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English Electric Canberra

History of Canberra in English

The British Electric Canberra was an attack-oriented jet-powered medium bomber platform that formed key bomber/reconnaissance squadrons in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s. The aircraft is known not only for its distinctive overhead profile, but also for its performance and handling.

It was widely exported to various British armies around the world and entered service in the 2000s. Mostly out of use today (2014), some flying forms still exist, while others form indoor museum displays or outdoor exhibitions.

Canberra impressed U.S. officials enough to designate it as a locally produced Martin B-57 (described in detail elsewhere on this site).

In the final years of World War II (1939-1944), the British Air Force was already looking for a possible replacement for its classic twin-engine twin-engine de Havilland Mosquito. The Mosquito was an absolute success - dubbed a "wooden marvel" for its extensive use of wood in its construction - and has excelled in the role of a fast bomber since its introduction in 1941. She became the quintessential British WWII entrant, producing 7,781 units from 1940 to 1950.

The success of this line was so great that in a short period of time it was expanded to include special night fighters, photo reconnaissance aircraft and maritime strike types. The need for a new high-speed bomber was scheduled in 1944.

The British electrical company has a long history in the industry before building aircraft. It was involved in the major Allied manufacturing phase of World War II, when it built the Handlery Page Hampden and Halifax bombers for the war effort.

The company developed its in-house capabilities by forming an engineering team in 1945, and the company's new design, credited to William E. W. Petter, drew the Air Department's interest in its excellent B. 3/45 requirement.

British electrical engineers developed a conventional and clean aircraft. Its crew will be three people to spread the workload, and the cockpit is well-fitted in the design. A large tubular fuselage was used, with the main aircraft centrally mounted on either side of the fuselage. As usual, the rear of the fuselage is tapered and covered by a vertical tail. The level is set low along the sides of the tail.

The wheeled landing gear is fully retractable and has a tricycle arrangement with two main legs and a front leg. A streamlined cylindrical nacelle remote from the fuselage is integrated into the design line of the wing unit, with the engines taking in air at the leading edge and exhausting at the trailing edge. The main wing assembly is straight and has no swept back in its general design.

They also taper as they approach the truncated tip edge, giving the plane a very distinctive and well-defined flat shape.

The manual work of putting new large aircraft into service began in 1946 well after the end of World War II in September 1945. The massive military withdrawal after the conflict meant that British Electric's design progressed slowly, so the first flight was not recorded until May 13, 1949, so the product proved to be a very robust aircraft, requiring only a few modifications Design can be completed. The engine was upgraded for more power, fuel tanks were added under the wingtips to improve range, and a glass nose cone was introduced to replace the delayed H2S Mk.

The 9-bomb system originally envisaged. The plane was named "Canberra" in 1950 in honour of Australia's capital - the still-in-development plane that Australians pledged to buy.

The success of the testing and evaluation phase brought Canberra to mass production quickly. In May 1951, the 101st Squadron formed its first units, beginning a long and illustrious career in the development of this great British bomber. It eventually had no less than 61 RAF squadrons, with 782 units procured. Australia operates 58 Canberra through its own six squadrons. Other operators include Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, India, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa, Sweden, Venezuela, West Germany and Zimbabwe (Rhodesia).

The United States took two forms to develop the locally produced version of the Martin B-57 Canberra, albeit broadly similar. Quantity and excellence alone have made Canberra a Cold War success story.

In practice, the Canberra proved to be a fast mount for its size, with a top speed of 580 mph. This characteristic allowed him to outrun the earlier jets responsible for intercepting them. At this speed, defensive weapons such as complex rearward turrets or cannons are not required. The combat radius is 810 miles and the ferry range is 3,380 miles, giving the aircraft a stable range.

The climb rate is 3,400 feet per second. Power comes from the Rolls-Royce Avon line of turbojets, each with over 7,400 pounds of thrust, depending on the variant.

Designed as a bomber, the Canberra originally supported artillery through internal bomb bays. It was only later brands that introduced underwing hardpoints, 4 x belly pouches and rocket pod mounts. Missiles are eventually added to the capability as technology allows. Special Canberra Tokens for carrying and dropping nuclear payloads have also been released. When carrying the weapon pack, the Canberra is equipped with 4 x 20mm Hispano Mk.

V guns, each providing 500 rounds of ammunition. Some forms contain 2 x 7.62mm machine gun pods in place of the cannon. With its internal and external transport capabilities, Canberra eventually has an ordnance carrying capacity of 8,000 pounds.

Structurally, the Canberra has a length of 19.9m from nose to tail, a wingspan of 19.5m and a height of 4.7m. The kerb weight is 9,820kg and the maximum take-off weight is close to 24,950kg.

The three crew members, including the pilot, a bombardier and a navigator, sat aft of the fuselage and pilot's seat.

The Canberra variant turned out to be numerous. The original aircraft without the Canberra designation was simply referred to as "A.1" by British Electric and numbered four samples. They then saw their name changed to the Canberra B. Mk 1, followed by 418 examples of the original B. Mk 2 production model. public relationship. The Mk. 3 became a dedicated photographic reconnaissance aircraft in 1953, with an extended fuselage, camera equipment, two crew members and enlistment.

A three-person dual-control trainer version appears as the T. Mk 4. New Zealand's trainer is the T. Mk 13, originating from a new build model and a rebuilt T. Mk 4 product. The T. Mk 11 appeared as a four-person air defense trainer platform, which was built from nine modified B. Mk. 2 models. The T. Mk 17 is used to train Airborne Early Warning System (AEW) personnel.

The T. Mk 17A was his improved model.

The B. Mk 5 is a one-off development to improve Canberra's profile. Wet wings were introduced, and a Rolls-Royce Avon R.A. 7 turbojet with 7,490 pounds of thrust powered the model. The model influenced the upcoming B. Mk. 6 extended production model, a brand that is both retained locally and exported to foreign customers.

The sign brought the proboscis ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) B. Mk. 6 (RC) variant, used as a platform for counter-radio measures. Established four of this brand. B(a). The Mk. 8 is a bridging model based on the B. Mk. 6 production brand and is intended to be used as an Interdictor attack framework.

It comes with an optional four-gun ventral gun pack, adds underwing hardpoints for external ammunition support while retaining its internal bomb bay capability, and a new fighter-style teardrop top mounted above the cockpit Canopy - now offset to port. A total of 22 were produced. public relationship. The Mk 7 was an improved long-range photo reconnaissance version based on the B. Mk 6 bomber form, equipped with the necessary camera equipment and fitted with more powerful Rolls-Royce Avon 109 series turbojets.

Completed 74 of this brand.

B(I). The Mk. 8 is another advanced strike form, based on the B. Mk. 6 model. A revised canopy adjustment improves cockpit visibility, as does a new redesign of the forward fuselage section. The navigator moved from behind the pilot to in front of his position to improve service.

Support for four-gun ventral pouches is standard, as is underwing hardpoints. 72 were made. Exports from New Zealand and South Africa are B(I). MK12.

PR. Mk. 9 is another photo scout brand with camera equipment. It gets an extended fuselage and wingspan, as well as Rolls-Royce Avon 206 series engines, each with 10,030 pounds of thrust, for improved performance. 23 were produced.

The B. Mk 15 was a streamlined Canberra when the British began their forays into the Far East. These are B. Mk 6 bomber models with reinforced underwing hardpoints that can each manage up to 1,000 pounds of storage space and are capable of supporting air-launched rockets or conventionally dropped bombs. The aircraft also received an updated avionics package and, thanks to the standardized installation of camera equipment, can be used for photo reconnaissance missions. 39 B. Mk 6 Airframe upgraded to new standard.

About 19 airframes were modified, similar to the B. Mk 16, and shipped to West Germany as deterrent units.

Like other long-range Cold War jet programs, the Canberra series will inevitably withdraw from operations and phase out airframes for remotely controlled targeting drone roles. This resulted in 18 conversions of the U. Mk 10 name and B. Mk 2 production model. The Royal Navy followed suit and added the name U. Mk 14 (D14).

Six revisions followed. The TT Mk 18 launched a Royal Navy target tug based on the B. Mk 2 bomber model with 22 modifications.

Many Canberra forms have been converted to one-off models for use by various clients and others, for testing purposes only. Canberra was eventually replaced by the more modern 1955 RAF Vickers Valiant, as these aircraft carried more ammunition and longer range than before. From this point on, Canberra was relegated to a direct attack role, leading to the introduction of ventral gun packs and missile launch support in later production models.

Attempts at reconnaissance ended up extending the life of the aircraft for some time.

Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand Canberra served in the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), while Australian mounts served in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). The Australian version was subsequently replaced by General Dynamics' F-111 Aardvark swing-wing fighter-bomber.

Both the Indian and Pakistan Air Forces used Canberra during the Indo-Pakistani War (1965, 1971, 1999). Canberra supplied a large group of Indian bombers during the conflict, although the airline eventually gave up in 2007.

British use of Canberra included the Suez Crisis (1956), and the aircraft was used almost covertly against Argentina during the Falklands War (1982). Interestingly, Argentina became an operator in 1967 by purchasing 10 Canberra platforms from the former RAF. Combat service resulted in Canberra serving (in reconnaissance form) in the Bosnian War (1992-1995).

The RAF use of Canberra ended relatively recently in 2006.

During the flight, Canberra was also the subject of several notable flight records, including the first non-stop jet-powered transatlantic flight (1951) and world altitudes in 1953 (63,668 feet), 1955 (65,889 feet) record feet) and 1957 (70,310 feet).