Developed by a British firm, the English Electric Company Ltd. in 1944 the B-57 made its first flight in May of 1949.
At left: The NASA 926 WB-57 aircraft on a research mission gathering data to understand Earth's environment
The United States Air Force chose the B-57 Canberra to reinforce its aging Douglas B-26 Invader fleet from a flight demonstration of several aircraft in 1951. The B-57 made a record breaking flight across the Atlantic Ocean, without refueling, in only four hours and forty minutes. It won hands-down over all the others for its time.
Although various models were built, the "F" model survived with several modifications. The aircraft was put into service with the 58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Kirtland, AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1964 and was designated as a WB-57F ("w" standing for weather).
This high quality replica is handcrafted from mahogany and comes with a wooden base.
