Transistor technology was still in it's infancy in 1961/62 and the Canberra U10 would certainly have still been using valves in the radio link equipment for them to be controlled from a ground station. That would have meant large equipment taking up valuable space in a Canberra or Meteor.
The Canberra U10's I photographed, arriving in Singapore singly on their ferry flights, would have required a crew of pilot and navigator so it would have been interesting to have looked inside and see how much of their already limited space was taken up with the electronics.
The Canberra in the photo at the top of the page, WH652 an ex-B2 model. In 1953 this aircraft had been involved in 600 hour ‘intensive flying trials’ of the Avon engines. The 600th hour was completed in 50 days, in which time some 300,000 miles were flown. Turn-round time to get the Canberra airborne again improved tremendously as the trial progressed; the average for the first month was 1 hr 35 min, for the second month 1 hr 10 min and for the third month 36 min.
Seems sad that this aircraft, still a 'front line type' in Germany, the Middle and Far East, was destroyed at Woomera by a missile on 12th February 1964; this aircraft needed ‘TLC’ - not blowing up!
Here's a picture of another arriving, taxying into the Western Dispersal at Changi on the 7th June 1962, a Canberra U-10 WH885 on it’s delivery flight to Edinburgh Field to take part in those trials. The remote controls were obviously not without problems and WH885 was destroyed on April 1st 1964 at Woomera, when control was lost whilst being remotely piloted from the ground. The “self destruct” switch was activated, and the aircraft was blown up in flight.
In front is 216 Squadron Comet C2 XK699, parked in this instance with flaps fully down, obviously u/s.
More from Singapore in the '60s at
david taylor images | AVIATION
David