Hi All
A bit of lazy Friday afternoon surfing has prompted me to post this question.
As you are probably aware the RAF is retiring its handful of remaining Canberra PR9’s later this year. I was just wondering what the likelihood is of any of these falling into private hands and being operated on the civillian register in the same fashion as numerous Hunters, the mighty Sea Vixen and the soon to fly Bucc are at the moment.
Certainly the PR9 would be a fantastic display aircraft with those two mighty Avon’s…
Just a thought.
Cheers
Nick
By: bloodnok - 20th October 2006 at 20:12
1989 was the last PR9 solo routine. I cant recall any previous to that but saw many do various height recce runs, finishing with a max rate climb! WOW!
1990-1991 had a TT18 from 100 sqn fill the gap – good but not quite the grunt of a ‘9! Rumour has it the 1989 pilot caused a bit of stir at IAT ’89 (the very hot one!) After his saturday display, he was reprimanded by the flying control committee for an as yet undisclosed breach of the strict rules. He departed sat pm allegedly in somewhat of a strop , never to be seen again! If anyone can enlighten/ fill in, quantify that story, I’d love to hear it.
i remember that canberra turning up, it parked just opposite us (i was on the TWCU tornado at the time), and can still remember them opening the nose up to let the nav out.
i remember the crew standing at the front of it like the rest of us with our aircraft when the king of jordan did a walk through of all the active aircraft, we got a bit of a telling off though as we weren’t in uniform, just shorts and t-shirts as it was so hot.
i can’t remember when the aircraft left, but i have to admit i thought it was there for the weekend, as i can’t recall a big empty slot opposite us, but i could well be wrong, my memory of that weekend have several blurry bits due to various partys (including blagging tickets to the red arrows 25th birthday bash!).
By: kodak - 22nd February 2006 at 14:21
When was the last time the RAF fielded a full PR.9 solo display….?
I can’t say I recall one since one season back in the mid-late 1980’s which would mean 20 odd years ago nearly…. 😮 😮
I distinctly remember an awesome solo PR.9 display at one of the West Malling Great Warbirds displays sometime then.That alone could be some sort of record….longest interval between service solo displays….. 😀
1989 was the last PR9 solo routine. I cant recall any previous to that but saw many do various height recce runs, finishing with a max rate climb! WOW!
1990-1991 had a TT18 from 100 sqn fill the gap – good but not quite the grunt of a ‘9! Rumour has it the 1989 pilot caused a bit of stir at IAT ’89 (the very hot one!) After his saturday display, he was reprimanded by the flying control committee for an as yet undisclosed breach of the strict rules. He departed sat pm allegedly in somewhat of a strop , never to be seen again! If anyone can enlighten/ fill in, quantify that story, I’d love to hear it.
By: LesB - 21st February 2006 at 13:10
OK on that fatnav. Was mostly a B(I)8 & B.6R man myself with only line-type servicing knowledge of the 9s. I did recall though that their performace was constrained. 😉
Still, would be an experience to see one do its stuff unconstrained again. Recall the way 58Sqn at Wyton in the early 60s used to use them in the ‘old’ days when we had a proper Air Force. :rolleyes:
By: Firebird - 21st February 2006 at 12:46
I was in the PR.9 that demonstrated at Battle of Britain displays at Biggin Hill in Sep 74.
I was there……. 😀
By: fatnav - 21st February 2006 at 12:18
Firebird, don’t know if it was the last but I was in the PR.9 that demonstrated at Battle of Britain displays at Biggin Hill and St Athan in Sep 74. Problem was we operated under 1 Group, formerly Bomber Command, and the restrictions placed on us were horrendous.
By: Firebird - 21st February 2006 at 12:11
When was the last time the RAF fielded a full PR.9 solo display….?
I can’t say I recall one since one season back in the mid-late 1980’s which would mean 20 odd years ago nearly…. 😮 😮
I distinctly remember an awesome solo PR.9 display at one of the West Malling Great Warbirds displays sometime then.
That alone could be some sort of record….longest interval between service solo displays….. 😀
By: fatnav - 21st February 2006 at 12:11
LesB, You are slightly wrong in saying the PR.9 normally uses only 80% power for take off. In fact the norn is 90% unless one is operating from a high altitude airfield, such as Teheran, or in very high temperatures. This is because of the problem for drivers airframe to hold it in control should you lose an engine. The assymetrical thrust would cause the aircraft to want to roll…not what is wanted that clost to terra firma. As an ex PR.9 nav I experienced a 100% power take off at Tengah in Singapore, and we crossed the airfield perimeter at 10,000ft plus.
By: LesB - 21st February 2006 at 11:26
Be good to see a PR9 blasting round the skys, pity that it couldnt last the whole season!
Just a thought . . .
As the 9 will not be flying much after Waddo (or IAT), maybe the pilot will be allowed to use more than 80% power on take off. I’ve seen 9s in their early days take off under the full power of their Avon 206s and it is just as, if not more than, impressive as the Lightning used to be – same donks of course but no re-heat.
The 9s of the various PR sqns used to frequently stage singly though Gan when I was there. Seeing a 9 at full chat do a fly-by at ******-all feet is not something you forget. Watched one coming in over the ocean once leaving a wake. But rotating and straight up was awesome, especially as, unlike the Frightning, a 9 would have plenty of fuel left at the top. :rolleyes:
.
By: kodak - 21st February 2006 at 10:48
:rolleyes:
The Waddo appearance is more of a tribute because there is going to be a large gathering of ex-Canberra blokes there. This includes an invite to all squadrons who used to fly the Canberra to bring, if they can, one or two of their current aircraft. The Canberra Assoc will be there of course with its usual tented enclosure on the crowd line (on the Sunday) but there will also be a VIPish marquee on both days I believe for the expected crowds of ex-Can people. Methinks this will mostly be for VIP ex- and current aircrew though. I know it is certainly hoped that AA and Classic Flight can show up with the T.4 and B.6 – that would be good.
The RIAT appearance is probably going to be the last service Canberra display, anyway, the 39 Sqn blokes understandably want to go to the party there. :rolleyes:
.
Indeed. Waddo have also invited former (& current!) Cranberry users to the party, though the chances of anything from India, Argentina,Peru, Venezuela etc are remote! Rumour control suggests that the NASA WB57 that appeared last October is due another European deployment around the same time and so ….. 😉
The German AF test unit could send something, far more likely than Boscombe Down sending anything interesting to mark the long and varied Canberra test roles around the world :rolleyes:
Be good to see a PR9 blasting round the skys, pity that it couldnt last the whole season!
By: LesB - 21st February 2006 at 10:35
The Waddo appearance is more of a tribute because there is going to be a large gathering of ex-Canberra blokes there. This includes an invite to all squadrons who used to fly the Canberra to bring, if they can, one or two of their current aircraft. The Canberra Assoc will be there of course with its usual tented enclosure on the crowd line (on the Sunday) but there will also be a VIPish marquee on both days I believe for the expected crowds of ex-Can people. Methinks this will mostly be for VIP ex- and current aircrew though. I know it is certainly hoped that AA and Classic Flight can show up with the T.4 and B.6 – that would be good.
The RIAT appearance is probably going to be the last service Canberra display, anyway, the 39 Sqn blokes understandably want to go to the party there. :rolleyes:
.
By: kodak - 21st February 2006 at 08:56
There is to be a PR9 on the display circuit this year, only 2 public displays though- Waddington and Fairford RIAT.
By: neal h - 20th February 2006 at 19:13
It would be nice though, wouldn’t it 😀
Tom.
Thats a nice scheme. Don’t like the logo on the tail though, the ******s refused me a job interview recently :diablo:
Neal
By: Wessex Fan - 20th February 2006 at 19:00
A bit of an interest here as the PR9’s were built in Belfast, I get the impression that the major problem with seeing one on the display circuit is that they are close to being out of hours!
Apart from the above red tape and a requirment for lots and lots of money would appear to stand in the way!
Regards To All!
By: Royzee617 - 20th February 2006 at 15:40
Yes, a nice side-view. More please!
We see the AA DC6 come over every now and again…. lovely sound.
I saw a Wings doc on Brit planes a while back. Ironically, the series featured the Twin Pioneer and Canberra. So we had AA present and future….? I dunno how the MoD could do without the PR9 given the monitoring capabilities it has. What will they use instead? RPVs? But they are relative immature even tho they could be cheaper to run.
By: andrewman - 20th February 2006 at 14:03
That’s a nice looking Canberra Atlantic1, how are you getting on with the B2 and T4 ?
By: Hornchurch - 20th February 2006 at 00:58
P.R.9’s
That’s is the RAF ever does retire them……………
No doubt on that one – with the T.4 gone & only 3 (yes 3) left airworthy (XH 131, XH 134, & XH 135) it’s as sure as eggs is eggs.
P.S. XH 169’s a spares ship/hangar queen.
By: ...starfire - 18th February 2006 at 16:20
The livery of the new 1/48 Airfix Canberra? :diablo:
PS: Looks great!
By: Atlantic1 - 18th February 2006 at 14:54
It would be nice though, wouldn’t it 😀
Tom.
By: galdri - 18th February 2006 at 00:36
And they DO have Canberras! 😀 😀
By: LesB - 18th February 2006 at 00:35
So Air Atlantique can I read anything into your last post?!!
Certainly. They do survey work.
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February 17, 2006 at 2:18 pm