English Electric Canberra: Books - History and Deployment

Canberra - The Greatest Multi Role Aircraft of the Cold War (Volume 1)

An aviation legend designed in the mid-1940s, the English Electric Canberra entered service in 1951 with RAF Bomber Command. It served in the conventional, interdictor and nuclear bomber role with the RAF, Germany, the Middle East and the Far East.
Its performance and adaptability made it ideal as a reconnaissance aircraft and the final version, the Canberra PR.9, only finally retired in July 2006.

The Canberra was used in many support roles, especially in signals/electronic warfare. It was adopted by air forces from South America to Africa and India as well as Australia and New Zealand and licence-built as the Martin B-57.
It was involved in conflicts from the Suez Crisis and the Malayan Emergency, and various other hot spots with the RAF, to the Australian and USAF ops in Vietnam, and even the Indo-Pakistani War when both sides used Canberras, and the 1982 Falklands War.
Used in trials and evaluation, the Canberra held various height and speed records, and NASA's High Altitude Research Program WB-57s are still active.
The Canberra is beloved by many dedicated enthusiasts and aircraft (or cockpits) still survive in museums, as well as some in flying condition.

This book is beautifully illustrated with many rare and unpublished photographs.

Canberra - The Greatest Multi Role Aircraft of the Cold War (Volume 2)

With a 50-year career record from the Suez and Vietnam War, the versatile, unique and popular Canberra became an aviation legend.
It was involved in a number of conflicts with many of those users, the most intense of which was the USAF use in Vietnam, although Canberras were also on both sides in the India-Pakistan conflicts; a number of conflicts in South America saw Canberra involvement, the Argentinian Canberras flew ops against the British Task Force in the Falklands conflict.

This volume also looks at overall development of the Canberra, and the role of the Operational Conversion Unit in training both RAF and overseas aircrew.
The Canberra was used extensively in trials and evaluation, and, with NASA, a small number of aircraft still perform this role (2022). The aircraft has attracted interest from enthusiasts, and this has ensured that a significant number of aircraft survive in museums and private collections, and a few are kept in flying condition.

English Electric Canberra - The History and Development of a Classic Jet

This amazing aeroplane first flew in 1949, and as at 2005, is still in front-line service with the RAF. It has served in a variety of roles including those of medium conventional bomber, tactical nuclear bomber, photo-reconnaissance, night intruder, navigational trainer, maritime strike, electronic countermeasures, atomic cloud sampling and target-towing.
It was manufactured in the USA under license as the Martin B-57, and in Australia under licence as the Canberra B-20. It has been exported to Argentina, Chile, France, Germany, India, Peru, Sweden, Venezuela, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries.

This book looks at the development of the aircraft during the early days of jet power and especially at its Rolls-Royce Avon power-plant. It was Britain's first jet bomber. Each of the many marks and variants are described and illustrated by many remarkable and rare photographs.
The type's record of service with RAF squadrons throughout its service life is given together with descriptions of the many experimental models that were used in the development of a variety of weapons and avionic systems.

Black Box Canberras : British Test and Trials Canberras 1951-1994

English Electric's Canberra saw an unbroken 46 years of service in the UK as a test and trials aircraft from 1951 until final retirement in 1994. Flown by Government research establishments, military units and military defence contractors on a vast range of tasks, the versatile Canberra contributed to the development of aircraft engines, airborne radars, reconnaissance sensors, aircrew equipment, nuclear weapons, conventional armament, missiles and much more besides.

The Canberra was flown in particular as a platform for the majority of post-war UK-developed airborne interception radars, from AI.18 through AI.20, AI.23 and a number of experimental radars, to AI.24 Foxhunter and beyond.
Other projects covered included missile programmes; electro-optical sensors for the TSR-2 optical linescan; reconnaissance radars for the V-Force and the TSR.2's P.391 SLAR and the ASTOR SAR that led to the Sentinel R.1.

The UK stealth programme and the 'Rubber Duck' Canberra is examined as are Double Scorpion and Spectre rocket engines as well as aiming systems and the Q-band strike radar. The huge variety of airframe modifications and colour schemes of these special aircraft are fully illustrated making this an invaluable book for the aviation enthusiast, modeller and historian.

RAF Canberra Units of the Cold War (Osprey)

From its first public demonstration at the Farnborough Airshow of 1949, the English Electric Canberra bomber captured the attention of the aviation world. It could outmanoeuvre all the fighters of the time and it could climb way above their operating ceilings. Yet this Cold War equivalent of the Mosquito was simple to maintain and a delight to fly, although it could bite any pilot who did not treat it with respect.
The Canberra B 2 first flew on 21 April 1950 and entered frontline service with No 101 Sqn in May 1951. In a testament to the aircraft's benign handling characteristics, the transition programme consisted of only 20 hours in the Gloster Meteor and three hours in the dual-control Canberra trainer. With a maximum speed of 470 knots (871 km/h), a standard service ceiling of 48,000 ft (14,600 m) and the ability to carry a 3.6-tonne (7,900-lb) payload, the Canberra was an instant success.

Contents: Canberra creation - The first Canberras into service: trailblazer for Cold War tactical bombing tactics - The Suez Campaign - Supporting Christmas Island nuclear weapons tests - Canberra Light Bomber Force deployments to Middle and Far East - Canberra involvement in RAF - USAF nuclear strike plans - Canberra versatility: strategic photo and electronic reconnaissance - Overall evaluation - Appendices: Listing all units equipped with the Canberra and where they were based.