Canberra lumps and bumps

[bobward]

I recently visited the North East Land,Seaand Air Museum at Usworth, Sunderland. They have Canberra TT18 WJ639 on display. I noticed she had a fairing on the outside of each of the engine nacelles, which I can't remember seeing on a Canberra before.

The museum guidebook says she served with A&AEE for a while, then became a target tug. Could anyone in PPruneland offer an explanation as to what they might be?

I've tried to attach a couple of pictures, but have failed miserably......

[DaveReidUK]

I recently visited the North East Land,Seaand Air Museum at Usworth, Sunderland. They have Canberra TT18 WJ639 on display. I noticed she had a fairing on the outside of each of the engine nacelles, which I can't remember seeing on a Canberra before.

The museum guidebook says she served with A&AEE for a while, then became a target tug. Could anyone in PPruneland offer an explanation as to what they might be?

Lights to illuminate the target winches.

[Wander00]

Thought thread was going to be about the T17........

[bobward]

Thanks for the suggestions, and apologies to those who thought I was asking about the T17.

The pods are on the nacelles, just aft of the undercarriage bays. Although they might be for lights, I don't know if you could actually see the pylons and winches from the cockpit.

Could they have been for CCTV cameras?

[longer ron]

These will be the bumps Bob is asking about I guess!

http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv316/volvosmoker/Nelsam%2075_zpscpsjcgjt.jpg

[DaveReidUK]

Could they have been for CCTV cameras?

Nope.

Although now removed, WJ639 was fitted with a rather Heath-Robinson arrangement consisting of a fairing forward of the navigator's window containing a Morris Minor wing mirror, which allowed the nav to view the target winch.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8422/7814745256_60788e1447_b.jpg

I assume the same was fitted on the starboard side (TT18s had a corresponding window retrofitted on that side when converted from B2s) as the NEAM example has lights on both engine nacelles.

[longer ron]

Just to confirm that 639 did indeed have a stbd rear view mirror fairing fitted at some stage of her history.

[bobward]

Ron,
That's exactly it. Both engines were still fitted like that last week!

[longer ron]

Ron,
That's exactly it. Both engines were still fitted like that last week!

We popped in there for a visit a few weeks ago and took the pic then,quite an interesting little museum.

rgds LR

[DaveReidUK]

That's exactly it. Both engines were still fitted like that last week!

Incidentally, there are unconfirmed reports that, just like the fuselage-mounted mirror, the lamp in the engine nacelle fairing also came from an automotive source.

I wouldn't be surprised if that turned out to be true.

It also seems that WJ639 was the only one of the 22 TT18 conversions to be thus equipped, unless anyone knows differently?

[ricardian]

First Canberra entering RAF service in 1951 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm2RTbal-_c)

[papa_sierra]

Tip tanks fitted during flight ??