.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!.......Good Thursday Morning Everyone!
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.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!I saw Gettysburg in the title and felt gloomy again. Last spring I finally got the DVD of Gettysburg the movie, but then someone with sticky fingers took it home with them. It's a great movie but Martin Sheen is nauseating as General Robert E. Lee in my opinion.
For the first time in my life I saw Lee without the rose-colored glasses, and was furious with him for prolonging that awful war. I don't remember who played Longstreet, but that guy was absolutely perfect. I loved that historical novel, Gettysburg, and the movie. It's the only fictionalized account of the War I've ever enjoyed, except for the Red Badge of Courage.
As you see, I get talky so early in the morning, already tanked up on coffee! LOL
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Air Power |
The origins of the B-57 Canberra can be traced indirectly to the latter part of World War II when the Luftwaffe began combat operations with two jet propelled aircraft. The Messerschmidt and the Arado. Although the introduction of these two aircraft was too late to affect the outcome of the war, it sent a shock throughout the allied air forces. In 1951, the United States broke a long-standing tradition by purchasing a foreign military aircraft to be manufactured in quantity for the U.S. Air Force. The B-57 is a modified version of the English Electric Canberra which was first flown in Great Britain on May 13, 1949, and later produced for the Royal Air Force.
After the Korean Conflict began in 1950, the U. S. Air Force looked for a jet-powered medium bomber to replace the aging Douglas B-26 Invader. Korean war experience revealed an urgent USAF need for a high-performance jet-powered night-intruder aircraft capable of precise nighttime and bad-weather weapons delivery on moving targets located hundreds of miles from home base. The need was considered so pressing that the time usually required for development of a new aircraft was deemed unacceptable. Hence, an existing "off the shelf " aircraft was sought to fill the mission requirements. From a number of candidate vehicles, including the previously discussed North American B-45 Tornado, the English Electric Canberra bomber was selected to fill the USAF night-intruder role. In March 1951, the USAF contracted with the Glenn Martin Company to build the Canberra in the United States under a licensing agreement with English Electric. The first Canberra in American colors flew in 1951 with the first American built Canberra or Intruder in 1953. The Martin-built B-57 made its first flight on July 20, 1953. When production was terminated in 1959, a total of 403 Canberras had been produced for the USAF.
The Canberra was originally developed in response to a British requirement issued in 1945 for a high-altitude bomber. First flight of the aircraft took place in May 1949. The first Martin-produced Canberra, known as the B-57 in USAF nomenclature, made its initial flight in July [391] 1953; before production of the Martin-built B-57 ended, 403 examples of the type had been produced. In England, total production of the Canberra was 984 units. By the summer of 1980, about three decades after the first flight of the Canberra, the type was still in the active inventory of 12 countries. The aircraft is no longer in active service with combat units of either the USAF or the RAF although a few are still used by the United States Air National Guard. A number of B-57 aircraft also fill a variety of utility roles with different United States Government agencies.
As with so many of the early jet aircraft, configuration of the B-57 was similar in concept to contemporary twin-engine propeller-driven aircraft but with jet engines replacing the reciprocating units. The unswept wing had a relatively low aspect ratio of 4.27 and airfoil thickness ratios that varied from 12 percent at the root to 9 percent at the tip. With so low an aspect ratio, the maximum lift-drag ratio might be expected to be very low. On the contrary, the large surface area of the wing relative to that of the fuselage and other elements of the aircraft gave a low zero-lift drag coefficient of 0.0 119 and a maximum lift-drag ratio of 15.0. Power was provided by two nonafterburning Wright J65-W-5 turbojet engines of 7,200 pounds thrust each. These Wright engines were an American-built version of the British Rolls-Royce Avon. Conventional rudders, ailerons, and elevators were used for control of the aircraft. Simple high-lift flaps were located in the wing trailing edge between the engine nacelles and the sides of the fuselage.
The two-man crew of the B-57 consisted of a pilot and navigator-bombardier-radar operator who were seated in a tandem arrangement. As compared with the B-57A, later versions of the aircraft had an extended canopy to enhance visibility for both crew members. Pressurization, air-conditioning, and ejection seats were provided for the crew. Various types of weapons such as bombs and rockets could be carried externally as well as in an internal bomb bay located in the fuselage. A Martin innovation, not included on the British Canberra, was the unique rotary bomb door similar to the one on the P6M flying boat. The bombs were loaded on the door assembly itself which would rotate completely inside the bomb bay prior to weapon release. In the closed position, bombs were attached to the inner side of the door, and bomb release took place after the door was rotated through 180°. Armament consisted of eight .50-caliber machine guns.
The B-57 is usually considered to be a light bomber; however, this classification must be related to the time frame under discussion. With a gross weight of 53,721 pounds, the B-57B was only 2,000 pounds lighter than the Boeing B-17G, one of the standard heavy bombers of World War II. Mission radius of the B-57B was 948 miles with a payload of 5240 pounds, and ferry range was 2722 miles. Maximum speed was 598 miles per hour (Mach 0.79) at 2500 feet and cruising speed was 476 miles per hour. The performance characteristics of the B-57B and the B-45C have many similarities. Being about twice as heavy as the B-57B, the B-45C carried nearly twice the payload for approximately the same mission distance.
The Canberra class of aircraft has seen action in many wars, including service with the USAF in Vietnam. More recently, it was used by the Argentine Air Force in the undeclared war with Britain in the Falkland Islands. Although the B-57 was originally procured by the USAF as a night intruder, it has been successfully used in many other roles, including photoreconnaissance and strategic bombing. No distinctive design innovations were incorporated in the purely subsonic B-57; however, its pertinent design parameters were chosen in such a way that the aircraft was readily adaptable to a variety of roles calling for diverse characteristics.
One version, the RB-57 with greatly enlarged wings, served as a stratospheric reconnaissance aircraft. Other B-57s served as tactical aircraft in Vietnam.
The EB-57B electronic warfare version called the "Night Intruder" dispensed chaff to jam hostile radar transmissions. Other B-57s were used to tow targets and as transitional trainers for jet aircrews.
In the early 1970s, a Martin B-57B Canberra light bomber was used in several NASA joint flight test programs at the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center) located at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The early 1970s was a period of growing interest in continuing atmospheric research. The B-57B Camberra was at NASA Flight Research Center for a joint program with NASA Langley Research Center and was having a set of special instrumentation installed for these measurements. Delays in completing the instrumentation provided another opportunity to support the NASA space program. The B-57B was used in proof of concept testing of the Viking Mars landers. The deceleration drop testing part of the program was performed at the Joint Parachute Test Facility, located at El Centro California. With completion of the Viking parachute testing the B-57B Camberra was flown for measuring and analysis of atmospheric turbulence research in 1974-75 as part of a joint NASA program between the Flight Research Center and Langley Research center. Additional atmospheric testing provided samples for aerosols for the University of Wyoming and clear-air turbulence data for the Department of Transportation. The aircraft was tested over a span of many years at Edwards by NASA centers for other types of research. In the early 1960s the B-57B was flown at NASA Flight Research Center by NASA Lewis Research Center in support of the newly established NASA Electronics Center located in Boston, Massachusetts. Later in 1982 the B-57B returned to NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility for more NASA Langley sponsored turbulence testing.
Although not a technically exciting aircraft, the B-57 has certainly proved its worth in many years of effective operation. Because of its wide range of capabilities and docile handling characteristics, the B-57 has sometimes been likened to a Goony Bird with jet engines. ("Goony Bird" is the nickname for the USAF version of the famous Douglas DC-3).
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Glen L. Martin
Primary Role: Light Bomber
Crew: 2 - Pilot and Weapons/Radar Operator
Powerplant: Two Wright J65-W-5 engines or two Buick J65-BW-5 engines with 7,200 lbs thrust each
Dimensions:
Length: 65' 6"
Height: 15' 6"
Wingspan: 64'
Empty Weight: 26,000 lbs
Max Weight: 55,000 lbs
Performance :
Cruise Speed: 450 mph
Max Speed: 570 mph
Service Ceiling: 49,000 ft
Range: 2,000 miles
Armaments:
Guns: 4 - 20mm cannons (or) 8 - .50 caliber machine guns
Bombs: (internal) 5,000 lbs
Bombs: (external) 4 weapons pylons for bombs or rockets
Chamberlain overshadows the 20th Maine in the way that George S. Patton overshadows the U.S. Third Army in World War II.
