Crew of the 100 Squadron Canberra bomber put on a display above the Amberley Aviation Heritage Centre on Vietnam Veterans’ Day on August 18 while in Queensland for the Gold Coast Pacific Airshow.
The Canberra pilot visited the Amberley Aviation Heritage Centre after the flight, with many recognising the familiar face of former Chief of Defence Force Air Chief Marshal (retd) Mark Binskin.
“It was an honour to fly the Canberra into RAAF Amberley, an iconic aircraft that has such a deep connection with so many current and previous serving members,” Air Chief Marshal Binskin said.
“The Aviation Heritage Centre has done a fantastic job of highlighting all of the Air Force’s achievements, but especially how critical our Canberras were in supporting the ground forces in Vietnam.”
The heritage aircraft is painted as a 2 Squadron Canberra bomber, as used in Vietnam. It is based in Temora where the engineers at the Temora Aviation Museum maintain it, and is the only one in the world of its kind still flying.
Officer in charge of the Amberley Aviation Heritage Centre Wing Commander Kevin Kovic was also excited to see the Canberra flying above Amberley.
“Sunday August 18 as Vietnam Veterans’ Day holds significance for a number of the Amberley Aviation Heritage Centre volunteers as veterans themselves,” he said.
“To once again have a Canberra bomber in the skies over RAAF Amberley on this day provided them a degree of both memories and nostalgia, especially our members who either flew in them, maintained them or guarded them during the conflict.”
The English Electric Canberra primarily served as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft but it was able to be adapted for various missions, including tactical bombing, photo reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and more.
Despite being an early jet aircraft, the Canberra remained in service for several decades, operating from 1951 to 1982.
The Canberra proved especially valuable to Air Force in Vietnam, where operators flew the Canberra lower than the altitude prescribed in US doctrine, increasing bombing precision to support troops on the ground.
Three static Canberra aircraft are on display at RAAF Amberley and one came to the rescue of Temora Aviation Museum maintenance staff when the 100 Squadron Canberra suffered a fault in the fuel actuator the day prior to the display.
The maintenance crew were able to use the fuel actuator from the display Canberra to investigate the fault, allowing them to fix the issue without having to pull parts off the aircraft.
