Some enterprising engineers managed to "find" a Gloster Meteor that the RAAF had marked for scrap after a mishap during landing, fixed it up and gave it a fresh coat of paint before flying it out to Woomera.
It soon became clear why the plane was meant to be scrapped!
The pilot was able to bail out and parachuted safely to the ground but the plane was reduced to twisted wreckage scattered across the Australian desert.
With a largely British team now dedicated to design