WL405 has been sold to Mike Davey and has moved to Hooton Park to join WK914 which is being potentially restored to ground running status. It came with a large quantity of spares including an F8 rear fuselage and F8 nose cone which was of particular interest to Mike as he only had.... ....... The original rear fuselage was scrapped some years ago so he will use the spare and never allocated F8 rear fuselage as a replacement. This configuration, sometimes incorrectly called T7 1/2 is seen on Martin-Bakers Meteors and was also applied to IAF Meteor T7's, as it significantly improves their performance.
although primarily bought to add to his stock of spares to make it easier to restore WK914 he probably has enough parts to eventually restore both aircraft for static display although the overall aim has always been to have a ground runnable Meteor.
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WL405 to Bruntingthorpe
WL405 purchased from the Meteor Flight by Martin Garrett made the journey from Yatesbury to its new home at Bruntingthorpe at the end of February 2009. The original rear fuselage was scrapped some years ago so he will use the spare and never allocated F8 rear fuselage as a replacement. This configuration sometimes incorrectly called T7 1/2 is seen on Martin-Bakers Meteors and was also applied to IAF Meteor T7's as it significantly improves their performance.
The airframe is potentially airworthy but is initially only going to be reassembled for static display although in future years it may be able to taxi under its own power. To see more pictures from the move see his thread on the Flypast Forum. If you want to get in touch with Martin regarding WL405 then you can reach him at m e t e o r w l 4 0 5 @ y a h o o . c o . u k
 Yatesbury 25th Feb 09 |
 WL405 Center Section |
 F8 Tail for WL405 |  Loading Up Feb 2009 |
 Loaded Up Feb 2009 |  Yatesbury Aug 2007 |
 F8 Tail in storage |  Yatesbury Sept 2003 |
28th January 2010:
Confirmation of change of ownership from Mike Davey and some photos of the airframe when they collected it from Bruntingthorpe Mike now has two Meteors and even more spares.
Can you help
Martin got a canopy with the airframe but it was used as a source of spares for WA591 and is missing a fair few bits. He ideally needs a complete unit so if you can help get in touch.Service History
| Date | Notes |
| 7th July 1952 | Taken on charge by 33 MU. |
| 28th August 1952 | Issued to RAF Hemswell Bomber command. |
| 10th Sept 1954 | Station Flight RAF Wittering |
| 19th Nov 1954 | 231 OCU RAF Merryfield |
| 30th Nov 1956 | To RAF Hemswell Bomber command on communications duties. |
| 16th May 1960 | Cat 3 Accident. Repaired by 31st August but placed in storage at 5 MU |
| 13th Sept 1962 | To Ministry of Aviation Farnborough on loan. Sale transfer in 1965. |
| 1987 | To Martin Baker (as source of spares?) |
The forward fuselage and center-section of WL405 arrived at Yatesbury in November 2001. Its delivery was used as a training exercise by the RAF St Athan Aircraft Transportation and Recovery Flight. It had previously been in long term storage with Martin-Baker where it had also been a source of spares. It was in excellent condition having been stored undercover since retirement from service.
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| The nose and center section before unloading and RAF St Athan' A.R.T.S team at work. |