On the Sun's Heels

One day last week, a sleek, black-and-grey light bomber took off from Alder-grove airbase in Northern Ireland and streaked westward, outrunning the thunder of its twin jets. Soaring to 41,000 ft., the R.A.F.'s Canberra raced the sun above it. Four hours and 40 minutes later, it skimmed down to Newfoundland's Gander field. The sun had made the swing in only 3 1/2 hours. But the Canberra, averaging 445 m.p.h., had made the fastest Atlantic crossing ever, the hard way--30 minutes faster than a Mosquito bomber's five hours and ten minutes made from west to east with the prevailing winds.

The Canberra's three-man crew then took off for Washington, where Squadron Leader A. E. Callard proudly put his ship through tight rolls and turns before a group of waiting U.S. Air Force officers.

Unlike the radical swept-wing design of modern U.S. jet jobs--fighters and bombers--the Canberra is basically a handsomely cleaned-up version of traditional designs, with a wing that looks fairly conventional to the man on the ground. Powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engines, it is rated at a top speed above 600 m.p.h., can be fitted with wingtip tanks to extend its range. The Canberra was designed as a high-altitude radar bomber, can also perform all normal fighter maneuvers, and has shown possibilities as a low-level ground support plane. Said Pilot Callard: "A most docile aircraft--it's so easy to fly I can fly it."

The U.S. Air Force will test it for possible use as an all-weather night intruder. If it passes, the Glenn L. Martin Co. is expected to manufacture it. --' -

At Hawaii's Hickam Air Force Base, a big, swept-wing B-47 whistled out of the east and flashed in to land. As fast as the Canberra and much bigger (it weighs more than a B29, can carry ten tons of bombs), the Stratojet is still highly secret. The Air Force cautiously admitted that it had made the 2,400-mile flight from the U.S. mainland in something under six hours--an average speed of over 400 m.p.h.

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