Early RAF jet planes of the 1940s and 50s.

[BruceLuxembourg]

Canberra very graceful, the Vulcan a Triumph. Nice Soundtrack.

[bobforfish]

Thank you for this wonderful compilation. My father flew the Meteor, Vampire and Canberra in the early 50s and he would have liked to see this video, sadly he is no longer with us. They were brave pilots.

[jbmilitarycollector]

@bobforfish Thank you for your comments, they were indeed the bravest of the brave.

[binaway]

@SuperMauricioromero Argentina had Meteor's, Vampires and Canberra's. Chile Hunters and Canberra's Mexico used Vampires against Guatemala. Cuba bought Hawker Fury's before the revolution and Castro's air force used them against the anti communist forces during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Castro tried to buy the Hunter in 1959 but the US government pressured the UK not to proceed.

[Cabocodera1]

La musica no pega ni con cola, !!Que brutalidad!!

[Jaliya48]

1:55 I wish I was on top of that hangar!!

These aeroplanes are beautiful and graceful, just like my favourite; the Hawker Hunter!

[plastic410]

Beutiful.

[Kitcatcoat]

why are they in such a hurry to retract the landing gear, is it because of the aerodynamic?

[awuma]

This video brings back memories of my childhood in New Zealand, where Vampires, Venoms and Canberras were the standard Air Force planes of the 50's and 60's. The Vampire had a wooden fuselage, if I remember correctly. I saw one almost crash during a strafing run once. Very nifty little plane.

[tony00165]

As Allies the Americans were allowed to manufacture jet engines for ;Hostilities only/.....A labour government sold the rights away for two million quid after the war....part of the lend lease deal was radar..and our work on the atomic bomb along with other brilliant british firsts......still.....we owe the United States a great debt...walk along Omaha beach as I have on a quiet sunday morning....and have a think.

[skycaprob]

what is the jet at 2.46?

[jbmilitarycollector]

@skycaprob Hawker Hunter.

[garrington120]

@skycaprob Early Hawker Hunter

[skycaprob]

the americans stole alot of ideas from us when we were making jets they ended up useing our ideas we used their tecknoligy.... :) so kinda a win win lol

[xfire7]

The meteor mk 3 went into service in the last year of the war.It served in uk and in northern europe in ground attack duties.Unbeleivably they were painted white to make them identifiable as friendly to ground troops!

[slick4401]

@xfire7 Does anybody know it is true that after the June 6th 1944 invasion the Allies lost at least as many planes to friendly fire as to enemy fire?

[Pitcairn2]

That Vampire looks almost like an alien craft the way it swoops over the Airfield..

[digglyda]

It's all the blended curves on early British jets that make them look so great. Even the sharp edged Vampire is really a mass of curves when you look closely.

[linedriver1]

RAF Brawdy in the 70`s had three as target towers! Patched up using sticky tape!!

Flt Lt Catt was the man! A pipe and hip flask and off he went!!

[idle44]

I'm confused . I've seen the WW2 stuff before but never in connection with the meteor. I thought they were held back in case the Germans managed to get one down intact. If I'm wrong then any info. would be grateful. But having said that it's a superb compilation.

[jbmilitarycollector]

@idle44 The Meteor entered RAF squadron service beginning in July 1944 and was used to intercept German V-1 flying bombs. Meteor IIIs flew to the Continent in January 1945 and operated out of the Low Countries with the 2nd Tactical Air Force until the end of the war.

[drfan2004]

The Buccaneer was the best British jet!!

[EssieP]

@drfan2004 Better than the BAC Lightning?

[lotteskatergirl1993]

the time of the ruler of the sky are over! once it was just guns who let a plane come down, but now we need to do it with high-tech stuff like laser guided missiles an other stuff. If i had a time machine, i would go back to the time that fighter pilots were noble and courageous.

[zardoz2006]

Great footage. The meteor MK 1 was also good a destroying V1's. Does anyone know a any film of these missions?

[jbmilitarycollector]

@zardoz2006 Not yet but if I do I will probably upload it.

[EssieP]

@zardoz2006 V1's what?

[stormcruiser2]

B R I L L I A N T ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[163richardb]

Some great footage there - and the music compliments it well !

[phippsa3]

Fantastic clip.

[bazzaah]

great clip, thanks for posting.

[granskare]

superb aircraft...I think some ppl got off topic, eh? :)

[P51F86F4F15F22]

well us(the USA) had to protect Australia thats y the Battle of Guatalcanal happened to stop the advance of japanese military power and as the years dragged on we used australia as a command post for sometime but yall austrailians got to fight in Korea and Vietnam

[tmolet]

Lovely planes and the music gives it a "2001" touch. Thanks for posting.

[Wills7729]

Whittle was granted a patent for the gas turbine in 1930, Von Ohain granted in 1936 for a variant type

[sagacix]

I must agree with bcompany101st. Even

though WW2 didn't touch our soil directly

except for Pearl Harbor, we tend to forget

that the people of Great Britain and europe faced death on a daily basis.

We All had a hand in defeating the Nazis.

We americans shouldn't think that we saved europe, but that we helped europe

save itself. Go back and reread your history.

[SteffanLlwyd]

American force (and the productive capacity of cities particularly Detroit) was vital to our liberation for which I will be forever thankful. I often think of the GIs who landed in France, some beaches seeing terrible casualties, only 11 years before I was born. Otherwise I'd have been born into a fascist Britain. What a terrible thought! All I can say is 'thanks',

[jonzflicks]

@SteffanLlwyd Hear here!!!

[felixq78]

If you believe the Nazis were defeated, think again and start with Operation Paper Clip, then follow the path beaten by German scientists into NASA and numerous other US military and non military institutions. Have an honest look at where your country is now and compare it to Germany in the mid 1930s. Notice any similarities?

[SteffanLlwyd]

I think the big difference is that it is possible to be sceptical about what our governments are up to, whereas Hitler demanded and got)the unqualified adulation of most of the population. You are right that German scientists were involved in NASA and I would like there to be less CCTV everywhere. But still I remain thankful for the big difference that the US made to me. I think the Nazi's must have heard Big Band music ('specially Glenn Miller) and known the war was really as good as over!

[chaosopher23]

While those scientists worked for the Nazis, they didn't want to. Scientists, in my experience, are generally apolitical but prefer to work for folks who are a bit nicer than Nazis, which is why they were so eager to come to the US to work science. Not that I am a great friend of the US, but the US is a far better choice than Nazi Germany. Besides, we paid better.

[idle44]

@sagacix lets not forget the 'Eagle Squadron' made up of American pilots who fought alongside the R A F during the Battle of britain. They were deprived of their Citizenship but we shall never forget them.

[moneygob]

My mate Bob invented his own jet plane in 1913. He used to fly non stop from Surrey England to Australia in 4 minutes. He was way before his time.

[savoy023681]

They didn't "win" it, they took it over for themselves. The west freed people along the way. The USSR enslaved them. Therefore, they get no credit. The huge numbers of dead the Russians took only points to how little a soldier's life was worth to his leaders. There's nothing to be proud of.

[SteffanLlwyd]

The contribution of the Red Army was also massive with the terrible costs you refer to. Yes.

[jetslut340]

I had the honour to fly the Vampire a few years ago, a stunning machine! after all my years with the 'Bona-Jet'

marvellous!!

[bcompany101st]

actually coming from an american, some people forget how we all helped eachother in WWII and WWI etc since some people like to claim that they didn't need any help from the opposite country but hey if the allies didn't work together the war would've been alot different so thank you our british cousins across the pond and hopefully people will come to realize how much help america and britain gave eachother in each of their darkest hours

[ukisim]

why are yanks so disliked after all weren't they allies as well in ww1 & ww2

[roythearcher]

They are disliked because they are insensitive to other cultures and different ways of doing things beliving their way is the best and only way of doing things! However without their help during WWII we wouldnt be in the position we are now. Most of the technology developed during the war is Down to us Brits. RADAR, ASDIC and the breaking of the enigma code, and the jet engine all achieved by us. What we lacked was the manufacturing capacity of the U.S which was smashed during the Blitz.

[ukisim]

thanks for the effort you made me more aware of who not to speak to hahaha

[peuterschmidt]

Britain wasn't the only country with RADAR at that time, and the British did not invent the jet engine.

But I agree that the british invented "ASDIC" and broke the enigma codes.

[SteveSpicerPortsmuth]

Whittle was the name of the man inventing the jet engine. Before the other german fellow.

[viewson800]

Yeah, it was about 1929 I think when Whittle invented it, a good 6 or so years before Von Ohain did. Whittle was a brilliant engineer at 21 years old when he invented his version of the Jet engine. The British government did not fund him in the early year before WW2, so Von Ohain 6 years later got backing from the German government and they were ahead of Britain in Jet engine technology for a time. It's fitting that the Me 262 and the Glocser meteor did not meet, but the both made history.

[phadil]

ehem!! not to be rude, but it was the Poles who broke the Enigma code. the modern jet engine was developed independently by whittle in england and Von Ohain in germany, both were unaware of the other's work. but the concept of modern gas turbine was created since 18th century but only in 1930s that the technology exist to make the Jet Engine practical.

[hilrush]

Because they are dismissive of any other countries efforts during both wars. They believe they won both wars when in fact they had virtually no direct impact during ww1 and they played a secondary role in Europe to the USSR in ww2. It comes down to being arrogant and disrespectful to their so called allies.

[warlord602]

Actually that's what people of other countries think we Americans think. If you think all the supplies the US provided in the Europian campaign as well as to Russia was secondary, then you are the dismissive one. As for WWI, I think America's entry into that prolonged the war.

[hilrush]

Warlord the lend/lease is a different issue and no doubt the Brits and Russians received enormous help in that regard - for a price. America has a lot to be proud of but many of your citizens know nothing of the massive battles of the East and the huge price paid by the Russians etc. No doubt USA won the Battle of the Pacific (thank god) but the reality is the USSR won Europe. I just wish the USA would acknowledge other country's when making doco's etc.

[damusername01]

the less said about us doco's the better. as an australian l like to think we had a lot to do with wining the pacific war and could and would have dune more if our US master had allowed as too

[beastatlay]

God, I love the DH Vampire - so small, neat and nimble. A perfect 1st Generation jet fighter. Lovely.

[Sqaaak]

It's Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker Suite, by Peter I. Tchaikowsky. And MegaBrits: FYI, it's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, by Ralph ("Raife") Vaughan Williams. As for how this music goes with the footage, it's incongruous at best, and, during the segments of strafing trains and bridges, downright grotesque. Perhaps the maker is trying to say something, but it's lost on me - or, perhaps, shades of Vera Lynn over the thermonuclear finale of "Dr Strangelove"?.

[goodtimefeel]

I think you'll find that crappy American music is actually Russian

[slick4401]

@goodtimefeel At last somebody pointed it out. The Waltz of the Flowers, by Tchaikovsky. It fits the video regardless, because it is an elegant music and the early British jets were incredibly graceful. Cheers!

[TheSoundsage]

@slick4401 The British were certainly at the top of their game then- those planes were amazingly graceful, and the photography was as well- the scene where the Vampire sweeps over mechanics crouching atop the hangar is unforgettable. There was a documentary about early attempts at the sound barrier, showing Geoffrey Dehaviland in an ill fated but even more awesome-looking DH 108 Swallow.

[lecky229]

see what you all mean by the music, for fucks sake why have this yank crap.. it should be someting more british!!!!!

[zuhmevlox]

Yet another great video totally ruined by crap music. Let the aircraft speak for themselves fff.

[MegaBrits]

Oh NO - What a great video run over some crass American music. Should have done it over Nimrod by Elgar or Fantasia on a theme - Thomas Tallis.

America = "Hey clever Tommy and Kraut let me give you some of my Bucks we got of britain in WW2 to buy those clever machines, in fact wanna come and live here show us how you work those thingmejigs?.

[WindBeneathMyWing]

Thx. Canberra is best all of them

[PANORAMA1815]

Trust me ! Just try The Tornados -'Jungle Fever' against the opening visuals folowed by 'Telstar' or 'Ridin' the Wind' then take it from there.... really guys it rocks.

The visuals are top rank JB!

[jaybee641]

Yank music? for beautiful RAF aircraft?

[PANORAMA1815]

Great footage the Brits had the best looking aircraft of the lot very iconic almost sci fi .

Some British music to match the aircraft would have been nicer though, ( Old Glen is all USA, and Fly'n Fort's yeah man)

[jbmilitarycollector]

You do have a point, although glen miller was still popular in Britain in the late forty's due to the friendly American invasion in WW11, but yes on reflection I probably should have used something els at lest halfway though the video.

[dr1141tube]

Didn'r Britain make some great looking aircraft in that post-war era. A consider that the Canberra still flies in the form of the WB-57 with NASA and the Lebanese air force have just put some Hunters back into service in Autumn 2008.

[swbono]

Excellent footage

[seamet]

I was very impressed with this video, no hype just nice music. Congratulations.