RAAF Meteors (Australia)
Australia entered the jet age with the delivery of A77-1 a Meteor F3 formerly EE427. The aircraft had been built in December 1945 and initially allocated to 47 MU in January 1946 before being shipped to Australia in May 1946 arriving in the June. It was initially a loan and had a short operational life being written off after a heavy landing on the 14th Feb 1947 at Darwin, it was broken up in May but only officially stuck off in May 1949. It appears from the photo taken at the crash as if it still carried its RAF serial and also appears to have not been repainted.
 A77-1 in Darwin (via ADF Serials) |
 I think it's broken (via ADF Serials) |
| The photos are from the ADF Serials website and were taken by signals clerk LAC Ted Jones, 33 OBU, RAAF | |
** More to go in here about total deliveries etc (Note: July 2010) **
77 Sqn RAAF too x Meteors into the Korean conflict which ended in 1954 when 77 Squadron returned to Australia with 41 Meteors. These were exchanged in 1955 for Australian built CA-27 Sabres and the Meteors relegated to a training role with 22 City of Sydney and 23 City of Brisbane C.A.F (Citizens Air Force) squadrons alongside F51 Mustangs. 75 squadron was the last unit to operate the Meteor and they also formed a three man aerobatic team called the Meteorites.
Australian F8's over Korea (RAAF)
A small number of F8's were converted to U16 target drones by Fairey Aviation who also converted a number of Meteors into U21 and U21a's.
An RAAF T7 Meteor
See the Meteor at War page for more information on the Meteors service with 77 Sqn RAAF in the Korean conflict.