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English Electric Canberra
The bomber that refused to retire

Q: Can I fly in a Canberra?

No public Canberra passenger flights are available today. The type is retired from military service, and although NASA still flies WB-57 derivatives, those are research aircraft with no public rides. You can, however, fly in several genuine ex-military jets via MiGFlug.

Q: Did the Canberra ever get shot down?

Yes. A reconnaissance RB-57D was destroyed by an SA-2 missile over China in 1959, the first aircraft ever downed by a surface-to-air missile, and an Argentine Canberra was shot down by a Sea Dart in the 1982 Falklands War.

Britain’s first jet bomber — a simple, broad-winged machine built to fly higher than any fighter could reach. It set world altitude records, was licence-built in America as the Martin B-57, and in NASA’s hands is still flying today, more than 75 years after its first flight.

13 May 1949First flight · in service 1951

55+ yearsRAF service · 1951–2006

~1,350Built · incl. 403 Martin B-57

70,310 ftWorld altitude record · 1957

Photo: UK MOD · OGL v1.0

RoleHigh-altitude bomber, recon & interdictorEraCold WarДвигатель2 × Rolls-Royce AvonOriginUnited Kingdom · English ElectricStatusRetired (NASA WB-57 flies)Want to fly a real fighter jet yourself?

История

Simple, high, and impossible to kill off

In 1944 the Air Ministry wanted a jet successor to the wooden de Havilland Mosquito — a fast, unarmed bomber that would survive by flying too high and too fast to be caught. The job went to a young English Electric team led by W. E. W. “Teddy” Petter, and the aircraft that emerged, first flown on 13 May 1949, was almost shocking in its simplicity: a broad, low-loaded straight wing, a fat fuselage, and two Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets. No swept wing, no gun turrets, no complexity for its own sake.

That plain recipe worked brilliantly. The Canberra could cruise above 48,000 ft — higher than the fighters sent to intercept it — and it climbed and turned better up there than almost anything of its era. It entered RAF service in 1951 as Britain’s first jet bomber, set a string of world altitude records through the 1950s, and became one of the great export successes in British aviation history: licence-built in the United States as the Martin B-57 and in Australia, and flown by well over a dozen air forces.

Its real trick, though, was longevity. The airframe was so adaptable — bomber, photo-reconnaissance, interdictor, trainer, target-tug, high-altitude testbed — that operators simply refused to give it up. The RAF flew its last Canberras in 2006; India retired hers in 2007. And NASA’s WB-57s are still flying scientific missions in the 2020s, making the Canberra one of the longest-serving jet designs ever built.

A design so simple it flew for over half a century — and one version has never stopped.The Canberra paradox — built to be quick and cheap, kept because nothing replaced it

01Why the Canberra could fly higher than the fighters chasing it

The Canberra’s secret was its wing. Petter’s team gave it an unusually large, thick, low-aspect straight wing — a big lifting surface carrying a relatively light aircraft. That low wing-loading meant the Canberra kept generating lift in the thin air of the high stratosphere, where sharper-winged jet fighters ran out of performance and mushed into a stall. Combined with two efficient Avon engines, it could operate above 48,000 ft and, in specialised forms, far higher.

For most of the early 1950s that put it out of practical reach: interceptors that could match its altitude couldn’t manoeuvre once they got there. The trade-off was speed — the straight wing capped the Canberra at around Mach 0.88, firmly subsonic — but for a bomber meant to slip over a target and leave, altitude mattered more than raw speed. It is the same logic that later produced the Canberra-derived, and even higher-flying, reconnaissance aircraft.

Design & Engineering

What makes the Canberra special

A big straight wing built for the stratosphere

The Canberra’s defining feature is its broad, low-loaded straight wing paired with two Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets. Where fighters used thin swept wings for speed, the Canberra used a large wing area to keep flying in thin air — giving it a service ceiling around 48,000 ft and, in record-setting forms with uprated engines, well over 60,000 ft. For years it simply flew above the threat.

One airframe, endless jobs

Unarmed and aerodynamically honest, the Canberra proved extraordinarily adaptable. It served as a level bomber, low-level interdictor, photo-reconnaissance platform with up to seven cameras, dual-control trainer, target-tug, radar calibrator and high-altitude testbed. Some 27 variants were built, which is a large part of why so many air forces bought it and kept it.

Longevity — and a second life in research

The Canberra’s clean high-altitude airframe made it perfect for science. NASA operates a small fleet of WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft — direct descendants of the Martin-built Canberra — still flying atmospheric sampling, sensor testing and spacecraft re-entry tracking in the 2020s, more than seven decades after the type first flew.

02The Canberra and the Martin B-57: an American Canberra

When the US Air Force needed a fast tactical bomber in the early 1950s and its own designs disappointed, it did something almost unheard of: it licensed a British aircraft. The Glenn L. Martin Company built the Canberra as the B-57, and though early examples were near-identical, later versions diverged sharply — a redesigned cockpit, rotary bomb door, and eventually the enormous long-span RB-57F/WB-57 high-altitude variants. Around 403 B-57s were built in the United States. They fought over Vietnam, and it is the WB-57 line that keeps the Canberra family airborne with NASA today.

03Record after record: how the Canberra kept climbing

Through the 1950s the Canberra rewrote the altitude tables. On 4 May 1953 a Canberra fitted with Bristol Olympus engines reached about 63,668 ft; on 29 August 1955 another set a record near 65,889 ft. The peak came on 28 August 1957, when a Canberra using a Napier Double Scorpion rocket motor in addition to its jets zoom-climbed to 70,310 ft (21,430 m) — a world altitude record at the time. These flights showed just how much altitude the basic airframe had in reserve.

Технические данные

Full specifications

Airframe & Performance

Экипаж: 2–3 (pilot, navigator, bomb-aimer)
Длина: 19.96 m (B.2)
Размах крыльев: 19.51 m
Высота: 4,77 м
Max takeoff weight: ~24,900 kg
Max speed: ~870 km/h · ~Mach 0.88
Служебный потолок: ~14,600 m (48,000 ft)
Record altitude: 21,430 m (70,310 ft, 1957)
Диапазон: ~4,300 km (ferry)

Propulsion & Systems

Engines: 2 × Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets
Thrust (each): ~29 kN (~6,500 lbf), early marks
Вооружение: Up to ~2,700 kg bombs; cannon/rockets on interdictor marks
Sensors (recon): Up to 7 cameras (PR variants)
First flight: 13 May 1949
Built: ~1,350 (UK, US B-57, Australia)
Unit cost: No reliable open figure
Cost per flight hour: No reliable public figure

04What did a Canberra cost — and why the numbers are fuzzy

The Canberra was a 1950s state-era product sold across many countries in wildly different deals, so no single trustworthy flyaway price exists in open sources, and cost-per-flight-hour figures for the type are not reliably published either. What is well documented is the production spread: roughly 900 built in Britain, about 403 as the Martin B-57 in the United States, and 48 licence-built in Australia — on the order of 1,350 aircraft in total. Any precise dollar figure attached to a Canberra should be treated as an estimate.

Timeline

From Mosquito replacement to museum — and still flying

1949

First flight

Prototype VN799, flown by Roland Beamont, takes to the air on 13 May — Britain’s first jet bomber design.

1951

Enters RAF service

No. 101 Squadron receives the Canberra B.2 in May, replacing piston bombers with a jet that outclimbs its own escorts.

1953–57

Altitude records

A run of world altitude records culminates in a rocket-boosted climb to 70,310 ft on 28 August 1957.

1956

Suez & the Malayan jungle

RAF Canberras bomb Egyptian airfields during the Suez crisis; the type had already flown its first combat in the Malayan Emergency.

1959

First SAM kill

A Soviet-supplied SA-2 downs a Taiwanese RB-57D over China on 7 October — the first aircraft ever shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

1965&71

India’s wars

Indian Air Force Canberras fly bombing and reconnaissance in both Indo-Pakistani wars, including the 1971 raids toward Karachi.

1982

Falklands

Argentine Canberras bomb British positions; one B.62 is shot down by a Sea Dart from HMS Exeter on 13 June, its navigator killed.

2006–now

Retirement — except NASA

The RAF retires its last PR.9s in 2006 and India in 2007, but NASA’s WB-57s keep flying research missions into the 2020s.

Stories & Eyewitnesses

Twelve stories from a 75-year career

Origins

The Mosquito’s jet-age heir

The Air Ministry wanted a fast, unarmed bomber that would survive on speed and height alone.

Read the full story

The Canberra was conceived in 1944 as a jet successor to the de Havilland Mosquito — the wooden wonder that had shown a bomber could defend itself simply by being too fast to catch. English Electric, a company with no modern bomber pedigree, handed the job to W. E. W. Petter. His answer dropped all defensive guns and bet everything on altitude and a big, efficient wing. First flown in 1949, it proved the bet was right.

Design

The wing that reached the stratosphere

A big low-loaded straight wing let the Canberra keep flying where fighters stalled.

Read the full story

Petter’s Canberra used an unusually large, thick straight wing carrying a comparatively light airframe. That low wing-loading kept it generating lift in the thin upper air, so it could cruise above 48,000 ft and out-manoeuvre interceptors that struggled just to reach that height. The price was speed — it stayed subsonic at around Mach 0.88 — but for a high-flying bomber, altitude was the whole point.

Records · 1957

Rocket-boosted to 70,310 ft

A Canberra with a rocket motor bolted on climbed higher than any aircraft had before.

Read the full story

Through the 1950s the Canberra rewrote the record books. The high point came on 28 August 1957, when a specially prepared Canberra — its two Avon jets supplemented by a Napier Double Scorpion rocket motor — zoom-climbed to 70,310 ft (21,430 m), a world altitude record. It was a vivid demonstration of how much untapped altitude the basic airframe still held.

Export

An American Canberra

The US Air Force did the almost unthinkable and licence-built a British bomber as the Martin B-57.

Read the full story

In the early 1950s the USAF needed a fast tactical bomber and its home-grown options disappointed. So it licensed the Canberra, built by the Glenn L. Martin Company as the B-57. Early aircraft were near-identical to the British originals; later ones diverged with new cockpits and, eventually, the huge long-winged RB-57F high-altitude variants. Around 403 were built in America — and the line survives with NASA today.

Suez · 1956

Bombing from Malta and Cyprus

Around 100 RAF Canberras flew the opening strikes of the 1956 Suez operation.

Read the full story

During the Suez crisis of 1956, RAF Canberras operating from Malta and Cyprus flew the bulk of the bombing against Egyptian airfields, dropping over a thousand 1,000-lb bombs across hundreds of sorties. It was not a flawless campaign — accuracy from high level was mixed — and one reconnaissance PR.7 was shot down by a Syrian Meteor on 6 November, a reminder that even a high-flier could be caught.

Cold War · 1959

The first missile kill in history

A Canberra was the first aircraft ever shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

Read the full story

High-altitude reconnaissance Canberras and their Martin RB-57 cousins probed the edges of the communist world. On 7 October 1959 a Taiwanese-operated RB-57D flying over mainland China was destroyed by a Soviet-supplied SA-2 missile — the first time in history an aircraft was brought down by a SAM. It was a milestone that foreshadowed the end of the era when simply flying high meant flying safe.

Vietnam

B-57s over the jungle

The American Canberra went to war in Vietnam, joined by Australia’s RAF-built bombers.

Read the full story

The US Martin B-57 flew intensively in the Vietnam War as a tactical bomber, operating in the demanding close-support and interdiction role. Australia’s No. 2 Squadron RAAF took its British-built Canberras to Vietnam too, flying thousands of bombing sorties from 1967 and earning a strong reputation for accuracy — though at the cost of aircraft lost to ground fire and missiles.

Индия

India’s long-serving bomber

Indian Canberras fought in 1965 and 1971 and served for fifty years.

Read the full story

The Indian Air Force was one of the Canberra’s most enthusiastic operators. Its Canberras flew bombing and reconnaissance missions in the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war — including a celebrated raid on the radar station at Badin — and again in 1971, striking targets around Karachi in support of the Indian Navy. India kept the type in service until 2007, half a century after acquiring it.

Falklands · 1982

Argentina’s Canberras

Argentine Canberras bombed British forces in 1982 — and one fell to a Sea Dart.

Read the full story

In the 1982 Falklands War the Argentine Air Force sent its ageing Canberra B.62s against British forces, flying bombing missions — many at night — from the mainland. The old bombers were dangerously exposed. On 13 June a Canberra was shot down at high altitude by a Sea Dart missile fired from HMS Exeter, killing the navigator; the pilot ejected. It was one of the last combat losses of the Canberra’s career.

Reconnaissance

Eyes at the edge of the sky

Stripped of bombs and filled with cameras, the PR Canberras flew some of the Cold War’s quietest missions.

Read the full story

The photo-reconnaissance Canberras — PR.3, PR.7 and the beautiful long-winged PR.9 — carried up to seven cameras in place of a bomb load and flew high, lonely intelligence sorties for decades. The PR.9, with its extended wing and more powerful engines, could reach altitudes that kept it useful long after the bomber versions were gone, soldiering on with the RAF until 2006.

Longevity

The jet that would not retire

From 1951 front-line service to 2020s science flights, the Canberra keeps going.

Read the full story

Few aircraft have careers measured in generations. The Canberra entered RAF service in 1951 and left it in 2006 — a 55-year run — while India flew hers to 2007. But the family never fully stopped: NASA’s WB-57s, developed from the Martin-built line, are still flying atmospheric research and spacecraft-tracking missions in the 2020s, keeping a 1949 design airborne into its ninth decade.

Legacy

Britain’s great export bomber

Well over a dozen air forces flew the Canberra; it shaped a generation of jet bombing.

Read the full story

The Canberra was arguably the most successful British bomber of the jet age. Beyond the RAF it served with air forces across the world — India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, France, Germany, Sweden, Ethiopia and more — and was built under licence on two other continents. Simple, high-flying and endlessly adaptable, it proved that a modest, well-judged design could outlast far flashier rivals.

Gallery

The Canberra in pictures

An RAF Canberra flying high the altitude that kept it out of reach for years. — An RAF Canberra flying high — the altitude that kept it out of reach for years.Photo: UK MOD · OGL v1.0

An English Electric Canberra PR.9 the long-winged photo-reconnaissance version that flew until 2006. — An English Electric Canberra PR.9 — the long-winged photo-reconnaissance version that flew until 2006.Photo: Hugh Llewelyn · CC BY-SA 2.0

A Martin B-57 Canberra in flight the American licence-built version that fought over Vietnam. — A Martin B-57 Canberra in flight — the American licence-built version that fought over Vietnam.Photo: USAF · Public domain

A NASA WB-57F high-altitude research aircraft a Canberra descendant still flying in the 2020s. — A NASA WB-57F high-altitude research aircraft — a Canberra descendant still flying in the 2020s.Photo: NASA · Public domain

The glazed bomb-aimers nose of an early Canberra a direct echo of the Mosquito it replaced. — The glazed bomb-aimer’s nose of an early Canberra — a direct echo of the Mosquito it replaced.Photo: Alan Wilson · CC BY-SA 2.0

A preserved Canberra PR.3 one of the reconnaissance marks that carried cameras instead of bombs. — A preserved Canberra PR.3 — one of the reconnaissance marks that carried cameras instead of bombs.Photo: Alan Wilson · CC BY-SA 2.0

Watch

The Canberra in motion

Video coming soon. We’re still choosing the right film to do the Canberra justice — a documentary that captures the altitude records, the global service and the improbable NASA afterlife. Check back shortly.

Watch

The Canberra in motion

DroneScapes — one of the most-watched Canberra films on YouTube.

Operations

Where the Canberra flew

Combat Record

A bomber that fought on every side of the Cold War

The Canberra almost never fought as a dogfighter — it had no guns for that. Its combat record is written in bombs dropped and photographs taken, over Malaya and Suez, Vietnam, the India–Pakistan wars and the Falklands. It was also, grimly, the first aircraft in history shot down by a guided missile. Figures below are best-available estimates and are contested in places.

1956~100 RAF Canberras bombed in the Suez operation

1959First aircraft ever downed by a SAM (RB-57D)

1982Argentine Canberra lost to a Sea Dart, Falklands

Compare the combat record of every military aircraft. Figures as of July 2026.

Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about the Canberra

Can I fly in a Canberra?

No — there are no public Canberra passenger flights available today. The type is retired from military service, and although NASA still flies WB-57 derivatives, those are research aircraft with no public rides. You can, however, fly in several genuine ex-military jets — see migflug.com/flights-prices/.

Why was the Canberra so special?

It was Britain’s first jet bomber, and its big straight wing let it fly higher than the fighters sent to catch it — above 48,000 ft. That, plus an airframe adaptable to almost any role, made it a huge export success and gave it one of the longest service lives of any jet.

What is the Martin B-57?

The B-57 is the Canberra built under licence in the United States by the Glenn L. Martin Company — about 403 aircraft. Early ones were near-identical to the British version; later marks diverged, culminating in the huge high-altitude RB-57F and the WB-57 research aircraft NASA still flies.

Is any Canberra still flying?

Yes, in a sense. NASA operates a small fleet of WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft — direct descendants of the Martin-built Canberra — still flying scientific missions in the 2020s. No air force flies the Canberra in front-line service; the RAF retired its last in 2006 and India in 2007.

How high could a Canberra fly?

Standard bomber versions had a ceiling around 48,000 ft (14,600 m). Specially prepared record aircraft went far higher — a rocket-boosted Canberra reached 70,310 ft in 1957, a world altitude record at the time.

Did the Canberra ever get shot down?

Yes. Among other losses, a reconnaissance RB-57D was destroyed by an SA-2 missile over China in 1959 — the first aircraft ever downed by a surface-to-air missile — and an Argentine Canberra was shot down by a Sea Dart in the 1982 Falklands War.

Who else flew the Canberra?

Well over a dozen air forces, including India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, France, Germany, Sweden and Ethiopia, plus Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe). It was one of the most widely exported British aircraft ever.

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