English Electric Canberra PR.9 by Xtrakit
1/72 scale
Kit No. XK72004
Retail: $30.00 (aftermarket, out of production)
Decals: One version – No.39 Squadron RAF, Azraq Air Base, Jordan during Operation Telic (2003 Gulf War)
Comments: Engraved panel lines, detailed cockpit and navigator’s stations, resin seats, injection molded canopy
History
The English Electric Canberra was a first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber and the first such aircraft to enter service with Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF). It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the versatile wartime de Havilland Mosquito fast bomber (although once in service, the Canberra would replace not only the Mosquito but long range heavy bombers such as the Lancaster, which remained in service upon the Canberra’s debut in 1951). Among the performance requirements for the type was an outstanding high-altitude bombing capability and high speed.
When the Canberra entered service with the RAF in May 1951, the development of a reconnaissance version was already underway; the prototype Canberra PR.3 had made its first flight on March 19, 1950. It was based on the B.2 but had special cameras installed as well as a lengthened fuselage . The PR.7 followed in 1953. To further improve the high-altitude performance of the Canberra for photo-reconnaissance and to take it out of the reach of potential fighter interception, the Canberra PR.9 was developed.
The PR.9 featured a redesigned, side-opening nose for the navigator, and a higher, opening pilot’s canopy, which was a major improvement for operations in hot climates. It was powered by two Avon 206 turbojet engines of 11,250 lbs. of thrust each, and was projected to be able to reach an altitude of at least 60,000 feet. However, the prototype barely reached 59,800 feet during a flight test on September 18, 1956, with test pilot Roland Beamont reporting that the PR.9 had to claw its way to that altitude and barely had enough fuel to get home.
The plane’s altitude performance was a disappointment, particularly in light of developments in the U.S. with the American license-built Martin B-57, which with increases in both wing span and engine power was reaching altitude’s approaching 70,000 feet. Despite this failing, it was quite fast, and proved that it could outrun the leading RAF fighters of the day — Gloster Meteors, de Havilland Vampires, and license-built American Sabre jets, all of which attempted interception.
The Canberra was unique, since no other reconnaissance platform could carry four different and complementary imaging systems (the electro-optical sensor or EOS, the F95 low-level cameras with 4- or 12-in lenses and 70 mm film, the Zeiss RMK survey camera, and the KA-93 panoramic camera that provided wide-angle coverage from the horizon to the vertical on both sides of the flightpath using a 24-in focal length lens) at the same time as high as 50,000 ft. for up to five hours.
Operations
In 1954, the Canberra was the first British aircraft to overfly the North Pole; in 1955, it was deployed to Singapore against communist guerillas in Malaya, and would return for similar operations during 1957-1960; in 1956, Canberra squadrons accounted for half of the 30 RAF squadrons deployed to the Middle East during the Suez Crisis, operating from Akrotiri, Cyprus. A Canberra of No. 10 Squadron dropped the first bombs of the campaign on October 31 at the airfield at Almaza. High altitude night bombing from 40,000 feet by Canberras and Valiants proved largely inaccurate, and subsequent daytime air attacks were launched from lower altitudes. One Canberra, WH799, was lost in action during the campaign, shot down by a Soviet-built MiG-15.
Months before the Suez Crisis, upon the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian President Abdel Nasser, the crew of an RAF Canberra transiting Eqypt on a routine long-range exercise had been taken into custody at gunpoint by euphoric Egyptian soldiers once they landed to refuel. After a night in a jail cell, led by Air Commodore Dan Honley, they pushed open the door to find their guard — and everyone else on the base — sleeping off the previous night’s celebrations. Tiptoeing past the slumbering soldiers, they retrieved their confiscated possessions, walked out to their Canberra, started up and flew away!
Canberras would take on a nuclear role during 1957-58 when the bomber and interdictor versions were gradually withdrawn from service for modifications to allow them to carry atomic weapons, to be delivered at low altitude by tossing them using LABS, the low altitude bombing system.
Just as it appeared that the Canberra’s days in RAF service were numbered, the Labour Government announced the cancellation in April 1965 of the TSR.2 tactical strike aircraft. This was quickly followed by the collapse of the Anglo-French variable geometry bomber project, and the cancellation of the planned purchase from the U.S. of the General Dynamics F-111 — the ostensible replacement for the TSR.2.
The Canberra would remain in front-line service into the 21st Century, flying sorties during the 2003 Gulf War. No. 39 Squadron completed 150 missions during the Iraqi conflict, flying twice daily from its base at Azraq, in Jordan. “Our initial tasking,” recalled one aircrew member, “was in the western Iraqi desert, Scud hunting. We flew three missions a day, each nine hours solid, looking at 17 ‘areas of interest’. We data linked most of our imagery and the photo interpreters scanned for Scuds, but none were found.” The wet film imagery gathered by the unit was of such high quality that a photograph taken from 47,000 ft. over Basra showed skid marks from a bus crashed on a bombed bridge. The English Electric Canberra, one of the most versatile reconnaissance and bombing aircraft of the Cold War, would not be retired from RAF service until 2006, representing an impressive service life of 55 years.
The Kit
Xtrakit’s Canberra PR.9 is a short run injection molded kit consisting of 77 parts, including two resin seats and nine clear parts for the canopy, cabin windows and apertures for photo reconnaissance cameras. Detail in the cockpit is rather good for a short run kit, with recessed detail in the main instrument panel, and raised and recessed detail on the side panels. There is a two-part control yoke with bomber-style control wheel. Sidewall panels (devoid of detail) and a rear bulkhead round out the cockpit assembly.
Once the fuselage is closed up, the kit is relatively straightforward, although as a short run kit it has no locator pins to assist with aligning the parts, so it is likely that puttying and sanding will also be required. The kit unfortunately does not include the navigator’s station at all, despite the fact that two resin seats are provided. This may be just as well, since if the kit is built with the landing gear down, a nose weight will be needed and the best place for it will be in the nose tip, i.e. the navigator’s station.
The kit features boxed in wheel wells and relatively detailed landing gear. The clear part for the camera apertures is located in the rear of the fuselage. Parts are also provided for the intake fans, adding a measure of detail to the engine nacelles.
Markings
The Canberra’s decals are of the low-visibility type and include a fair amount of stencil detail. A single version is provided for a PR.9 that took part in Operation Telic, the RAF component of the air campaign launched against Iraq during the 2003 Gulf War. It has a camouflage scheme of Hemp upper surfaces over Light Grey undersides.
Conclusion
This is short run kit that may require a bit of extra work, but it is above average in its level of detail, and should build into a crisp, smart looking photo recon version of the Canberra. Highly recommended.
References
- English Electric Canberra by Roland Beamont and Arthur Reed; Copyright 1984 R. Beamont and A. Reed; published by Ian Allen, Ltd., London.
- www.nationalcoldwarexhibiion.org
- www.rafmuseum.org.uk
