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Showing results for tags 'prone pilot'.
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I'm joining the group build with a 1/48 prone pilot Meteor. This aeroplane has fascinated me ever since I first saw it at Cosford many years ago. Since then I've been back a few times and always make sure I get a good look at this aircraft. It's just so... weird! The prone pilot (or prone position) Meteor was used by the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine to test the concept of a prone pilot - a second cockpit was added to the nose, with the pilot lying prone on a bench seat, flying the aircraft with specially modified controls. The idea was that a pilot in this position would be less susceptible to g forces, and an aircraft with a prone pilot would result in lower drag. The new cockpit was added as an extension to the nose of a standard Meteor F.8, WK935. A normal cockpit was retained. The other major modification was to replace the standard tail unit with the tail of a Meteor NF.12. As you've probably worked out from the lack of prone pilot aircraft flying today, it wasn't a great success. WK935 flew 99 flights over the course of a year, and was never flown solo from the front cockpit. They found that the aircraft could be flown from the prone position, but the prone pilot had a limited rear view so it wouldn't be much use in combat. The development of the g suit dealt with the problems the prone pilot idea was trying to solve. I'll be building this using the Brigade Models resin conversion and the Airfix 1/48 kit. I've also got some Eduard PE and Brassin wheels. I've got a Neomega ejection seat too, but not sure I'll need it. Box shots: And a shot of the resin parts and decals from the conversion kit: The resin bits look quite nice. Just a few bubbles to fill and the normal clean up of the parts is needed. You get a one-piece nose, with some cockpit detail inside, a tail unit, instrument panel, couch for the prone pilot, new undercarriage doors, two vac form canopies and some smaller detail parts, and a decent looking decal sheet. Looking forward to getting into this - hopefully I'll get a chance to get started tomorrow.
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