Nose of English Electric Canberra TT.18 [WH887] ‘847’

c/n EEP2385 / SH.1644.
British military serial WH887.
Built in 1954 as a standard B.2 bomber variant for the RAF. Transferred to the Royal Navy in November 1969 and converted to a TT.18 for use as a target tug. Retired in November 1992 and ferried to RAE Llanbedr as a source of spares. Finally being dismantled and disposed of in 2004.
The nose was preserved and is now on display at the Sywell Aviation Museum.
Sywell Aerodrome, Northamptonshire, UK.
21st May 2017

The complete history below is from the fascinating www.fradu-canberras.co.uk website:-

“English Electric Canberra WH887 was built as a B.2 for the Royal Air Force, by Short Brothers at Belfast.
It was delivered to the RAF on 29th January 1954, and was issued to 1323 Flight (Flt) at RAF Wyton, which was primarily a Canberra PR.7 Unit. In October 1955, 1323Flt was merged with RAF 542 Squadron (Sqn), and WH887 was absorbed into the combined fleet as a result, moving with it to RAF Weston Zoyland. At the time of writing it is not known how long the aeroplane remained with the Unit, but it was later transferred to RAF 21 Squadron at RAF Upwood in Cambridgeshire, and also became part of the Station Flight. The aeroplane's next confirmed movement took place on 31st October 1967, when it was ferried to Salmesbury from store at 15MU (Maintenance Unit) Wroughton for conversion to TT.18 status by English Electric. The process took over a year to complete, and it returned to RAF store, this time at RAF Shawbury in January 1969, in preparation for a service posting.

On 13th November 1969, WH887 was transferred to the Royal Navy but it did not immediately enter service, instead being held back in store at Shawbury. In November 1971, WH887 was moved to RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to be prepared for service by 23MU, and three months later the aeroplane joined the Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) at Hurn (now Bournemouth Airport). Assigned the fleet number '844', WH887 was flown and maintained by civilian staff of Airwork Services Ltd. and was operated from Dorset until it was moved to RNAS Yeovilton on 24th November 1972.
On 1st December 1972, the FRU merged with the Yeovilton-based Air Direction Training Unit (ADTU), and became the Fleet Requirements and Air Direction Unit (FRADU). WH887 was used by the Unit until it was moved to RAF St Athan in July 1974, for a major inspection and modifications, which would keep it on the ground for six months.

On 23rd January 1975, WH887 returned to the FRADU (the word training had been dropped from the Unit's title) fleet as '844', but this was soon changed to '847'. Two years of activity followed before another enforced grounding took occurred in April 1977, when it was flown to Warton for a thorough refurbishment. Back in service in March 1979, the aeroplane spent time on loan with Flight Refuelling Ltd at Tarrant Rushton (June 1979-September 1980) and also at Hurn (November-December 1981) in-between a steady period of FRADU service. Unfortunately the aeroplane was damaged by a bursting shell in February 1983, which required airframe repairs at St Athan later that month. Following the completion of the repairs, the aeroplane was given another major inspection, after which it was placed in long-term store.

On 21st February 1985, WH887 was re-introduced into service at Yeovilton, but again spent time away on loan from FRADU for trials work, this time at Salmesbury between April and May that year. At this time, the FRADU Canberra fleet was gradually being reduced, its work being taken over by specially modified civilian Falcon 20 business jets. Therefore, as the decade progressed the remaining airframes were rotated to prolong their airframe hours and fatigue lives and WH887's turn in store at St Athan took place between November 1987 and February 1989. The aeroplane was one of the last three FRADU Canberras to retire from Fleet Air Arm service in November 1992.
The aeroplane then was ferried to the T&EE (Test and Evaluation Establishment) Llanbedr airfield for storage on 3rd December 1992, and was used as a source of spares for the Station's other airworthy Canberras. During 1997 it was moved into open store, perilously close to the fire dump, and remained there until 2004, when it was disposed of via tender due to the proposed closure of the airfield.”

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Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Sywell Airport (show map)

Taken on: May 21, 2017

Sets appears in: • Sywell Aviation Museum. 21-5-2017 • English Electric Canberra

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Camera: Nikon D3200, f/11.0, 1/500 sec, 36mm (=54mm), ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D3200
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length:	36mm (35mm equivalent: 54mm)
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 14.0 (Windows)
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