Warbird Information Exchange

Hi.
Do you have any B57 (Canberra) flying in the states? We have four flying and one that is capable of high speed runs down the runway at Bruntingthorpe.

Ken

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Ken Garner

I don't know of an private owned B-57's, but NASA still flies their WB-57's. A buddy of mine flies for them.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

There are five "Canberra" listed on the US civil register. Two are registered to what appears to be an aerial mapping company. The others are registered either to museums or private owners. One was built in Australia. The others appear to be of British origin. I didn't see any Martin B-57s listed other than the NASA WB-57F. No idea if any of the five Canberras are actually flyers.

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

One is on the CAF AZ Wing ramp. I beleive there is a total of 2 at Falcon Field Mesa, AZ. Both not in flying condition at this time.

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Scott Apple
Experience on the following aircraft: B-17, B-25, He111, T-6/SNJ, C-45/D18S, O2A, L-19, Various General Aviation, and Corporate Aircraft.

Due to wing spar metal degradation issues, I understand that any Government Aircraft Factory (GAF, Australia) built Canberras can't fly, which includes one US registered example which was flown in Australia (IIRC) by its American operator in 1993.

Otherwise the two NASA RB-57s are airworthy in the US, and I believe that's it, but am open to correction.

In Australia we have the ex-Pommie Temora Aviation Museum owned and operated example flying regularly in NSW.

http://www.aviationmuseum.com.au/aircraft/Canberra.cfm

HTH!

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

I believe there are none actually flying in the UK at the moment. But there are some examples capable with some work. There are two at Coventry B.6 - WK163, which was the regular flyer but I don't believe has flown in a while (maybe two or more years) due to engine problems. The second - T.4 - WJ874, I don't believe has flown since it arrived at Coventry in 2005. Then there are the three PR.9s at Kemble, of which only one has been registered with the CAA, but IIRC has never flown in civilian hands.

Going by the CAA database, there are only three with registrations, the two Coventry examples and one of the PR.9s and none of them have a current permit to fly.

http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?c ... e=canberra

Here is a rough list of Canberras with civil registrations...
Aerial Visuals - Canberra Airframe Index

If anyone has any photos that will help fill in the photo gaps in this list please feel free to upload.

Mike

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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
http://www.AerialVisuals.ca
http://www.facebook.com/AerialVisuals

Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

Here is a photo of the one on the Northwest side of the field... registered as N76765, Canberra TT18 HP/HI/181B - http://azaerophoto.com/forum/index.php? ... 75#msg3075

If I recall, the other example is Canberra TT18 EEP13535 (registered as N76764) is over on the CAF ramp... and the wooden vertical stabilizer was certainly delaminating from what it looked like.

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Ryan Keough
Stow, MA

There are a few shots of N76764 and N76765 on airliners.net in their current state as well as pictures of both airframes while still with the UK Navy.

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.s ... entry=true

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.s ... entry=true

Hi JDK; I always enjoy your informative posts. While visiting a number of non-U.S.-focused websites I have come across the term "Pommes" on a number of occassions. Can you clarify the meaning for us, please? Is there an underlying, good-natured, tease in the term?
I googled it but, imagine my surprise to read:
"Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Pomme
(a.)
Having the ends terminating in rounded protuberances or single balls"

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hundreds of images of aero art, memorabilia, photos and artifacts at;
www.memaerobilia.com

Check here:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pommie

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If the first casualty of war is innocence, the second is sobriety - Hawkeye.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws - Plato.
Lies get halfway round the world before the truth has a chance to get it's pants on - Churchill
If you are going through he11 - keep going - Churchill

JDK not quite correct on GAF Canberra's. The one in the USA that came to be there with the PV-1 exchange was grounded due to a flying accident some years ago.

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..defeat is never an option!

Thanks, but my point was simply GAF built Canberras are all effectively grounded due to their wing spar material. If that's incorrect (as it may well be) please feel free to clarify. My understanding was that whatever else you do to make a GAF Canberra fly, you'll need a respar these days.

Hi Barnstormer - As LWF directed, it's a term for British, primarily used by Australians. It's generally not regarded as offensive (context aside) although perhaps a bit more derogatory than Aussie (which we use about ourselves) and definitely less derogatory I'd suggest than 'Limey'. I wouldn't expect to find a good reference in an American dictionary. I'd expect it to be in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) or other British English dictionaries, and the main Australian dictionary is the Macquarie. (And as LWF's reference says, the back-forms of the origin to Pom are all bull.)

Cheers!

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

I was in the RAAF when the Canberra's shut-down. You are correct in that they found fatigue issues in a couple of the last few flying with No 2 Sqn on target towing and photo mapping. On that basis they phased the Canberra type out. Some could have been kept flying but the numbers did not add up and we could do banner towing with the Mirage 111 in lieu. Photo mapping went to a Lear 35 on contract.

It is like the current Caribou situation where it is not feasible to keep a fleet going.

Doesn't mean that some of them could be kept flying!

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..defeat is never an option!

Was up for auction fall 2009
WJ574 - '844' Located Melbourne FL. USA

"WJ574 was purchased by US-based Tom Foscue, and was registered as N77844 for the ferry trip to its new home. It departed the UK on 5th May 1994 and made California its new home. The aeroplane remained airworthy for the rest of the decade, and received an avionics upgrade at Van Nuys airfield in 2000. A few years later, the aeroplane was reportedly sold to Aero Group Inc. at Tulsa and operating on trials work on behalf of the United States military.

Today, WJ574 is currently in open store at Melbourne International Airport in Florida, USA. The aeroplane has not flown for some time, and suffered damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when Jet Provost Mk.5A N316HC was pushed into its right wing. Unfortunately, it is reported that the aeroplane has accrued a high number of unpaid parking fees, and attempts to contact the owners have proved impossible.
On 29th July 2009, the aeroplane was scheduled to be auctioned as cash only sale, with the sales terms stating that the aeroplane be moved in 48 hours! There has been no news of any change of ownership so WJ574's future may be in jeopardy which would be a sad end for the last airworthy ex-FRADU TT.18."

The above from this site. It's service record is here also. http://www.fradu-canberras.co.uk/fraducan/844wj574.html

Below taken in 2007 (Mike, feel free to use for AVI)

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Bill


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