A first generation British jet-powered medium bomber, the English Electric Canberra was designed by W. E. W. 'Teddy' Petter. It could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber throughout the 1950s and by 1958 it had set nineteen point-to-point speed records and three height records, including one of 70,310 ft (21,430 m) in 1957 (see table below for details).
It all began in 1944, when the Air Ministry issued a requirement for a successor to the de Havilland Mosquito 'with no defensive armament and a high-altitude capability to evade interceptors'. A number of British manufacturers submitted proposals and amongst those short-listed was one from the Lancashire-based English Electric Company. At the time, the company had little experience in the design of military aircraft, having spent most of their formative years during the Second World War building aircraft for the likes of Handley Page and de Havilland. This all changed when Petter arrived from Westland Aircraft and he immediately set up his own design team. Initial designs produced a centrally-mounted, single-engine concept, although this was quickly replaced by a two, wing-mounted, engine concept. On 7th January 1946 the Ministry of Supply issued Specification B.3/45 for the further development and production of four aircraft, project named EE A.1.
After numerous post-war political and economic delays, the initial A.1. prototype (VN799) flew on 13th May 1949, by which time the Ministry had actually pre-ordered 132 production aircraft in various configurations. The aircraft continued on as the A.1 until it was formally named Canberra on 19th January 1951, by The Rt Hon R.G Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia and the first export customer for the new jet. The addition of a glazed nose (for a bomb-aimer), twin Rolls-Royce Avon R.A. 3 engines and teardrop wing tip fuel tanks resulted in the Canberra B.2, which took to the air at Warton on 21st April 1950 in the hands of English Electric Chief Test Pilot Roland (Bee) Beamont.
Such was the ease of transition from propeller aircraft into the English Electric Canberra, that the first aircraft was delivered to RAF101 Squadron at Binbrook on 25th May 1951. The success and adaptability of the design was such that it was built in over 40 versions and equipped 65 RAF squadrons. It was exported to 15 countries: Australia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, India, New Zealand, Peru, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sweden, USA, Venezuela and West Germany. A total of 925 English Electric Canberra aircraft were built in the UK. 451 'Canberra' aircraft were also built under licence in the USA: 403 in the USA by the Glenn L. Martin Company, which were designated as the B-57 ‘Canberra’ in many versions. A number of these were transferred from the USA to Pakistan as well as the Republic of China (Taiwan). A further 48 English Electric Canberras were built under licence by the Government Aircraft Factory, Australia as the Mk.20. In total 1,376 English Electric Canberra aircraft were built.
The aircraft was eventually retired by its first operator (the RAF) in June 2006, some 57 years after its first flight. However, three of the Martin B-57 variants remain in service today, performing meteorological work for NASA, a testament to the aircraft's design and capabilities.