Just a nice picture: the first turboprop

The first turboprop in the world was this modified Gloster Meteor I, serial EE227. It made its first flight on 20 September 1945. The experimental Meteor was powered by two Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent engines, a converted Derwent II fitted with reduction gear and a Rotol 7 ft 11 in (2.41 m) five-bladed propeller.

The ‘normal’ jet engine powered Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with No. 616 Squadron RAF. In that same year drawings of the new Trent engine were published in Flight Magazine. The ‘Trent Meteor’ was only meant as a testbed, and not for production. But data gathered from flying EE227, helped Rolls-Royce in developing ‘next step’ turboprops, like the Clyde and very successful Dart engine.

Photo: Gloster