Martin RB-57F

Foo Fighter

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How much commonality do these have with the standard Canberra/B-57? Apart from the lengthened wings.
 
RB-57F aircraft were converted by General Dynamics from RB-57A, B-57B and RB-57D aircraft.
Text from Profile 247 - 'The Martin B-57 Night Intruders & General Dynamics RB-57F' by David A. Anderton, Profile Publications.
[...]
modification - actually more of a complete rebuild - of 21 aircraft
[...]

General Dynamics salvaged not much more than the fuselage centre and aft sections, the horizontal tail and the landing gear. Everything else - plus the cockpits of the RB/A aircraft - was new construction.
<edit>
According to 'General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors' by John Wegg, Putnam, 1990, new serial numbers were issued because of the extent of the rebuild. Fuselage fuel tanks had to make way for additional electronic gear - all fuel was carried in the wings, outboard of the engines.
<edit2> The RB-57A had a single-piece bubble canopy, different from the B-57B/D canopy. Hence the need for new cockpit sections for the three F-aircraft converted/rebuilt from RB-57A aircraft.
Image from wiki
 

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IIRC, the Squadron/Signal B-57 in Action book has a couple of photos of the rebuilding taking place
 
Speaking of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v9qef5NtgA
 
(** PLEASE MOVE POST IF THERE IS A MORE APPROPRIATE TOPIC ALREADY CREATED **)

Posted by Jeff Quitney on YouTube is this film, "RB-57D Progress Report No. 2" (1956). The film includes RB-57D flight test footage, as well as structural test footage. The most interesting variety of the latter is footage of the "90% limit load proof test" on the aircraft's immense wings, which consisted of employees yanking on the wings up and down (beginning at the 2 minute 53 second mark). It is reminiscent of the "shake test" done on a boilerplate Saturn V/Apollo stack inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in October 1966 (link).

YouTube - Jeff Quitney: "B-57 Canberra: 'RB-57D Progress Report No. 2' 1956 Martin Aircraft-USAF Reconnaissance Spy Plane"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NII_IBplsdU
 
Ok, does somebody have the operational and maximum ceiling of that beast ? I've seen numbers ranging from 60 000 ft to 80 000 ft (!) - including: 62 000 ft, 68000 ft, 74 000 ft.

How high could it go, with the J-60-P9 ?
 
Ok, does somebody have the operational and maximum ceiling of that beast ? I've seen numbers ranging from 60 000 ft to 80 000 ft (!) - including: 62 000 ft, 68000 ft, 74 000 ft.

How high could it go, with the J-60-P9 ?
I've seen sources that said 125,000 feet years ago. I did read one account from an RB-57 pilot wherein he said that they'd see those values and chuckle because some of them were way overblown. ISTR him saying they gave U-2 pilots grief because, though they couldn't climb as high as the U-2s, the books said they could. :p
 
Ok, does somebody have the operational and maximum ceiling of that beast ? I've seen numbers ranging from 60 000 ft to 80 000 ft (!) - including: 62 000 ft, 68000 ft, 74 000 ft.

How high could it go, with the J-60-P9 ?
I've seen sources that said 125,000 feet years ago. I did read one account from an RB-57 pilot wherein he said that they'd see those values and chuckle because some of them were way overblown. ISTR him saying they gave U-2 pilots grief because, though they couldn't climb as high as the U-2s, the books said they could. :p

RB-57F pilot to U-2 pilot "I flew so high once, I landed on Uranus..." (runs for cover)
 
I read somewhere that the record in service was 70k' and change but am pretty sure that was a one off.
 
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