Robert Taylor, Canberras Over Cambridgeshire, autographed by chief test pilot

  
Be sure to add me to your favorites list. Check out my other items.

Undeterred by'Friday the 13th', Wing Commander Beamont took off that day in May 1949, in the Canberra prototype. So accomplished was this new jet bomber that by the end of the 1950's, no fewer than 41 R.

Squadrons were equipped with the Canberra, and the training of crews in another 16 countries had begun. The aircraft was so well designed and capable, that 403 were license produced in the United States as the Martin B-57 Canberra light bomber. Robert Taylor's painting, shows the aircraft during a formation training sortie; rushing over the Fenlands of Cambridgeshire, England, preparing to land at its R. This print has one signature. Print numbers 479/1000, 480/1000 and 481/1000.

Wing Commander Roland Bee Beamont CBE DSO DFC DL. One of World War IIs great characters, Bee flew Hurricanes with 87 Squadron, later leading a Tempest Wing. He had 8 victories plus a further 32 VIs destroyed.

After the war he became a highly respected Chief Test Pilot. Wing Commander Roland Beamont, one of the RAFs top buzz bomb interceptors, was born in Enfield England on August 10, 1920. Educated at Eastborne College, Beamont accepted a short service commission with the Royal Air Force in 1938. He commenced flying in 1939 at the No. 13 Reserve Flying School at White Waltham. His initial duty was with the Group Fighter Pool at St. Athan where he learned to fly the Hurricane. Beamont was soon posted with the No. 87 Squadron which was part of the Advanced Air Striking Force in France.

Seeing action in both France and Belgium prior to the Allied withdrawal, Beamont rejoined 87 Squadron in England during the Battle of Britain. In the spring of 1941 Beamont was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after destroying five enemy aircraft. As Commanding Officer of 609 Squadron, Beamont pioneered both day and night ground attack missions utilizing the Typhoon. Beamont was credited with destroying 25 trains in a three month period. He was then made responsible for organizing and commanding the first Tempest Wing at Newchurch.

Three days after D-Day Beamont shot down an Me-109, marking the first aerial combat victory for the Hawker Tempest. In the summer of 1944 Beamont destroyed 32 buzz bombs prior to leading his wing to a Dutch Airfield at Volkel on the Continent. In October of 1944 Beamont was shot down during a ground attack mission over Germany, and he remained a prisoner of war until wars end. Following repatriation Beamont became an experimental test pilot with the Gloster Aircraft Company, which had developed the RAFs first jet aircraft. Turning down a permanent commission with the RAF, Beamont then joined English Electric Company in Wharton as the Chief Test Pilot for the B3/45 (Canberra) jet bomber program. He managed all prototype testing on the Canberra, and in the process set two Atlantic speed records. Later Beamont was involved with the supersonic P1/Lightning program and became the first British pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. From 1965 until 1970 he was a founding member of Britain's highly successful Saudi Arabian export program.

For several years prior to his retirement in 1979, Beamont was Director of Operations for British Aerospace and Panavia where he was in charge of flight testing for the Tornado. Since his retirement Beamont has authored nine books and published numerous magazine articles.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in America. He died 19th November 2001.

Certificate Of Authenticity (COA) included. We have 29 years experience in the military art business.