I'm sorry, I have to go off the target a little bit. Which Meteor or Me 262 were the first jet fighter in the world?

Fox.....I think you will find that the Me 262 was first operational jet fighter, the first jet engine was patented by Whittle in the 1930's but the RAF failed to see the possibilities for quite a few years. Britain supplied all their jet engine technology to the USA and Americas first jet fighters were powered by British designed engines.
In 1945 the Meteor had broken the speed record at a speed of 612 mph at sea level in level flight

hey what are the differences between the Canberra and Meteor?

The Canberra is a a light bomber, it came into service in 1947 and was used as a Photo reconnaissance aircraft till last year,the Americans even made there own one and if remember rightly it was the B57. The Meteor was at first an inceptor and the night version can easily be picked out by it's extra long nose, and was known as the Mk 11

EB-57E Canberra

Manufacturer:Glenn L. Martin Co.Serial Number:55-4253Function:Electronic Warfare/Tactical BomberEngine:Two Wright J65-W-5 turbojet engines with 7,200 lbs. of thrust each.Wing Span:64 ft.Length:65 ft. 6 in.Height:15 ft. 7 in.Max Weight:55,000 poundsMax Speed:582 mphCeiling:48,000 feetRange:2,650 milesArmament:(Bomber Version)...Four 20 mm cannons or ( .50 caliber machineguns in the nose, 6,000 lbs. of bombs in bomb bay and (16) rockets on wing pylon.(EW Version)...NoneCrew:2

The Martin EB-57E Canberra is an American version of the English Electric Canberra used by the RAF and was produced under license by the Glenn L. Martin Company. It was first used by the U.S. Air Force in 1954 and was used primarily as a low level bomber and night attack aircraft. The B-57E was also used as a reconnaissance aircraft and as a target tug aircraft.

The Canberra saw action early during the Vietnam Conflict, arriving in 1964. During that time, 24 B-57s participated in the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign along with other types of U.S. Air Force aircraft.

The most interesting version of the B-57 is the RB-57F reconnaissance aircraft. Its role was similar to that of the U-2, a high flying, long endurance spyplane. To this end, the RB-57 wingspan was lengthened to 122 feet, in order to lift the aircraft to extreme altitudes.

The aircraft on display at Castle Air Museum is an electronic warfare version. Its mission was to simulate enemy attacks against American airspace, in order to test our defenses. It began life as a B-57E and was delivered to the Air Force in 1956 and served with the Air Defense Command.

It was modified to its EB-57E configuration in 1964 and served last with the 17th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron at Malstrom Air Force Base in Montana. It was acquired by the Museum from the Military Aircraft Storage Facility in Arizona and was restored in 1992 by Castle Museum volunteers.

The P51 solved a lot of problems (but not all) for the US 8th Air Force from early 1944 onwards. RAF didn't have the range as others have already stated.

Strongbow, when you say that the RAF fighters did not have the range, did you include the DeHaviland Mosquito in your thoughts

Originally Posted by LeEnfield

Fox.....I think you will find that the Me 262 was first operational jet fighter, the first jet engine was patented by Whittle in the 1930's but the RAF failed to see the possibilities for quite a few years. Britain supplied all their jet engine technology to the USA and Americas first jet fighters were powered by British designed engines.
In 1945 the Meteor had broken the speed record at a speed of 612 mph at sea level in level flight

Interesting note the Mig 15 was powered by a copy of a rolls royce jet engine.

So were all the American Jets,the British jet engine technology was handed over to America so that they could also develop jet fighters.

Originally Posted by LeEnfield

Strongbow, when you say that the RAF fighters did not have the range, did you include the DeHaviland Mosquito in your thoughts

Look I know virtually nothing about aircraft but have read a little about the P51 (B,C and D versions), Lightning, Thunderbolt etc.

The Mosquito was a wonderful aircraft. It had great range, speed, armourment, & bombing capacity, but would it have made the grade as a fighter escort like the Mustang? History says no. Why?

The 8th Air Force was waiting for a fighter like the Mustang. It could go to the target with them and back. Those extra tanks were magic. It had the Merlin engine (which replaced the Allison) for more power and was more fuel efficient. The aerodynamics of the Mustang was terrific. Its speed and handling at high altitude was fantastic. It was relatively cheap to make (yes the mosquito was made of wood!).

Could the Mosquito do the same? I doubt it.

Did RAF fighters provide cover and protection for US bombers during their day time raids?

I saw a picture of RAF hurricanes along side US B-17s and I think Hurricanes didnt have that ability to cover US long range bombers such as B-17s or B-25s so did they provide any cover for the US bombers or not?

phoenix80, are you sure these pics were in Europe?

The RAF most definitly escorted American bombers in N.Africa so it might have been there.