Semingsworth Meteor

The Semingsworth Meteor was the first Airedalandian jet fighter. It served from 1945 to 1955.

Development
The Meteor was the end result of the Royal Air Force of Airedalandia's Project Kite which aimed to develop a jet-propelled fighter aircraft utilizing the technology Sir Arthur Sewingsworth originally demonstrated in 1936.

Operational Service
From 1945 to 1949, the Meteor was the RAFA's primary day interceptor, before being replaced by the Sabre. Then, the Meteor was re-rolled as a night fighter, a role in which it served from 1949 to 1955.

Following their withdrawal from front line duty, 25 Meteors FA IIIs were converted into weapons trainers, a role in which they served from 1955 until 1971.

Variants
Semingsworth Kite:

5 prototypes built for flight testing, the first of which flew on Decmber 3rd, 1943. One aircraft was lost in a crash on June 10th, 1944 that was unfortunately fatal. Three aircraft were scrapped, and one was retained by Semingsworth to display at their corporate headquarters.

FI I:

Intial production variant for the RAFA, 50 built. These saw service as day fighters from 1945 to 1950. Aside from 16 retained for aerobatic display duties that were later preserved in museums, all FI Is were scavenged for parts and eventually scrapped.

FA II:

Improved fighter-bomber version of the FI I, 63 built. Original order of 96 aircraft was cut short to make way for the FA III.

FA III:

Greatly improved single-seat version with reduced span and more powerful engines. 72 built, entering service in 1950. After their retirement from fighter usage in 1955, 30 of the aircraft were converted into target drones and a further 10 were used as chase planes for test aircraft.

FT IV:

Two-seat training version of the FA II, 48 built.

F(N)I V:

Two-seat, radar-equipped night fighter version based of the FT IV. Was the backbone of Airedalandian all-weather air defences in the early to mid 1950s. 108 were built, to equip 11 squadrons. After they were replaced in the night fighter role by 1956, 26 were converted into radar trainers, 24 into target tugs and 12 into photographic chase planes.

The last converted examples were retired in 1971, barring 3 of the target tugs which were subsequently turned over to Semingsworth-Stevenson for use as ejector seat testbeds.

FR VI:

Photo recon version of the FA III, 19 built.

Specifications (FA III):
Crew: 1

Length: 44 ft 7 in (13.59 m)

Wingspan: 37 ft 2 in (11.32 m)

Height: 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m)

Weights:

Empty: 10,684 lb (4,846 kg)

Loaded: 15,700 lb (7,121 kg)

Top Speed: 600 mph (522 knots, 965 km/h, Mach 0.82) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m)

Service Ceiling: 43,000 ft (13,100 m)

Range: 600 mi (965 km)

Combat Radius: 200 miles

Rate of Climb: 7,000 feet/minute

Thrust to Weight Ratio (TWR): 0.45

Armament:

4x 20mm autocannons,

16x60lb 3 '' rockets

2x1000 lb (454 kg) bombs