Xtrakit 1/72nd Canberra PR.9 Completed page 2

Guys, I found another interesting variant, though I highly doubt that too many people would want to model this one. It's a JB-57B, s/n 52-1497.  B/W photo, plane appears to be overall gloss black, and has a 17-foot long cone on the nose from a Bomarc missile.

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/Photos/igphoto/2000538340/

CrashTestDummy

 

 

Hodakamax

Ah, a bit of digging through my files and I did come up a few examples on of which also shows my A-37 at the USAF museum. 

Anyway, a classic aircraft, even NASA has a high altitude research WB-57. Quite an evolution from the original.

Good choice, still watching.

Max

 What a place!

 

 

 

 

PQ, huh?  Unless they just repainted any old B-57, my Dad may have flown that bird when he was in Viet Nam! 

My Dad was one of the pilots involved in certification/verification of the B-57, and became quite fond of those.  He flew them a lot.  Nice plane.  And even the tandem cockpit arrangement had a fair amount of space. 

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

Hi Gene, 

Did not want to clutter up the thread, but after seeing your post, I wanted to give you some info about this aircraft.  The one on display at the USAF Museum is s/n 52-1499.  In the early 1960s, this plane was converted to a JB-57B, a test plane, and used to calibrate high-altitude cameras and other systems.  In May 1964, it was sent to Lear Jet to be used as a test bird.  March 1966 saw it converted back to combat configuration, and it was sent to South Vietnam the following year.  In October, 1969, the plane was put into storage at AMARC.  In 1972, it was pulled out of storage and converted to EB-57B configuration.  From there, it was assigned to the KS ANG(117th DSES), and later VT ANG(134th DSES).  It was retired and flown to the USAF Museum in 1981.

If you have access to stuff from your dad, you might find something that shows he flew that s/n, like maybe his logbook.  Incidentally, I found a photo of this exact aircraft while in storage at AMARC in 1971, and the markings are indeed the same as what's painted on it now at the USAF museum....

https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/full_size_0271/1407896-large.jpg

I know how sometimes we want to dig in and get more info on things like this about our dads.  I did the same for mine too, he was a plane captain on an F-8 Crusader in the Navy.  His jet was lost in a ramp strike in 1967, so finding info on it was a bit more challenging since it did not survive that time.  Hope this helps.

Hodakamax

Hey Bish, the perfect day and adventure. Drove 3 1/2 hours to the centerline of the eclipse. Cloudy, rain. 90 minutes to go and things are looking grim. At about T minus 20 minutes the sky opened and we could see the partial disc. Just enough time to test all my eclipse viewing devices. Special glasses worked as advertised as did my eclipse viewing binoculars made from cut up filters from the special glasses. Next to try was to try a 300mm camera lens with viewing eyepiece rather than a camera body and sporting a big solar filter. Really awesome, eclipse and sunspots visible. Next I projected the image of the eclipse through binoculars on to the ground amazing my friends. 

As the sky began to darken from the west, a lone contrail followed it almost certainly from the WB-57. Things were happening fast and I needed to direct my attention to the totality beginning to happen. Venus appeared near the Sun and the WB's contrail was not visible above. As totality ended and the shadow moved on the contrail again was visible as all moved to the east. My initial thought of the disappearing contrail was that the temperature in the shadow dropped drastically changing the dew point. All speculation at this point. I'll have to think more on that one. Just observations.

Another weird one was strange shadows or waves crossing the parking lot for about a minute. I'd read about this happening before but it was indeed strange.

Anyway, the perfect adventure. A few minutes before the eclipse a B-2 bomber flew over us fairly low on an approach to the nearby Whitman Airbase were they are stationed. It seemed like a stage production with one amazing thing after another happening.

Still excited and reporting,

Max

 

Glad you hada great day Max.I did watch it on the news when i got home. We were meant to have a partial eclipse as the sun was going down last night, but it was to cloudy to see anything.

Seems like half the population of the US traveled to see this. And getting to see the B-2, what a bonus.

ridleusmc

Bish that is outstanding!  It's an unique subject with unique paint.  That's about the strangest shade of pea green that I've ever seen.  Does the RAF use it on other aircraft?  It's a great model, and it looks right at home on its tarmac with its crew.   

 

Thanks ridel

Ye, that colour was used on quite a few aircraft from the mid 80's i think until early mid 2000's. The colour on top is Hemp. It was used on recon and air to air refulers. When they went to the Gulf in 91, they didn't bother repainting as they felt that colour was fine and the types it was applied to were not combat types.  Its been replaced by grey now.

So if youi see pics of Victor tankers or canbera'sas from the first gulf war, they look to be in the desert scheme but its not, its this one.

Bish that is outstanding!  It's an unique subject with unique paint.  That's about the strangest shade of pea green that I've ever seen.  Does the RAF use it on other aircraft?  It's a great model, and it looks right at home on its tarmac with its crew.   

Hey Bish, the perfect day and adventure. Drove 3 1/2 hours to the centerline of the eclipse. Cloudy, rain. 90 minutes to go and things are looking grim. At about T minus 20 minutes the sky opened and we could see the partial disc. Just enough time to test all my eclipse viewing devices. Special glasses worked as advertised as did my eclipse viewing binoculars made from cut up filters from the special glasses. Next to try was to try a 300mm camera lens with viewing eyepiece rather than a camera body and sporting a big solar filter. Really awesome, eclipse and sunspots visible. Next I projected the image of the eclipse through binoculars on to the ground amazing my friends. 

As the sky began to darken from the west, a lone contrail followed it almost certainly from the WB-57. Things were happening fast and I needed to direct my attention to the totality beginning to happen. Venus appeared near the Sun and the WB's contrail was not visible above. As totality ended and the shadow moved on the contrail again was visible as all moved to the east. My initial thought of the disappearing contrail was that the temperature in the shadow dropped drastically changing the dew point. All speculation at this point. I'll have to think more on that one. Just observations.

Another weird one was strange shadows or waves crossing the parking lot for about a minute. I'd read about this happening before but it was indeed strange.

Anyway, the perfect adventure. A few minutes before the eclipse a B-2 bomber flew over us fairly low on an approach to the nearby Whitman Airbase where they are stationed. It seemed like a stage production with one amazing thing after another happening.

Still excited and reporting,

Max

Thanks guys.

Great work as usual Bish... Thumbs up

Great looking plane Bish.  Love the display as well. 

Cheers, Mark

The eclipse will be interesting. Its 2pm in Houston right now and its very close to 100F (38C)(311K). We get the maximum coverage a 1:15PM Monday. Like to see if the temperature drops and by how much.

Thanks, i should be home from work by then so i'l see if i can catch it online.

Bish

Thanks for the info Max. Do you know what time local it will be happening.

 

Bish, depending on where we end up for viewing. About 1:08 in the afternoon Central Standard Time. It might be really difficult to spot the WB-57s at that altitude but we'll look for them also! Also predicted is that since millions of people live less than one day drive there may be record traffic jams along the 70 mile wide path of totality. I'll give you a report next week.

Max 

Thanks for the info Max. Do you know what time local it will be happening.

Hey Bish, a bit more info on the NASA WB-57s to chase the eclipse this coming Monday. They will indeed be flying over our observation point in Missouri but at 50,000 feet. Our observation time will be less than two minutes but the two WB-57 by chasing the shadow can extend their viewing time to over four minutes. All this from the morning news along with a detailed report on the big cameras they are carrying. Neat stuff for the old '60s bomber. Weather is a bit iffy for us but we're going to the path come monday!

Max

O yes, thanks for the reminder. I'll have to check out the NASA site as well. That will be an amazing trip, i hopeyou get to spot the aircraft.

Hey Bish, thought of you today after reviewing the daily science news. The Great American Solar Eclipse is only weeks away. Two NASA WB-57s have been outfitted to chase it. We are planning to head North about three hours drive to check it out. I'll also be watching for Canberras! Reporting!

Max

Thanks John.

Now that is nice. I know mach2 have a bad rap, but does show they can be built up nicely. That would be somthing differant for the collection.

Very nice Bish! You were asking about the WB.57F There is a kit by Mach2 which is a bit of a hard build but seeing what you've done with your PR.9 it shouldn't be a problem for you. 

This is my modification to the nose, it's the very high definition camera used by NASA to track the shuttle launch 

John

Thanks guys. And max, i hope we will get a chance to see a B-57 from you soon.

Hey Bish, really nice example of one of my favorite aircraft. Good job!

Max

Thanks templar. It suprised me how quick this was especially seeing how long it took to get the decals done. But was just what i needed.

Once again Bish outstanding, and a pretty quick build too.

Thanks Mike. Yep, one good reason for keeping the base as samll as possable.

Its just annoying though, theres plenty of modern ground equipment but no figures to use it.

Nice finish, Bish. I really like the setting in particular. I can imagine the rest of the ground crew is just off to the side of the scene. 

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You might be able to find some kits at the larger on line stores. Xtrakit along with the rest of the Xtra range is owned by Hannants. And the kits are limited run so tend not to be around for long.

I just checked Sprue Brothers and they just have one kit, a Sea Harrier.

Does Xtrakit have a distributer in the USA or Canada?

Cheers Griffin. I had wanted a couple more ground crew, but you just can't get them and not many of the Hasegawa figures are good for converting.

Oh wow, very nice. I love the base and figures too. Great presentation.