Dale wrote: >On 16 Oct 01 at 22:11, Jake wrote: > >>>>The base is still there, but the U2s are gone or mothballed; satellite >>>>technology made them unnecessary. >>> >>>The venerable English Electric Canberra is currently flying photo-recon over >>>Afghanistan. The USAF used these aircraft at one time: decades ago. > >Ah, the good ol' RB-57's. If memory serves, weren't they supposed to >be a fill in between the U2's and the SR-71's introduction?
Me no expert, but I thought they pre-dated the U2 and were a welcome stop-gap half a century ago. The Canberra was a jet-engined replacement for the "Wooden Wonder" -- the de Havilland Mosquito, and is also (at least in part) constructed from timber (for very good reasons). The USAF variant was "home-built" as were the Ozzie ones. Regards, Jake
