EE Canberra and Martin B-57

[jcf]

Hi Joe, ah so.  

I have drawings of the later civil projects, but they just look like generic small jets of the Lockheed Jetstar or the more modern CRJ or Embraer sort. Nothing of the Canberra about them.

Have you seen the Martin proposal for the Canberra Transport? Mikesh's "Martin B-57 Canberra: The Complete Record" has photos of the model and mockup along with a centreline section view of a proposed Electronic Warfare training version. The proposal had a new fuselage from the centre of the wing forward incorporating airline type seating and a new side-by-side seating cockpit. The engines were to be changed from J65s to J79s.

Cheers, Jon

[Archibald]

B-57 with A-6E TRAM FLIR mounted on the underside of the fuselage in a retractable mount for an improved weapons delivery platform for night and adverse weather.

Exactly what I did for my San amerigo B-57, I grafted a flir turret left by an A-6...  

[ysi_maniac]

^^^^ Change the name: E E Ottawa

[The Rat]

^^^^ Change the name: E E Ottawa

Hmmm... I kinda like that. The original idea was for it to work with EE Lightnings, hence 'Thunder'. But the capital city continuance makes sense too.    

[gooberliberation]

Has anyone considered backdating the Canberra design by a few years into a "RAF/USAAF '46" design, mabye scale-o-rama it up like 1/72 into 1/48?

Gotta give all those Napkinwaffe fighters something to shoot at  

[Lawman]

Following the Defence Review of 1965, the New Zealand government decides that it needs to renew its combat fleet. The Air Force cast a wide search net, looking at F-4s, A-4s and a variety of others. Due to the range issues, however, it is decided that the best bet might be to heavily upgrade the existing Canberra fleet. They are to be upgraded with a new radar, derived from the F-4 Phantom's radar, and are given new weapons systems. They are to operate alongside a modest force of F-5Fs, which are to operate as both trainers and interceptors. As such, a total of 20 Canberras and 20 F-5s are upgraded or procured. There is a total of sixteen flight crews for each type, all dual trained. A modest number of the aircraft are actually in service at any one time, but are put on the flightline as needed, e.g. more Canberras for long range recon or strike, or more Tigers for interception.

These Canberras have two flight crew in tandem, using a modified version of the cockpit off the American RB-57s. All the aircraft are to use a common series of weapons, i.e. the Maverick, Sidewinder, 500lb bombs, and even anti-shipping Martel missiles.  

[Captain Canada]

Sounds good ! When can we expect to see them on the flightline ?

 

[Maverick]

Nice concept Lawman.  Given the Kiwi Canberras were Interdictors with a 'fighter canopy', one might be able to retain that layout and just bury the nav-bn in the nose along with the radar.

Love the concept tho, quite well thought out.

Mav

[Lawman]

A few years ago I saw a really nice pic of an American Canberra test aircraft, fitted with the Bomarc's nose, for testing purpsoses, and it looked really good. It got me wondering what could have been if the Canberra had been turned into a proper night fighter, like its forebear, i.e. the DH Mosquito! Perhaps even more radical derivatives - an ultra-high altitude interceptor? It could use the wings of the RB-57F, and a suitable radar, and be able to engage targets flying at ridiculous altitudes, up to about 80,000ft! Similarly, there are other potential mods, e.g. an AWACS Canberra? It would fly up to very high altitude, and lower a suitable radar, perhaps the Searchwater, and look for hundreds of miles. It could act as a QRA searchlight, i.e. fly up high, and give AEW overwatch for the fighters, especially when true AWACS types weren't available.

[Maverick]

I guess the only real danger to an ultra-high AWACS type would be it's vulnerability to SAMs and AAMs.  Remember the U-2 got knocked down as a direct result and the B-1 changed from a high-altitude bomber to low-altitude for the same reason.

[elmayerle]

I guess the only real danger to an ultra-high AWACS type would be it's vulnerability to SAMs and AAMs.  Remember the U-2 got knocked down as a direct result and the B-1 changed from a high-altitude bomber to low-altitude for the same reason.

OTOH, an ultra-high-altitude awacs-type should be able to stay over friendly territory for the most part and avoid the majority of those problems.  Of course, a fairly sophisticated missile-warning system would likely also be a requirement.

[SPINNERS]

A little bit like my Indian Air Force Canberra perhaps?

[Lawman]

Brilliant! That's exactly the sort of thing I was thinking Spinners!    

[Archibald]

A few years ago I saw a really nice pic of an American Canberra test aircraft, fitted with the Bomarc's nose, for testing purpsoses, and it looked really good. It got me wondering what could have been if the Canberra had been turned into a proper night fighter, like its forebear, i.e. the DH Mosquito! Perhaps even more radical derivatives - an ultra-high altitude interceptor? It could use the wings of the RB-57F, and a suitable radar, and be able to engage targets flying at ridiculous altitudes, up to about 80,000ft! Similarly, there are other potential mods, e.g. an AWACS Canberra? It would fly up to very high altitude, and lower a suitable radar, perhaps the Searchwater, and look for hundreds of miles. It could act as a QRA searchlight, i.e. fly up high, and give AEW overwatch for the fighters, especially when true AWACS types weren't available.

Mind you, there actually was a Canberra nighfighter project. It was the Mk.12 variant of 1958.
The Red Dean AAM and its radar were so heavy, bulky and draggy that it was easier to build a subsonic interceptor arounnd them, rather than a F-155T.
So the Canberra was selected... it was already used as testbed for the weapon    

[SPINNERS]

It's the last model I built... back in March!

I need to raid my stash