Plane identification

masraum · 08-16-2012, 09:49 AM

I saw a plane this morning take off from Ellington Field which is heavily used by NASA. The plane seemed to have a narrow fuselage, huge tapered wings (long wingspan and huge chord), a pretty darn big tail rudder, and looked like it had 2 jet engines suspended below the wings fairly near the fuselage.

It looked somewhat like a U-2 in this photo, but not exactly.

The wing to fuselage proportions seemed very similar to this.

Anyone got any ideas?

carreraken · carreraken's Garage

It looks like a variant of the U2 called the U2R or later version TR-1.

Underwing pods are fuel tanks.

edit: used to see them fly out of Beale near here.

Sarc · 08-16-2012, 10:09 AM

If it was white, it's probably a WB-57, based on the old Canberra.

MFAFF · 08-16-2012, 10:10 AM

WB-57 Ellington Facilities

WB-57...

masraum · 08-16-2012, 10:32 AM

You guys are good. This is absolutely what I saw.

Cool looking plane.

mikester · 08-16-2012, 03:54 PM

I did not even know that existed. That's a pretty plane.

Joeaksa · 08-16-2012, 04:17 PM

We hear them from time to time on the radio. The Canberra flies a bit higher than most traffic, 45-55,000 feet, so it kinda stands out when someone radios in at that altitude.

Not many of them left and NASA flies the few left that I know of here in the states.

MFAFF · 08-16-2012, 09:38 PM

NASA are the only 'users' left... unless the USAF has some secret RBs still active... (dons tin foil hat..)
There is an airworthy Canberra in private hands here.. the RAF retired its PR.9s a few years ago.

kach22i · kach22i's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by MFAFF

WB-57 Ellington Facilities

WB-57...

A rare old bird.

Quote:

The inception of the B-57 dates back to 1944, when World War II brought English Electric Company Ltd back into the business of designing airplanes. The company had gotten out of the design business in 1926, but with the dawn of the jet engine, the company decided to answer a proposal sent out by the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The first test flight of the B-57 Canberra was May of 1949.

The United States Air Force first got interested in the Canberra, as well as many other aircraft, in 1950 when it was looking for a replacement for the aging Douglas B-26 Invader. The Air Force was to make its final selection for the replacement aircraft after a final demonstration in February of 1951. The B-57 was flown in by the Royal Air Force for the demonstration, making the flight across the Atlantic in four hours and forty minutes, setting an unofficial record time for the crossing in either direction. This was also the first unrefuelled Atlantic crossing by any jet-powered aircraft. Coming into the demonstration flight with such fan-fare, the Canberra easily stole the show, and won the contract.

.........................NASA 926 and NASA 928 are the only two WB-57s still flying in the world today.