How much longer was the RB-57F's wingspan?

Short answer

The RB-57F's wing gained a span of more than 122 ft (37 m), 16 ft (4.9 m) greater than the RB-57D's. The aircraft also carried two removable Pratt & Whitney J60-P-9 turbojets, mounted in pods fitted to the wings outboard of the main engines.

Published: November 4, 2026 · Updated: November 4, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

How much longer was the RB-57F's wingspan?

Albatros D Va

A much longer wing

The RB-57F's wing had a span of more than 122 ft (37 m), that is, 16 ft (4.9 m) greater than that of the RB-57D.

Engines and donor airframes

On the RB-57F the Wright J65 turbojets were replaced with Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-11 turbofans, which gave the aircraft more than double the thrust of the B model. These were supplemented by two removable Pratt & Whitney J60-P-9 turbojets, mounted in pods fitted to the wings outboard of the main engines. The initial batch of 12 aircraft under the First Chip programme was converted from B-57B airframes from the 1952 and 1953 production runs. The next four conversions came from RB-57D airframes taken out of storage. The last three were built from RB-57A airframes. In August 1963 the First Chip production programme envisaged the manufacture of 19 more RB-57Fs from existing B-57 airframes.

The Canberra family it came from

A total of 901 Canberras were built in the United Kingdom, and together with overseas licence production the worldwide total reached 1,352. On 4 May 1953 the Canberra B.2 WD952, fitted with Rolls-Royce Olympus engines, set a world altitude record flying at 63,668 ft (19,406 m). On 28 August 1957 the Canberra B.2 WK163, fitted with a Napier Double Scorpion rocket motor, achieved an altitude record of 70,310 ft (21,430 m).