FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1952
1952 - 0166.PDF
A "Flight" impression secured during the initial presentation of the Canberra 8.1 prototype, which aroused veiy great public interest at the S.B.A.C. Flying Display of 1949. BACKGROUND TO A BOMBER . . . and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down. The Canberra took off from Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, and crossed to Gander, Newfoundland (a distance of 2,100 miles) in 4 hr 37 min, giving an average ground speed of 450 m.p.h. Headwinds of up to 80 m.p.h. were encountered and the greatest height attained was 48,000ft. In 1951 it was announced that the Canberra B.2 would be produced not only by English Electric, but by A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd., Handley Page, Ltd., and Short Brothers and Harland, Ltd. The B.2 was also named as the version to be built in the Australian Government factory at Fishermen's Bend. Another important item of news during May, 1951, was that large numbers of a night-intruder version of the Canberra were to be built for the United States Air Force by the Glenn L. Martin Company, of Baltimore. Bearing the designation B-57A, the American-built Canberra will be powered with Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires, built under licence by Curtiss-Wright, and will be armed with fixed, forward- firing guns. Other changes will involve a redesign of the bomb bay, to accommodate a larger number of smaller bombs, and alterations to the fuel tanks to take the American JP-3 fuel. The first Canberra to be delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force left Britain on August 1st, 1951, and reached Darwin, Northern Australia, in a total flying time of 22hr 5min. The distance was 10,249 miles. The pilot, W/C. D. R. Cuming, chief test pilot of the R.A.A.F., remarked in Australia that the Canberra was "easier to fly than the old Avro Anson trainer." En route to Laverton, the Canberra was escorted by two Vampires, which were hard pressed to keep pace with it, and as W/C. Cuming was leaving the tarmac one of the pilots stepped forward and said to him, A demonstration by W/C. Beamont at Royal Air Force station, Biggin Hill, on the occasion of the official naming ceremony of the Canberra, performed by Mr. Menzies, the Australian Prime Minister. fS\ W/C. Beamont demonstrating a Canberra B.2 at Baltimore. Spectators included employees and friends of the Glenn L Martin Company, which is to build a night-intruder version for the U.S.A.F. "Sorry you had to throttle back, sir, but we were flat out." S/L. Callard's unofficial record for the transatlantic cross ing was beaten by a substantial margin on August 31st, 1951, when, under the official surveillance of the Royal Aero Club, acting for the F.A.I., a second Canberra B.2 was delivered to America by W/C. Beamont. His time was 4 hr 18 min 29.4 sec. Navigator on this record-breaking flight was Mr. D. A. Watson; Mr. R. H. T. Rylands was the wireless operator. Latest variants of the Canberra to be announced are the P.R.3, which carries special equipment for high-altitude photographic reconnaissance, and the B.5, which differs superficially from the B.2 in having a larger bomb-aimer's panel. One B.2, fitted experimentally with Sapphires, put up an impressive performance at Farnborough last year. A number of firms in the aircraft and associated industries contribute materials, components and accessories to the construction of the Canberra, and among them are the following:— Martin-Baker Aucraft Co., Ltd.; Dowry Equipment, Ltd.; Auto motive Products Co., Ltd.; Vokes, Ltd.; Fireproof Tanks, Ltd.; Rotol Ltd.; Hymatic Engineering Co., Ltd.; Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd.; Win. Jessop and Sons, Ltd.; Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co., Ltd.; Northern Aluminium Co., Ltd.; James Booth and Co., Ltd.; Sperry Gyroscope Co., Ltd.; Thomas Firth and John Brown, Ltd.; Brown Brothers (Aircraft), Ltd.; T. J. Brooks (Autos), Ltd.; Guest, Keen and .Nettlefolds, Ltd.; Rubery, Owen and Co., Ltd.; H. Terry and Sons, Ltd.; J. Stone and Co., Ltd.; George Tucker Eyelet Co.; Aviation Developments, Ltd. Telenex Products, Ltd.; Ransome and Maries Bearings Co., Ltd.; Docker Brothers; British Messier, Ltd.; T. I. Aluminium, Ltd.; Fother- gill and Harvey, Ltd.; Varley Pumps and Engineering, Ltd.; Skefko Ball Bearing Co., Ltd.; Manganese Bronze and Brass Co., Ltd.; Hoffmann Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; Kent Alloys, Ltd.; John Dale, Ltd.; Sterling Metals, Ltd.; David Brown Foundries, Ltd.; William Mills, Ltd.; High Duty Alloys, Ltd.; Light Metal Forcings, Ltd.; Deritend Stamping Co., Ltd.; George Salter, Ltd.; Robert Riley, Ltd.; British Wire Products, Ltd. Electro-Hydraulics, Ltd.; Turner Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; Exors. of James Mills, Ltd.; W. T. Flather, Ltd.; English Steel Corporation, Ltd.; Accles and Pollock, Ltd.; Birmetals, Ltd.; Reynolds Tube Co., Ltd.; British Aluminium Co., Ltd.; Richard, Thomas and Baldwin, Ltd.; J. J. Habershon and Son, Ltd.; Samuel Fox and Co., Ltd.; Thomas Bolton and Sons, Ltd.; H. Rollet and Co., Ltd.; Langley Alloys, Ltd.; Aircraft Materials, Ltd.; T. Boom and Co., Ltd.; A. F. Bulgin and Co., Ltd.; Graviner Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; Mollart Engineering Co., Ltd.; Normalair, Ltd. The Plessey Co., Ltd.; Rotax, Ltd.; Saunders Valve Co., Ltd.; Serck Radiators, Ltd.; Self-Priming Pump and Engineering Co., Ltd.; Simmonds Aerocessories, Ltd.; Smiths Aircraft Instruments, Ltd.; Triplex Safety Glass Co.; Bells Asbestos and Engineering Supplies, Ltd.; British Insulated Caliender's Cables, Ltd.; Bakelite, Ltd.; B. Attewell and Sons; Wilkinsons Rubber Linatex, Ltd.; British Tyre and Rubber Co.; Hall and Hall, Ltd.; George Spencer, Moulton and Co., Ltd.; Tenaplas, Ltd.; Fibreglass Co., Ltd.; Herts Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.; Kautex, Ltd.; I.C.I. (Plastics Division); R.B.PullinandCo., Ltd.; San- gamo Weston, Ltd.; British Belting and Asbestos, Ltd.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
