[Note: Today I was looking around a bit on the Just Flight's website, and among their Demos, the Canberra, caught my attention, as something, worth testing (or/and acquiring later), ready to be flown, here, free, in the Registration of XH134 in its (lovely) silver paint scheme - fully featured in the Demo, but, please note, limited to an altitude of only 1,000 feet...]

Canberra was a unique aircraft. Here is a short (but, not exhaustive) list of its features and credentials:

1. Developed (just past WW II) by English Electric Company (most would recall their EE Lightning...) during the mid-to-late 1940s, and, designed like the earlier (incomparable, and, until then, irreplaceable) de Havilland Mosquito, it was meant as a successor to the famous (but piston-powered) fast bomber.
2. When the Canberra B.2 entered service with 101 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF), in 1951, it became the service's very first jet-powered bomber.
3. Throughout most of the 1950s, the Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other aircraft in the world, and established several impressive records of the time. For example, early prototypes, operated by Rolls-Royce, would regularly fly in the range (60,000-70,000) feet altitudes, where the usable speed range (so called "coffin corner") could be as restricted as mere 25 knots (Side Note: Coffin corner is a term used to describe an aerodynamic condition at high altitude when the maximum speed and the minimum speed are nearly the same, making it very difficult to control and keep an airplane in stable flight, because of the narrow acceptable airspeed window).
4. The Canberra proved versatile, beyond its (initially intended) bomber role, and, in particular, as an excellent Photo Reconnaissance (= PR) aircraft. The Canberra PR.3 was the first aircraft to be designed for the RAF purely to perform photo reconnaissance missions. The Canberra PR.9 (subject plane of this post) was the final photo reconnaissance version; specially redesigned for that objective, and furnished with much more powerful Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engines.
5. With its two jet engines, the overall design, of the Canberra, has been described as being of a simple nature, but may appear a bit off-normal. The fuselage is what is referred to as a "semi-monocoque construction". The monocoque (French for “single shell”) design integrated the skin and frame into a single load-bearing shell (please see images - especially the wings across its width) yielding significant improvements to strength and weight.

The RAF retired its final three PR.9 variants of the Canberra on 28 July 2006. This signaled the final curtain of RAF's Canberras after nearly 55 years service. In July 2013, a fully restored and airworthy Canberra XH134 (same registration as in this post) took to the sky, again, alongside two Hawker Hunters, as a participant, in the airshow season, delighting the crowds, with its elegance and power (video suggestions included below).

However, per current records, by March 2016, this XH134 Canberra has been placed up for sale. The aircraft is described as complete, but in need of re-certification before being flown. It is the last flying Canberra left in the world! It is currently being offered for £90,000, if you're interested,...🙂...which is actually a snip compared to what it would cost to own and fly it! So, those without substantial funds will be on a prayer when trying to maintain it, as it would cost an astronomical £50,000 an hour to fly, due to the aircraft's use of high octane jet fuel, but I also read that, "It is one hell of a big boys' toy though...". And, personally I have absolutely no doubts about that assertion...though...🙂...

Next, a bit about the flight, for this post:
After the end of the WW II, the Australian government initiated a wide-scale reorganization of its existing military fleet. As part of this process, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) decided to acquire the Canberra. In fact, the government also decided that the RAAF's Canberras would be constructed domestically in Australia, as opposed to being manufactured in the UK. On 29 May 1953, the first Australian-built Canberra performed its first flight at Avalon Airport, Victoria. Then the Canberra fleet would dutifully continue to serve Australia for a total of 29 years before their retirement in June 1982.

So, please find below, a set of images for a (sample) flight with Canberra PR.9 (XH134), taking off from Airport (YMAV) Avalon, Victoria, from where the very first Australian Canberra had taken to the sky! As I've (already) indicated above, the Demo plane is limited to an altitude of 1,000 feet (and, obviously, hard to fly, but does give you a feel of of the SIM,...have not yet fully tried its automatic pilot). So, I've maintained, as best as I could, altitudes ~ (500-700) feet, (recall again, the RW Canberra could fly at (50,000-70,000) feet...!), and I have flown just above the waters of the Bay, nearby to the south,...off the coast (please see images)...Nonetheless, hope, you enjoy this collection of images of this distinct-looking (cold-war relic) classic...!

RW Airshow (Video) Suggestions for XH134:

1. (4.08 min) English Electric Canberra XH134 display at Farnborough
2. (3.54 min) Canberra XH134 Display - Dawlish Air Show 2014

[Note: The first video includes clips of takeoff and landing, but, I liked the 2nd video better....(those near-vertical turns, and flying just past those menacing (August) clouds...! Nice...! (BTW, I just read that, in Dawlish, the English seaside resort town, the month of August, essentially brings constant cloud covers, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 45% throughout the month)....]

Thanks for viewing and your interest...!!

[JF(Canberra PR.9/Demo), Orbx(AU), REX]

Very interesting post and that plane is superb P_7878, the details are nice too. I hope I can port her over to MSFS, once the new sim comes out 🙂

Edited July 2, 20205 yr by bernd1151

***Superb*** What a Unique Aircraft

On 7/2/2020 at 12:34 PM, bernd1151 said:

Very interesting post and that plane is superb P_7878, the details are nice too. I hope I can port her over to MSFS, once the new sim comes out 🙂

Bernd: Thanks...!. Yes...nothing like a few such interesting planes to spice up the new SIM even more....!!

 

23 hours ago, Phantom88 said:

***Superb*** What a Unique Aircraft

Patrick: Appreciated...! And, about "Unique", agree, that's what I'd said to myself too..., and it'd caught my attention...!

Indeed, a unique aircraft.  We had a squadron of the US version (B57) at Elmendorf AFB back in '58 - remember the black smoke when they started engines.

Edited July 4, 20205 yr by olderndirt

Love the history! Love the captures!