EE Canberra book contributor request

Hello all,

I’m working on a book, at present loosely entitled ‘The Canberra Experience‘. The book will focus on the experiences of people that either built, flew or serviced the aircraft in various air forces around the world. It will be told in an ‘in their own words’ format, so at this point I am building up contacts from various countries so to gather the necessary material. Once the planned book is published, a percentage of proceeds will be split between the RAF Benevolent Fund and other Air Force charities abroad.

Therefore, my request to all good Aviation Forum members is, if you had some experience with the old girl and are willing to share something of this in anecdotal form, I would love to have your contribution in the book. I understand it can be hard to instantly ‘dredge up’ something of interest to the wider public, and so the this is the format I am using to get the ball rolling:

Basic details:

1) Your rank upon leaving the service

2) Squadron(s)/MU/Station served on

3) Years of service

4) Types of Canberra flown/serviced

Your experiences with the Canberra:

– When did you first encounter the Canberra, and what was your reaction when you first saw the aircraft? Excitement? Disappointment? Just a job? What were the thoughts on the aircraft at the time you first encountered it?

– After getting familiar with the type, what were you initial likes/dislikes with the aircraft?

– Do you have any interesting anecdotes about either yours or colleagues experiences with the Canberra? For example, an amusing (or sad) experience involving servicing or flying the type.

– Did any major or interesting changes occur to the type during your involvement with it? Such as refurbishment, fatigue problems, equipment introductions or modifications? Perhaps an idea or modification you were personally involved with.

– If you were involved with several variants during your career, what was your particular favourite or least-liked, and for what reasons?

If you have anything else you feel would be of interest that is not covered above, I’d love to hear about it. Similarly, if you have any Canberra or squadron-related photos you’d like to contribute to the book that would be fantastic. All material, whether it be written material or photos will be fully credited. This book is to be made up of related accounts, as told in your own words. The main point is, you don’t have to be an essay-writing genius to tell a good story.

If you have any other friends or colleagues who were involved with the Canberra and you think would be interested in contributing, please let them know.

As a brief bit of background on myself, I grew up just outside of RAF Wyton in the 80s, and fell in love with the old girl at the end of her era. The impression of grubby 100Sqn TT.18s and hemp-coloured PR.9s was to stick with me, and in recent years rediscovered my hobby (ok, obsession) with the Canberra, eventually leading to the realisation that there were too many good stories relating to her across the world that really needed telling. Hence the start of this project over the last two years.

Some of you may have seen this request over at the PPRune Forum; if not, you can catch up on some of the research progress over there if you like: http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/474740-ee-canberra-book-contributor-request.html

Thanks very much all for your time. And to prove I am not a phantom entity but a living breathing Cranberry nut, here’s a shot or two of me:

Steve Beeny