As is my want, delving into the finer detail it was interesting to discover the original engine that powered the Meteor was designed by the Power Jets Company which lacked manufacturing capability to produce engines on a large scale and an experienced manufacturer was urgently needed to produce the large number of engines that would be required. To satisfy the demand, the Air Ministry ‘recommended’ (by a short sharp memorandum?) that Power Jets join up with the Rover Car company for the joint development of the W.2 Whittle engine. A dispute erupted between these two companies, especially after Rover had made fundamental changes to Whittle's pioneering design in secret without notifying Power Jets. After Rover’s engineers began pursuing their own design, they stopped cooperating with Whittle and his suggestions were largely ignored.
As Rover began to understand the workings of the turbojet engine, it became apparent that there were fundamental shortcomings in Whittle’s design and Rover engineers began a new approach. Whittle’s original design incorporated a reverse-airflow configuration, which complicated not only the manufacturing process, but also limited airflow through the engine. Rover looked at it from a long term approach, and came up with a new design that would both simplify construction and increase airflow. This would eventually become the Rolls Royce Derwent engine. However, Rover’s straight-flow design required a reconfiguration of almost the entire engine, and by not completing the design that Whittle had started, delays occurred. Rover’s new design experienced persistent surging and turbine blade failures. This was an area in which Whittle already had experience, but since the two companies were not working together, virtually no progress was made on the W.2 engine. This disagreement resulted in almost two vital years of development being lost.
Due to delays with the W.2 engine, the Air Ministry showed its frustration by actually cancelling the Meteor and the order for the F.9/40 prototypes was reduced to six. With the production aircraft program cancelled, the Air Ministry had issued a replacement specification E.5/42 for a single-engine jet fighter, the F.9/40 though the plan was quickly abandoned. Gloster continued work on the design and submitted a proposal for an updated specification E.1/44. It was powered by a 5,000 lbf (22.24 kN) de Havilland H.1 engine and was designated as the Gloster E.1/44 Ace (Photo). Three prototypes were ordered, but they were not completed until after the war. The Ace did not go into production, but a redesigned tail on the third prototype created a breakthrough in design and performance and was incorporated into the future model, the F.Mk 8.
Ernest Hives, head of Rolls-Royce's aero engine division, saved Britain's jet program from disaster. He took Rover's chief engineer, Maurice Wilks, to dinner and did some horse-trading. Wilks had said that he was not happy working with Frank Whittle, so Hives replied, "I'll tell you what I will do. You give us this jet job and we'll give you our tank-engine factory in Nottingham."6 Rolls Royce wanted to build jet engines after the war, because they knew the market would be flooded with Merlin engines. Whittle had revolutionized the aero-engine business making the Merlin obsolete. Rolls Royce put over 2,000 people to work on the W.2B and in January 1943, Rolls Royce logged nearly 400 hours of testing, nearly ten times what Rover had completed the previous month. The turbine blade situation was finally corrected by using alloys of nickel-chromium, Nimonic 80, and by creating stiffer and using fewer blades.
Meanwhile, de Havilland was making greater progress on the H.1 Halford engine, which provided 1,500 lbf (6.62 kN) static thrust (s.t.). It was installed in the fifth prototype and it provided enough power to get the Meteor off the ground. Due to delays with the W.2B Whittle engines, the H.1 was used for the first flight of the Meteor on March 5, 1943. The H.1 would serve as the basis for the future Goblin jet engine, which was later used successfully on the de Havilland Vampire. After the W.2B had improved enough to provide suitable power of 1,700 lbf. (7.56 kN) s.t., it was installed in the fourth prototype. Despite the superiority of the H.1 and Derwent engines, the W.2B engine would be selected to power the first production order of twenty F.Mk Is with the company designation G.41A. With the W.2B problems resolved, the number of prototypes was increased back to eight and the production of the Meteor assured.
Now - as a modelling project......?