68-614: The Gloster Grebe was developed by the Gloster Aircraft Company from the Gloster Grouse (an experimental aircraft later developed as a trainer), and was the Royal Air Force 's first post- First World War fighter aircraft , entering service in 1923. In 1923, Gloster modified a Gloster Sparrowhawk fighter trainer with new wings to test a layout proposed by chief designer Henry Folland , combining
136-494: A World Airspeed Record of 606 mph (975 km/h) with Group Captain H. Wilson at the controls. During early 1946, another F Mk.4 prototype was used to set a world air speed record of 616 mph (991 km/h) true airspeed with Group Captain "Teddy" Donaldson flying the highly modified Meteor, nicknamed "Yellow Peril." The second pilot in the High Speed Flight , Bill Waterton achieved 614 mph. During
204-527: A 350 horsepower (260 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar III radial engine , as the "Nighthawk (thick-winged)". The first of the prototypes (Gloster built a fourth machine as a company-owned demonstrator), by now known as the Grebe I, flew during May 1923. The performance of these prototypes during testing at RAF Martlesham Heath was good, and the Air Ministry decided to order the type into production as
272-779: A Regency spa town, tourism is an important sector in Cheltenham's economy, but it also has some light industry , including food processing, aerospace and electronics businesses. The Government's electronic surveillance operation Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), known for its "doughnut-shaped" building, is in Cheltenham. Vertex Data Science , GE-Aviation , Chelsea Building Society , Endsleigh Insurance , Archant , Nelson Thornes , UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service), Kohler Mira , Zürich Financial Services , Douglas Equipment , Volo and Spirax-Sarco Engineering all have sites in and around Cheltenham. A number of design agencies and businesses are located in
340-504: A ballroom and upstairs billiard room to entertain his customers. The beginnings of Cheltenham's tree-lined promenades and the gardens surrounding its spas were first designed by Captain Skillicorne with the help of "wealthy and traveled" friends who understood the value of relaxing avenues. The area's walks and gardens had views of the countryside, and soon the gentry and nobility from across the county were enticed to come and investigate
408-679: A brief period as the chief test pilot, he tested the many experimental versions of the Gloster Meteor, Javelin and E.1/44 fighters. During the Gloster years, "Zura" as he came to be known, set an international speed record: London-Copenhagen-London, 4–5 April 1950 at Gloster's instruction to sell the aircraft to the Danish Air Force. In 1952, the two-seat, delta winged Gloster Javelin was developed as an all-weather fighter that could fly above 50,000 feet (15,000 m) at almost
476-528: A company that owns and operates DVD rental kiosks. The Beechwood Shopping Centre in the town centre was demolished in 2017 to make way for a £30million, 115,000 square foot John Lewis store. Among Cheltenham's many restaurants, two are currently Michelin one-star restaurants , Le Champignon Sauvage and Lumière. The unemployment rate in Cheltenham was 2.7% in 2010 compared to the UK national unemployment level of 7.9%. The average GVA per head in Cheltenham
544-529: A health and holiday spa town resort since the discovery of mineral springs there in 1716. Captain Henry Skillicorne (1678–1763), is credited with being the first entrepreneur to recognise the opportunity to exploit the mineral springs. The retired "master mariner" became co-owner of the property containing Cheltenham's first mineral spring upon his 1732 marriage to Elizabeth Mason. Her father, William Mason, had done little in his lifetime to promote
612-516: A programme of art exhibitions running throughout the year. The Wilson was named after polar explorer Edward Wilson , who was born in Cheltenham. In 2014, many of the town's historic cultural and leisure buildings were put under the control of The Cheltenham Trust , a charity set up to manage and develop the buildings on behalf of the town. Along with The Wilson, the Trust now manages the Town Hall,
680-430: A residential street in Cheltenham. The graffiti depicted three men in trench coats and dark glasses apparently listening in to calls made in the telephone box. In 2016, it was removed – possibly destroyed – ahead of the sale of the house on which it had been painted. Cheltenham features several sculptural artworks of note, including: Cheltenham hosts the annual Cheltenham Music Festival , Cheltenham Jazz Festival and
748-503: A spa town is reflected in the railway station, still called Cheltenham Spa , and spa facilities in other towns inspired by or named after it. Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll were regular visitors to a house in Cudnall Street, Charlton Kings – a suburb of Cheltenham. Alice Liddell's grandparents owned this house, and still contains the mirror, or looking glass, that was purportedly inspired for Lewis Carroll's novel Through
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#1732793609237816-530: A thick, high-lift section upper wing and a thinner, medium-lift lower wing, with the intention of combining high lift for takeoff with low drag. After the Grouse demonstrated that the new layout was a success, the British Air Ministry placed an order for three prototype fighters based on the Grouse (and therefore derived ultimately from Folland's Nieuport Nighthawk fighter of 1919), but powered by
884-734: A twin engine jet design. Once the E.28/39 had flown, the Air Staff told Gloster to stop work on their F.18/40 nightfighter (other aircraft could be adapted to replace it) to concentrate on the jet fighter. The jet design became the Gloster Meteor, the only jet to be used in combat by the Allied Forces during the Second World War. First flying with the RAF in 1943, the Meteor commenced operations in mid-1944, only some weeks later than
952-414: A working Victorian kitchen and laundry, Regency drawing room and an Edwardian nursery. The Cheltenham Civic Society has been responsible for erecting commemorative plaques in the town since 1982: blue plaques to celebrate well-known people and green plaques to celebrate significant places and events. Every year, Cheltenham Festivals organises music , jazz , literature and science festivals in
1020-598: Is a dedicated museum and a monument in the town, and FKA Twigs . The collection's of the Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum include decorative arts from the era of the Arts and Crafts Movement . The collection enjoys National Designation by the Arts Council of England. The Holst Birthplace Museum contains personal belongings of the composer of The Planets , including his piano. It also includes
1088-471: Is a festival of 7s sport, which includes Netball, Rugby, Dodgeball and Hockey amongst others and incorporates drinking and musical acts over the weekend to complement the sport. Cheltenham has played host to and featured in a number of film and TV series: The Thistle Golden Valley Hotel was used by the ITV soap opera Crossroads for outdoor location filming from 1982 to 1985. Cheltenham has four theatres:
1156-653: The British Isles , Cheltenham experiences a temperate oceanic climate ( Cfb in the Köppen climate classification ). It has warm summers and cool winters. The town held the British maximum temperature record from 1990 to 2003—temperatures reached 98.8 °F (37.1 °C). The absolute minimum is −4.2 °F (−20.1 °C), set during December 1981. During a typical year, 145.6 days will report at least 1 mm of rain, and some 42.2 nights will record air frost. As
1224-665: The Cheltenham Food & Drink Festival . In steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup is the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held every March. Cheltenham is located at River Chelt , which rises nearby at Dowdeswell and runs through the town on its way to the Severn . It was first recorded in 803, as Celtan hom ; the meaning has not been resolved with certainty, but latest scholarship concludes that
1292-805: The Gloster E.28/39 , was manufactured in Cheltenham. Manufacturing started in Hucclecote near Gloucester, but was later moved to Regent Motors in Cheltenham High Street (now the Regent Arcade), considered a location safer from bombing during the Second World War. Cheltenham is on the edge of the Cotswolds , an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the South-West region of England. The small River Chelt flows under and through
1360-519: The non-metropolitan district of Cheltenham. Four parishes— Swindon Village , Up Hatherley , Leckhampton and Prestbury —were added to the borough of Cheltenham from the borough of Tewkesbury in 1991. The head office of the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), known to locals as The Doughnut , is located in Cheltenham, to which it moved in 1951. As with the vast majority of
1428-432: The Air Ministry followed. As no existing aircraft was suitable for adaptation to take the new jet engine, and Gloster did not have much workload in its design department, Gloster received a contract in early 1940 – to design and build Britain's first jet aircraft. Two airframes were built in secrecy. Due to the risk of bombing, one of the aircraft was built offsite from Brockworth at Regent Motors Cheltenham. On 15 May 1941,
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#17327936092371496-666: The British aircraft industry, that would lead to the demise of Gloster. One blind alley was the work done (along with eight other British companies) on designing an aircraft to the same exacting Ministry specification that spawned the BAC TSR-2 . The contract was issued to BAC but the Wilson Government cancelled the TSR2 project. In 1961, the company was merged with Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Limited to form Whitworth Gloster Aircraft Limited. Following another re-organisation,
1564-550: The Cheltenham Festival of the Performing Arts (formerly Cheltenham Competitive Festival) is a collection of more than 300 performance competitions that is the oldest of Cheltenham's arts festivals, having been started in 1926. Greenbelt , a Christian arts and music festival, and Wychwood Festival , a family-friendly folk and world music festival, were held at Cheltenham Racecourse . The town also hosts
1632-534: The Cheltenham Racecourse and surrounding green park, along with St Peter Leckhampton parish church and Brizen Playing Fields/Haven and Greenmead parks along the south of the borough, are covered. In May 2024, under plans by Gloucestershire County Council , it was reported that there are secret talks to formally merge the conurbations of Cheltenham and Gloucester with each other. The plans suggest that around ten new garden towns could be built around
1700-472: The Gloster factory at Hucclecote, mostly based on Reynolds-Boughton chassis. In 1984 Gloster Saro acquired the fire tender business of the Chubb group with the company merging in 1987 with Simon Engineering to form Simon Gloster Saro. The company eventually was used to manufacture both alloy and, later, fibreglass fuel tankers for Companies such as Shell/BP. The site at Brockworth was sold in 1964. In recent years
1768-631: The Grebe II, this having a 400 horsepower (300 kW) Jaguar IV engine. Like the Sopwith Snipe it replaced, the Grebe was a single-seat, single-engined biplane of fabric-covered wood construction. The fuselage had ash longerons and spruce stringers joined to plywood formers , while the single- bay wings (which had a considerable overhang outboard of the struts), had fabric-covered spruce spars and ribs . Two synchronised .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns were mounted on
1836-771: The Looking-Glass , published in 1871. Horse racing began in Cheltenham in 1815 and became a major national attraction after the establishment of the Festival in 1902. The racecourse attracts tens of thousands of visitors to each day of the festival each year, with such large numbers of visitors having a significant impact on the town. In the Second World War , the United States Army Services of Supply , European Theatre of Operations established its primary headquarters at Cheltenham under
1904-597: The Pittville Pump Room, the Prince of Wales Stadium and Leisure @, a large fitness and swimming complex. A volunteer board of Trustees controls the Trust. The Cheltenham Paint Festival attracts hundreds of mural artists from dozens of countries worldwide and is a highlight of the Gloucestershire arts calendar. In 2014, a piece of graffiti by street artist Banksy appeared next to a telephone box in
1972-480: The Reddings, Rowanfield , St Luke's, St Mark's, St Paul's , St Peter's, Springbank, Swindon Village , Tivoli, Up Hatherley , Whaddon and Wyman's Brook . The borough contains three civil parishes within its boundaries. These are Charlton Kings , Leckhampton with Warden Hill and Prestbury . These all have their own parish councils who handle local services and planning with elected councillors. Parts of
2040-700: The Royal Air Force since 1918 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Related lists Gloster Aircraft Company The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963. Founded as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H.H. Martyn & Co. of Cheltenham, England it produced fighters during
2108-603: The Ukulele Festival of Great Britain. In 2010, Cheltenham was named the UK's fifth "most musical" city (sic) by PRS for Music . Musicians Brian Jones , guitarist and founding member of the Rolling Stones , and Michael Burston, nicknamed ' Würzel ' of Motörhead were both born in Cheltenham, with Jones buried in the town's crematorium following his death in 1969. Other Cheltenham-born musicians of international renown include Gustav Holst , for whom there
Gloster Grebe - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-497: The aerodrome at Brockworth, including all of the adjacent hangars and neighbouring office accommodation. In 1934, Gloster was acquired by another British aircraft manufacturer, Hawker Aircraft . Regardless of this change in ownership, the company continued to produce aircraft under its own brand name. In that same year, Gloster produced one of its most famous aircraft, the Gladiator biplane. The 1935 merger of Hawker Aircraft and
2244-523: The beneficial waters of Cheltenham's market town spa. The visit of George III with the queen and royal princesses in 1788 set a stamp of fashion on the spa. The spa waters can still be sampled at the Pittville Pump Room , built for this purpose and completed in 1830; it is a centrepiece of Pittville , a planned extension of Cheltenham to the north, undertaken by Joseph Pitt , who laid the first stone 4 May 1825. Cheltenham's success as
2312-491: The borough council. Since 2002, elections have been held every two years with half of the councillors elected at each election. Cheltenham was an ancient parish . Until 1786 it was administered by its vestry , in the same way as most rural areas. The vestry was supplemented by a body of unelected improvement commissioners in 1786 known as the Paving and Lighting Commission, initially charged with paving, lighting and repairing
2380-633: The buildings are listed, including the Cheltenham Synagogue , judged by Nikolaus Pevsner to be one of the architecturally best non-Anglican places of worship in Britain. Built in 1902 within the Imperial Square, Cheltenham Town Hall is a Grade II-listed building and features a plaque commemorating the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra . The Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum , also called The Wilson, hosts
2448-477: The cancellation of outstanding production orders. In 1920, following the closure of rival British aircraft manufacturer Nieuport & General , the services of its former chief designer, Henry Folland (1889–1954), were hired by the company; it also acquired the rights for the Nieuport Nighthawk fighter and various unassembled aircraft components. In December 1926, it was decided that the name of
2516-564: The company constructed 1,000 Hawker Hurricanes within the first 12 months of the conflict; Gloster delivered the last of its 2,750 Hurricanes in 1942. After ending production of the Hurricane, it was decided to manufacture the newer Hawker Typhoon in its place. Gloster proceeded to construct 3,300 in total, almost the entirety of the type. Frank Whittle had first met Gloster's designer and test pilots in April 1939 and an official approach from
2584-606: The company should be switched to a simplified form—the Gloster Aircraft Company. This was reported because customers outside of the United Kingdom found it easier to pronounce and to spell. Typically, locals and employees simply referred to the company as GAC. With the move to metal construction, the Sunningend factory was soon deemed to be no longer suitable; accordingly, in 1928, Gloster purchased
2652-456: The direction of Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee , with the flats of the Cheltenham Racecourse becoming a giant storage depot for countless trucks, jeeps, tanks and artillery pieces. Most of this material was reshipped to the continent for and after the D-Day invasion . Lee and his primary staff had offices and took residence at Thirlestaine Hall in Cheltenham. The first British jet aircraft prototype,
2720-588: The firm became part of the Avro Whitworth Division of Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1963, and the name Gloster disappeared as Hawker Siddeley rebranded its product line under its own name. In the late 1960s/early 1970s the Saunders-Roe Folly Works, by then owned by Hawker Siddeley was merged with the Gloster works to form Gloster-Saro utilising both companies' expertise in aluminium forming to produce fire appliances and tankers in
2788-544: The first element preserves a Celtic noun cilta , 'steep hill', here referring to the Cotswold scarp; the second element may mean 'settlement' or 'water-meadow'. As a royal manor, it features in the earliest pages of the Gloucestershire section of Domesday Book where it is named Chintenha[m] . The town was awarded a market charter in 1226. Though little remains of its pre-spa history, Cheltenham has always been
Gloster Grebe - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-425: The first official test flight of the Gloster E.28/39 W 4041/G with a turbo-jet engine, invented by Sir Frank Whittle took off from RAF Cranwell (earlier taxying trials, in which the E.28/39 briefly became airborne, and therefore "flew", were carried out at the company's airfield at Brockworth). Although the E.28.39 could in theory be used as a fighter, a specific fighter design was required and Gloster began work on
2924-526: The fuselage top decking. Grebes entered service with the RAF during October 1923 when a flight of 111 Squadron re-equipped with the new fighter. The Grebe was popular in RAF service, being much faster than the Snipe that it replaced and was also very agile. One problem with the Grebe was that it suffered from wing flutter , owing to the large overhang outside the interplane struts, which led to all RAF aircraft being modified with additional Vee-struts supporting
2992-423: The green belt at Boddington which if removed would result in the complete merger of both boroughs. Doing so would facilitate and effectively merge the two into a supercity . The move has been criticised by both Cheltenham Borough Council and Gloucester City Council . Cheltenham Borough Council is the local authority for Cheltenham; it is split into 20 wards, with a total of 40 councillors elected to serve on
3060-438: The healing properties of the mineral water apart from limited advertising and building a small enclosure over the spring. Skillicorne's wide travels as a merchant had prepared him to see the dormant potential on this inherited property. After moving to Cheltenham in 1738, he immediately began improvements intended to attract visitors to his spa. He built a pump to regulate water flow and erected an elaborate well-house complete with
3128-451: The interests of J. D. Siddeley ( Armstrong Siddeley and Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft ) saw Gloster become a part of Hawker Siddeley Aircraft, Ltd. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the firm lacked any modern designs of its own in production, but had significant expertise and production facilities available. Thus, Gloster undertook manufacture for Hawker-designed aircraft to equip the RAF on behalf of its parent company. During 1939,
3196-984: The most complete Regency town in Britain . It is directly northeast of Gloucester . The town hosts several cultural festivals, often featuring nationally and internationally famous contributors and attendees: the Cheltenham Literature Festival , the Cheltenham Jazz Festival , the Cheltenham Science Festival , the Cheltenham Music Festival , the Cheltenham International Film Festival, the Cheltenham Cricket Festival and
3264-753: The multi-venue Walk the line festival . Two sporting events are also routinely described as the "Cheltenham Festival" or "the Festival": the Cheltenham Cricket Festival, which features Gloucestershire County Cricket Club , and National Hunt racing's Cheltenham Festival . In 2021 the Cheltenham 7s festival began and is held at the end of July each year at the Newlands Rugby club opposite the main GE Aviation (ex Smiths Industries site) works between Southam and Bishops Cleeve. It
3332-561: The outer upper wing. Another problem was the Jaguar engine, which was heavy and unreliable, being prone to catching fire. A total of 133 Grebes were produced, including the four prototypes, 108 Grebe II single-seat fighters and 21 two-seat dual-control trainers. Grebes were retired from the RAF in 1929, replaced in part by the Gloster Gamecock , which was a developed Grebe, (Gloster fighter design, from Nighthawk to Gloster Gladiator
3400-668: The record attempt Donaldson became the first man to break the 1,000 km/h barrier, winning the Britannia Trophy and a Bar to his AFC . Meteors remained in service with several air forces for many years and saw action in the Korean War with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Eventually, Gloster Meteors in fighter, trainer and night fighter versions were in operational use by 12 nations. During Gloster's heyday, in 1947, S/L Janusz Zurakowski
3468-425: The runway and old buildings have been demolished and replaced by standard modern industrial estate and office buildings. Cheltenham, England Cheltenham ( / ˈ tʃ ɛ l t n ə m / ) is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire , England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be
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#17327936092373536-471: The speed of sound. This modern aircraft proved to be too heavy to take off from the short airfield in Brockworth, and was instead fitted out to the bare minimum and given a very small fuel load. It was then flown in a short hop to RAF Moreton Valence seven miles (11.27 km) to the south west, where the aircraft would be completed. It was this shortcoming of facilities, along with the rationalisation of
3604-514: The spring of 1918, the company was producing 45 new Bristol Fighter aircraft per week. As the orders for aircraft increased, other companies in the Gloucester and Cheltenham district were contracted with work. Where any flying was involved, the aircraft would be transported (with wings detached) to a newly formed Air Board aircraft acceptance park at Brockworth , seven miles (11 km) away by motor transport. Although Brockworth Aerodrome
3672-484: The streets, which later gained other powers including providing a watch and setting standards for new buildings. The commissioners were reformed in 1852 to be partly-elected and were eventually replaced in 1876 when the town was incorporated as a municipal borough . On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , the borough of Cheltenham was merged with Charlton Kings urban district to form
3740-436: The time of its creation, its owners were Hugh Burroughes (1884–1985) and H H Martyn & Co. Limited, who held a 50 per cent share between them, and aircraft manufacturer Airco held the other 50 per cent. On the company's board were A W Martyn, Burroughes, and George Holt Thomas of Airco. The firm quickly acquired the aircraft component construction activities that were previously being carried out by H H Martyn & Co. for
3808-430: The town has green belt along its fringes, and this extends into the surrounding Tewkesbury district, helping to maintain local green space, prevent further urban sprawl and unplanned expansion towards Gloucester and Bishop's Cleeve, as well as protecting smaller villages in between. West of the Greenfield Way and Fiddlers Green Lane roads, along with much of the open space up to the Civil Service Sports Ground, as well as
3876-593: The town, attracting names with national and international reputations in each field. Events take place at venues including the town hall , the Everyman Theatre , the Playhouse Theatre and the Pittville Pump Room . Several other cultural festivals, including the Cheltenham International Film Festival, Cheltenham Paranormal Festival, the Cheltenham Design Festival, Cheltenham Folk Festival, Cheltenham Poetry Festival, The True Believers Comic Festival and Cheltenham Comedy Festival are separately organised but also attract international performers and speakers. A more local event,
3944-598: The town. Cleeve Hill , overlooks the town and is the highest point in the county of Gloucestershire and the Cotswold Hills range, at 1,083 feet (330 m). The town is near the northeastern edge of the South West of England region being 88 miles (142 km) west-northwest of London, 38 miles (61 km) northeast of Bristol and 41 miles (66 km) south of Birmingham. The districts of Cheltenham include: Arle , Benhall , Charlton Kings , Fairview , Fiddler's Green, Hesters Way , Lansdown , Leckhampton , Lynworth, Montpellier , Oakley, Pittville , Prestbury ,
4012-429: The town. Weird Fish was founded in Cheltenham. The multinational design house Meri Meri has its European headquarters in Cheltenham. SuperGroup plc, owner of the Superdry label, has its headquarters in Cheltenham. Cheltenham is a regional shopping centre, home to department stores , the oldest being Cavendish House , from 1823, and the Regent Arcade. Since 2006, Cheltenham is the headquarters of "The Movie Booth",
4080-429: The war effort in order to perform subcontracted work from Airco; the provision of additional production capacity had been a major motivating factor for Airco's involvement in founding the company. H H Martyn were architectural engineers and had produced items such as propellers before moving to whole fuselages for Airco. The firm rented facilities at Sunningend in Cheltenham , Gloucestershire to serve as their works. By
4148-525: The war. It was renamed later as foreigners found 'Gloucestershire' difficult to pronounce. It later became part of the Hawker Siddeley group and the Gloster name disappeared in 1963. Gloster designed and built several fighters that equipped the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the interwar years including the Gladiator , the RAF's last biplane fighter. The company built most of the wartime production of Hawker Hurricanes and Hawker Typhoons for their parent company Hawker Siddeley while its design office
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#17327936092374216-435: The world's first operational jet, the German Messerschmitt Me 262 . Crucially, it became the first RAF aircraft with a high enough top speed to enable it to fly alongside V1 flying bombs and tip them under the wing so as to render the V1's gyro incapable of recovery. This made the V1s crash prematurely to earth in open countryside before they could reach London. In 1945, a Meteor F Mk.4 prototype, stripped of armament, achieved
4284-432: Was employed as an experimental pilot. In the following years, he became one of the world's most famous experimental and aerobatics pilots. He developed a new aerobatic manoeuvre, the "Zurabatic Cartwheel", which held the audience captivated as he suspended the Gloster Meteor G-7-1 prototype he was flying, in a vertical cartwheel at the 1951 Farnborough Air Show, a manoeuvre the announcer declared to be "Impossible!" Serving for
4352-626: Was evolutionary). Two Grebes were modified for suspension beneath the R33 airship on a 'trapeze' for " parasite " trials. In 1927 Sir Henry Wigram gave money to the New Zealand Government for the purchase of an aircraft. The aircraft chosen was the Grebe over the Siskin, which was also in contention. Another two Grebes were acquired by the New Zealand Permanent Air Force , forerunner of the Royal New Zealand Air Force , entering service in March 1928 and serving for more than ten years until mid-1938. The two survivors were used as instructional airframes until destroyed in 1943–44. Data from Aircraft of
4420-441: Was higher than across the South West as a whole in the year ending September 2023. The employment rate remains now at 81.3%, for ages 16-64. Unemployment (people looking for work) has risen since a year earlier. The most recent unemployment rate for Cheltenham was about the same as across the South West as a whole. The town is known for its Regency architecture and is said to be "the most complete regency town in England". Many of
4488-403: Was used by the company, it lacked any hangars until 1921, after which it would rent a portion of one hangar from the Air Board. Gradually, Gloucester would relocate its operational base to the Brockworth site. Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918 and the end of the First World War , the company suffered financial losses from the collapse of Airco, only receiving partial compensation for
4556-407: Was working on the first British jet aircraft , the E.28/39 experimental aircraft. This was followed by the Meteor , the RAF's first jet-powered fighter and the only Allied jet fighter to be put into service during the Second World War . In 1917, during the midst of the First World War, the Gloster Aircraft Company Limited was formed under the name The Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited. At
4624-424: Was £21,947.27 in 2011 compared to the national average of £26,200. In 2012, The Guardian found that, at the end of 2011, 41 multi-millionaires lived in Cheltenham, which was the fourth-highest rate in the UK of multi-millionaires per 100,000 people at 35.44. According to the Office of National Statistics, employment in Cheltenham has decreased in comparison with the previous year. Cheltenham's employment rate
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