English Electric Canberra

what is it?

The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. 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 wartime de Havilland Mosquito fast bomber. Among the performance requirements for the type was an outstanding high-altitude bombing capability and high speed.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · retractable tricycle gear · 19.5 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 933 km/htop speed
• range 5,440 kmwithout refuelling
• size 24.9 tmax take-off weight
• built 950made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 77 years ago, in 1949.
• 🏎️Top speed is 7.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 19.5 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 5,440 km: 30× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1949-05-13

introduced

1951

retired

2006

status

retired

number built

950

role

bomber/reconnaissance

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

English Electric

engines

2× Rolls-Royce R.A.7 Avon Mk.109 / Avon

crew

3

length

20 m

wingspan

19.5 m

height

4.8 m

max take-off weight

24.9 t

top speed

933 km/h

range

5,440 km

ceiling

14,630 m

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family