Pictured: The Chinook helicopter delivering its cargo, a Meteor aircraft, to Gloucestershire AirportHundreds watched as the aircraft was flown one-and-a-half miles from Imjin Barracks to Staverton Airport under the belly of an RAF helicopter.
 
The journey was made to preserve the craft’s history, but was also inspired by love.
Martin Clarke clubbed together with another member of the Jet Age Museum, Tony McKinnon, to buy the early 1950s Meteor T.7 for £3,000 in memory of his wife Michele. They met as she was part of the Cotswold Aircraft Restoration Group which got the Meteor ready to go on the gate at the former RAF Innsworth.
 
Sadly, she died from bladder cancer aged 41 before she could see it put in place, but Martin said she would have been ‘delighted’ to witness its flight. The 61-year-old Prestbury resident said: “I thought what better tribute could I possibly give to my wife who helped build the aircraft than to buy it and have it positioned here.
 
“It’s a Gloster aircraft back in Gloucester where it belongs, which is what the museum is all about.” It will be one of 12 aircraft housed at the new museum, due to open at the airport on August 2.
 
The thrilling journey was also a homecoming for Chinook helicopter pilot Flight Lieutenant Paul Farmer. He grew up in the area and went to Churchdown School. The 31-year-old said: “It was really nice to take the Meteor on its final flight. “It’s not every day you get to fly a classic jet underneath a helicopter.”
 
The Second World War aircraft, which weighs just over three tons, was lifted 80 feet in the air for its journey. Paul said: “It needed to be flown very gently because we didn’t want to break it and it was quite windy. “It was good to touch down and I didn’t expect this many people here.”
 
Gloucestershire’s new Jet Age Museum takes delivery of historic Meteor aircraft