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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1106.PDF
258 FLIGHT, 28 August 1953 AIRBORNE IN A CANBERRA... I was a little surprised to see clearly the intake vanes of the star board Avon alter pitch; much more surprising was the small globule of oil which sat trembling in the sunlight on the edge of Denmark was probably as much as 200 miles. Upwards the a small vent on the cartridge-starter fairing. How it contrived heavens were like blue-black ink; down-sun the sky looked violet- to remain there with tons of air per second rushing past it, I blue, while into sun it was a paler-blue, less-clear atmosphere. cannot imagine. Water was not easy to recognize below, because of the cloud On occasions during descent, the air-brakes were used, and shadow and because in shade it frequently gave back the spotted, without clawing the aircraft back they were most effective in dead, slate-coloured reflection of an antique mirror. preventing excess speed building up. At all times during the Having levelled out at about 42,000ft we settled down to a flight when changes of speed or attitude were made, the pilot brief period of cruising at around 500 m.p.h. before starting on a used the variable-incidence tailplane with a flick backwards or long let-down. Within a few minutes of seeing the last of the forwards on the controlling switch. English coasdine through the cumulus clouds, we were able to At one point on the flight I asked for the bomb-doors to be see Holland and the Island of Texel ahead. The heat of the opened, remembering some depressing stories about the effect sun through the bubble canopy was considerable and beads of such an action might have on the Canberra. The answer is, I perspiration ran down our foreheads and around our masks, understand, that one early rogue prototype gave rise to the The proposed new lightweight sun-reflecting helmets will be instability and buffeting stories. Certainly our machine made welcome when they arrive. In contrast our feet and legs no fuss with doors open at operational speed, although, as with were no more than comfortably warm, while on the cockpit most aircraft, the air noise altered. As would be expected with sides and canopy and door-frames frost glistened. Cockpit the big increase in keel surface which the open doors give, the pressure altitude was around 25,000ft. aircraft becomes more stable directionally, and this calls for Complete calm reigns at 8 miles high, and thus the very more use of controls to effect a change of heading on a bombing occasional tremor of high-altitude turbulence is a matter for run. The plotted results for Canberra squadron bombing comment—always supposing that the sensation is not the onset of practices from 20 to over 40,000ft indicate that while never so compressibility effects. This can be checked by the Mach meter. good that an improvement cannot be made, they already indicate At top altitude the Canberra remains unexpectedly manoeuv- a satisfactory standard both for visual and blind dropping, rable and responsive to controls. At night and into sun the pilot Down at cloud level again the speed of the Canberra became must fly frequendy by instruments: this calls for great care apparent once more and the more turbulent air caused a few and accuracy, for much the same reasons as it did on the Mossie, sharp bumps. On one approach and landing—to a German air- when loaded and high, in wartime. A small change in fore-and- field—we made a visual approach, map-reading in and landing aft attitude causes a quite disproportionate alteration in speed and after a normal circuit. On the return to base we made a pro- height. By a different token, the high speed results in a big cedure let-down and straight-in approach, error in position if the course wanders for only a few seconds. So clean is the Canberra that without brakes it would roll An indication of the speed of covering ground—or air—is on for thousands of yards in spite of its very moderate touch- given by our brief timetable. The route Bremen (take off), down speed. The brakes, as mentioned above, are very powerful North Sea (well up towards Norway), Edinburgh, Glasgow, and some care must be used when applying them if damage to Barrow, Northern Ireland coast, Isle of Man, Manchester, tyres and nosewheel is to be avoided. Grimsby, seventeen miles N.E. out to sea and back to Binbrook The particular Canberra concerned in my flights has quite a took under 2? hours. history and is unique in being painted mosdy in white. Behind To give an indication of noise, I may add that our navigator this is a story of a remarkable flight to Australia at short notice, had trouble with his microphone. Until it was remedied, he was with the minimum of preparation and aids and with only standard able from his table to shout instructions to the pilot in the cockpit tankage. The leg into Darwin was particularly dicey and great in front. The pilot, of course, had his helmet and head-set on. credit is due to the crew who took 999 to Woomera. Once there Another example was given when a rubber oxygen-lead swung to help with calibration tests the aircraft in standard colours (what- against the cockpit side. I could hear the tap quite plainly. ever they are, could not easily be spotted visually and so it was When the engine power was cut back to commence the descent painted white underneath and has stayed so ever since. AND MEANWHILE, IN AMERICA . . . The first Martin-built 6-57—the U.S.A.F. night-intruder version of the Canberra—powered with two Wright J65 turbojets. The J65 is the American-built version of the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire. It is to carry American bombing equipment, guns and sights.
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