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What will happen to the vehicle after such crash landing? Is it possible (reasonably) to repair it? or it will never fly?
by tester756 8mo ago
What will happen to the vehicle after such crash landing?
Is it possible (reasonably) to repair it? or it will never fly?
- jccooper 8mo agoIt's a mid-50s bomber. The skin will be easy to replace. Drill out the rivets, rivet on new sheet metal. I don't think it even dragged the wingtips. Might be some complications with the nose gear and the payload bay (the main gear is on the wings, and untouched) but nothing terribly complicated. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was designed with some assumption of belly landings; it's a warplane after all. Repairs surely isn't automatic, and who knows how tight that's program's budget is, but planes are repaired from such landings all the time, and if they attach any value to the vehicle it can be repaired, and not at great cost.
- HPsquared 8mo agoThat depends on a lot of factors. What is the damage, how much would it cost to repair, and is spending that much considered worthwhile by NASA or whoever owns it? (Or whoever buys it after this)
- thomasjb 8mo agoOne of them was returned to service after 40 years in the boneyard in Arizona, back in 2011, I would expect they'll look at the other airframes there to see if they're suitable sources for a rebuild. Wouldn't be surprised if this is the end of this one though, it was already doing pretty well for a design that first flew in 1949 (the English Electric Canberra design that was then built by Martin)
- pbalau 8mo agoWait, this is THE Canberra? The Mighty Canberra? The RAF Luton Canberra? This gives those jokes an entire new dimension!
- altmanaltman 8mo agoIt depends, but NASA has 2 more of these (currently under inspection, so not in flying condition). Given its importance, its most likely they will find a way to make it fly again.