[Herod]

My guess goes for "Royal Air Force Handling Squadron"

[sagindragin]

thank you sir

[MENELAUS]

https://discovery.nationalarchives.g...ls/r/C11505618

[Vampiredave]

I am inclined to agree with Herod as it was at Boscombe Down between Sept 1966 until Mar 1969. Btw: this is the aircraft which was involved in the unfortunate mid air collision with the Meteor at Mildenhall in Aug 1986.

[sagindragin]

yes Dave, i have two more schemes to finish her in but not the the one she was wearing on that day.

[sandringham1]

In the photo the nose, wingtip and tail are a distinctly different shade to the intake lip and stripe which match the red of the roundel, could they have been yellow or more orange. Just an observation.

[Self loading bear]

Originally Posted by sandringham1

In the photo the nose, wingtip and tail are a distinctly different shade to the intake lip and stripe which match the red of the roundel, could they have been yellow or more orange. Just an observation.

when you compare to the white in the rounded and in the flag on the tail, those were likely white.

[Liffy 1M]

More likely Dayglo, I'd have thought, as seen here: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1501663

[Fareastdriver]

The nose and tail could have had the old yellow training colours. The intakes may have been leftover from flight colours at an AFS.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by Fareastdriver

The nose and tail could have had the old yellow training colours. The intakes may have been leftover from flight colours at an AFS.

If the colour had been in a band around the rear fuselage and the wing outboard of the engines, then I agree we would probably be looking at yellow.

Either way, it's notoriously difficult to deduce colours from a monochrome photo without knowing details of the emulsion and developer, but based on where the painted areas are, my vote would also be for dayglo (which often looks misleadingly light in a B&W photo).

[sycamore]

Think the canopy `framework` would have been white,like Vampire T11...

[nipva]

Slightly off topic, WA669's second career began when she was rescued, along with Meteor F8 VX467, f rom deep storage at 5MU in 1975 to take over the bulk of the target towing task at TWU Brawdy. - a successful reintroduction of the Meteor into RAF service! As most will know, they were given the names of Clementine and Winston respectively..