Brilliant. This was the first type of operational aircraft I worked on when completing my RAF apprenticeship in 1972, closely followed by the Buccaneer. Both types at RAF St Athan :)
My Dad flew nearly every different type of early jet and went through the Empire Test Pilots school in the early. 50’s. A friend asked him just before he died, what was his favourite aircraft he’d flown with the RAF? I was surprised when he said the Canberra, with the PR9 his absolute favourite. I was expecting the Mosquito, Spitfire, Mustang etc, but he said the Canberra was the best A/C he’d ever operated. He described it as a reliable, fast and beautifully balanced machine that rarely let you down.
It was a small heated direct vision window in case of fogging on the perspex canopy. I worked Canberras for years in Australia and the only time we ever used them was to pass information to the crew after the door had been closed and that wasn't very often. A great aeroplane.
Apart from wasting fuel what exactly is this ‘high speed’ taxying exercise with stowaways and cuddly bears meant to prove? Waste of a good flying machine. We taxied them to get airborne.
Thats exactly what they were doing, taxiing to get it airborne. The aircraft hadnt flown in many years and as a result requred a lot of restoration and testing before being cleared to fly again, which it has been over the last few months.
@@adams6652 My apologies. I missed the context. I saw a pilot not strapped in, carrying pax and taxying at an airshow. Nevertheless it brought back many memories!
Naughty, naughty - not even the lap sash part of the harness done up. What about the passengers restraints ? Hmmm. Yes, just for taxiing but what if? Keep it safe guys, very valuable lives and aircraft, could easily have Swiss cheese line up.
Genuine question. Would the MB’s be even live if the aircraft was just for taxi runs? I know that getting a live license for ejection seats is difficult in civvy street. Like I say, genuine question 😊 Edit: I’ve just seen that this AC was being restored to flying condition and has since flown which is great news. Perhaps the Martin Bakers weren’t live for this test run (no certificate?). But yes, I agree that the restraints should have been done up in the event of a crash, undercarriage failure etc. I saw PR9’s fly right at the end of my Army service. Very graceful! Thanks again, Ian
Its being restoreded and high speed taxi testing is essential to ensure that everything is in working order prior to future flights. This aircraft is now cleared too and has been flying.
Few high performance historic military aircraft are allowed to fly in the UK. If you have one that's is "live" the best you can do is taxi it as a simulated take off run. It's massively cheaper too and money to preserve these things is hard to find at the best of times. They crash a lot less too.
