The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II's first operational jet. Designed by George Carter, it first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Gloster Meteor was not an aerodynamically advanced aircraft, nor even the world's fastest aircraft on introduction, but George Carter and his design team at Gloster had succeeded in producing an effective jet fighter that served the RAF and other air forces for decades. Following the invention of the turbojet by Sir Frank Whittle in 1929, development of a turbojet-powered fighter by Whittle's firm, Power Jets Ltd., and the Gloster Aircraft Company began in November 1940. The first British jet powered aircraft, the single-engined Gloster E28/39 prototype, had its maiden flight on 15 May 1941. The Air Ministry subsequently contracted for the development of a twin-engined jet fighter under Specification F9/40. Originally the aircraft was...