GLOSTER METEOR Mk XIVA 6A/3380 KOLLSMAN ALTIMETER

Whilst the design for Britain's first combat-ready jet fighter had been in the concept and planning stages since the outbreak of WWII, it was only after the development of Frank Whittle's ground-breaking turbojet engine towards the end of the war, that the jet fighter finally moved into production.

By this stage, the radical German jet fighter, the Messerschmidt Me2 had already been wreaking havoc amongst the USAF's bomber fleets for many months.

With little time to spare, the Meteor's designers did not have the luxury of producing custom instrumentation and other flight and airframe components specifically for the new jet fighter so instead, found themselves scavenging much of it from the latest RAF's fighters such as the reconnaissance PRX Spitfire and the Hawker Typhoon and Tempest.

This instrument adaptation and recycling was to continue well into the post war era for both the British and Americans airforces, with many of the newer aircraft seeing combat in the Korean War with a dashboard full of recycled instruments, their housings covered in new compliance and operational service stamps. 

The Gloster Meteor, Air Ministry issued Sensitive Altimeter Mk XIVA 6A/3380 sat just under the aircraft's Airspeed Indicator at the left of the pilot's main flying panel.    

The Sensitive Altimeter displayed altitude up to 35,000 ft using 3 pointers. The first and longest indicated 100's of feet, the second indicated 1000's of feet, along the outer scale, and the third and smallest indicated 10,000's of feet. on the inner scale. The knob is used to adjust the altimeter to the barometric pressure as displayed in the small window at the 6 o'clock position.

This Gloster Meteor Instrument comes complete with detailed Scale Model, Mango Wood Stand & Plaque plus Printed Fact Sheet featuring photo of instrument in aircraft cockpit. 

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