MIflyer
Captain
Hard to believe that NASA still has three WB-57 flying, but one of them made a gear-up landing at Ellington Field yesterday. Gear would not come down.
NASA WB-57 Crashes At Ellington Field
- Thread starter MIflyer
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Thumpalumpacus
Colonel
Read about that in the bath this morning. Glad the aircrew was safe, sad another legacy airframe had to suffer this insult.
They'll fix it or get another one
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
All that wing area must've been helpful in this situation. Does anyone know what its wing loading is? What is its stall speed or its V(foos)?
Thumpalumpacus
Colonel
Took a little looking, and I found this page. About 2,000 sq ft of wing area, max gross of 72,000 lbs gives us about 36 lbs/sq ft.
No stall speed given on that page. Pilot did a nice job giving it a long flare.
NASA WB-57F Canberra Jet Makes Fiery Belly-Landing In Houston (Updated)
NASA has a fleet of just three of the high-flying WB-57F aircraft, which are used for a wide array of scientific and defense-related missions.
www.twz.com
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- #7
MIflyer
Captain
I don't think they will be able to find one other than the other two they had.
Admittedly, there was an abandoned Canberra in RN markings at Melbourne Airport that I think ended up with Valiant Air Command, The Airport Authority got tired of looking at it and asked for bids. But that one was quite different from the WB-57F model, which has much larger engines as well as two more podded engines under the wings.
I recall a Shuttle launch that I worked that had a WB-57F come observe it for some reason. I thought it odd that it was flying even then.
NASA Crewmembers Unhurt In WB-57 Gear-Up Landing | Aviation Week Network
NASA says the two-person flight crew of a vintage WB-57F high altitude research aircraft were unharmed after the aircraft made a gear-up landing.
aviationweek.com
ARTESH
Chief Master Sergeant
I'm really happy that the crew were safe.
Count de Bastrop
Airman 1st Class
- 100
- Dec 14, 2004
According to the website amarcexperience.com, AMARG holds 4 WB-57F, as well as 5 EB-57Bs, and 1 B-57E, as of January 15, 2026.
