Night-Fighter Odyssey

CLASSIC JETS

Keeping the world’s only airworthy NF.11 Meteor in the UK was not something Dave Thomas had foreseen. But a generous gesture enabled him to achieve the seemingly impossible, as he tells Darren Harbar

METEOR NF.11

Meteor NF.11 WM167, piloted by Dan Griffith and with owner Dave Thomas in the rear cockpit, leads the de Havilland Vampire WZ507 flown by Mark Hooton, during the former aircraft’s delivery flight to Bruntingthorpe, in January this year.

Following the closure of the Classic Air Force – formerly Air Atlantique Classic Flight – in early 2016, the UK’s active Meteor population was halved overnight.

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