CANBERRA – T.4, WH846
T.4 – WH846 (Photo : Les Bywaters) |
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Built at Preston in 1953/4 this T.4 was first delivered to the charge 231 OCU. From there it was transferred to RAF Germany arriving at RAF Geilenkirchen (around 1962?) to join 3 Sqn’s B(I)8s as one of two T.4s used for conversion and training. (It was at Geilenkirchen over the period 1962-65 that I met up with and worked on WH846.) I left 3 Sqn in 1965, and WH846 was transferred to Station Flight at RAFG Laarbruch (it was a coincidence – honest) where it stayed until Laarbruch’s 16 Sqn closed down. WH846 was transferred to the charge of 100 Sqn (probably around 1971/72). 100 Sqn had moved to RAF Wyton in 1972 with T.19s. WH846 was transferred to storage at RAF St Athan in 1977 and eventually sold to BAe in 1982. By 1985, this T.4 was in storage at Samlesbury. However it has been preserved as it was bought in 1988 by the Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington. The photo shows WH846 at Elvington on a grey day. It is without engines and has been painted with a yellow band around the fuselage to represent the old flying training colour scheme. Also, when it was with 3 Sqn the top of the nose cone in front of the cockpit was painted in anti-reflection black – as were most T.4s at that time. Further, WH846 had “Dayglo” self-adhesive strips (bright orange – denoting a trainer) applied to the nose cone and fin. If you know Canberras you may wonder at the “B.2” style nose cover in use in the photo. This type of cover was used on Canberras with “bomb-aimer” clear noses. Of course the T.4 had a solid nose and didn’t use this style of cover, just a leather protective pouch for the pitot head. The nose cone of the T.4 could be opened however, (reminiscent of the PR.9) and if you look closely you can make out the series of toggle fasteners around the nose just in front of the cockpit.
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