Posted on 02/27/2007 9:29:29 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Kalam to witness Canberra’s final flight
Rahul Singh
New Delhi, February 27, 2007
Once a formidable workhorse of the Indian Air Force, the Canberra bomber will soon become a relic of history.
But before the air force phases out its longest-serving aircraft, the bomber will take to the skies for the last time from Chandigarh on March 7 as part of a 102-aircraft flypast planned for the President’s fleet review. The Canberra’s "final appearance" comes half a century after its induction in the IAF in 1957. The IAF plans to phase out the English bomber by the end of next month.
The Canberra has a proven record of versatility in IAF service. Group Captain RD Mathur, who is involved in organising the fleet review, told HT: "It’s been used for strategic reconnaissance, target towing, photo reconnaissance and interdiction."
An added dimension to the bomber’s final flight is that it comes in the IAF’s platinum jubilee year and during a fleet review being held after 30 years. The air force currently operates only one Canberra squadron.
The bombers first went into action in 1961 during the liberation of Goa. Their reliability and survivability remained unparalleled in Congo and the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971. During the Kargil conflict, a Canberra was assigned to conduct photo survey along the LoC. A missile hit it but the pilot still managed to land.
The upcoming presidential review will be the IAF’s fourth. Previous editions were held in 1954, 1972 and 1976. From MiG-21s to Sukhoi-30s and Dorniers to Embraers, every aircraft in the IAF's inventory will take part in the fleet review.
E-mail Rahul Singh: rahulsingh@hindustantimes.com
And as the B-57 did night interdiction during the Vietnam War and long range reconnaissance in Asia and Europe.
Is NASA now the only organization that still flies B-57's?
From the Wiki:
But perhaps the best remembered role was in the Cold War, where modified very high-altitude Canberras overflew the Soviet Union and China many times before the advent of the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. In 1955 the USAF ordered 20 RB-57Ds from Martin, with modified Pratt & Whitney J57 engines and an extended 33 metre wingspan. These, and a later version with longer 37 metre wings, were used for both photographic and electronic reconnaissance.
On 24 December 1957, a USAF RB-57 was shot down by Soviet fighters over the Black Sea, and in February 1958 and October 1959 RB-57Ds operated by the Chinese Nationalists were shot down over mainland China. After President Eisenhower's 1960 ban on overflying the USSR, they continued to monitor Eastern Bloc nations, often flying just outside territorial limits at about 60,000 ft (18,300 m) to look deep into the forbidden territory, until 14 December 1965 (1968 according to other accounts) when an RB-57F was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over the Black Sea near Odessa.
I want one......
That seems to be the case.
I believe you are correct. One of NASA's WB-57s deployed to Afghanistan last year to do hyperspectral imagery of the country.
I thought that, at least until recently, the RAF was still keeping a couple airborne? Or have they finally been retired? A propos of nothing in particular, there was a moving ceremony on a small rural canal bank just 800 yards from my home recently, to unveil a plaque commemorating two RAF lads who crashed there in a Canberra in 1951. The pilot couild have ejected, but he stayed at the controls to avoid the nearby town. Two Eurofighter Typhoons did a spectacular low-level flypast as the service ended, going into one of their apparently physically impossible climbing manoeuvres directly overhead. Quite a sight for our sleepy Devon backwater.
Was a certain LT2 J. Effing Kerry the source of those "other accounts", a la Christmas in Cambodia.
"...will soon become a relic of history."
I though it was a relic in '75.
Where is Godzilla in that picture?
No the CIA/USAF/intel pukes in general don't want to admit to mission losses. It would appear some aircraft accidents 'back in the day' may have Russian cannon fire as the source of malfunction.
SO do you list date of admission or the actual date of shootdown?
While many view the pratice of lying to families as distasteful secrets are, well, secrets.
"Where is Godzilla in that picture?"
I think he's firing at the Canberras from the ground. :)
Thanks for the ping. I thought these birds had long since fossilized.
The Aussies had a squadron of Canberras at Phan Rang in 1970.
"Used in the US/UK and Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Rhodesia, South Africa, Sweden, Venezuela and West Germany."
Curious that Australia is ommited from that list given that many were actually built there and the fact that it is named after Australia's capital city!
My bad thought I had US/UK/AU in the post
You must be confusing me for Waldo.
My Father-in-law was a airframe engineer on them in the RAAF.
Cool stuff. They saw combat in India, so it, as a platform, saw a lot of action. But like all aircraft, at some point they get retired.
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