Unofficial though it is, the altitude record of the Olympus Canberra test-bed, set on March 24th, is remarkable for several reasons. It is the first occasion on which a conventional aircraft, other than rocket-powered research machines, has exceeded 60,000ft. The flight was made during routine high-altitude development flights for the Olympus turbojets. Again, there were no special arrangements or preparations; on the contrary, the airframe is of standard type and carried all its special instrumentation together with the pilot, Mr. Walter F. Gibb, Bristol's assistant chief test pilot, and Mr. F. M. Piper as flight observer. It is understood that successful re-lights have been achieved at very high altitudes.
Although the official power rating of the Bristol Olympus has been given as 9,750 lb static thrust, it was revealed at the time of the Farnborough Show, when the Olympus-Canberra was first demonstrated, that the thrust of each Olympus in this install- ation was reduced to some 8,000 lb. This is because the standard wing-spar holes through which the jet pipes must pass were designed with the thrust of the smaller Avons in mind, and the cross-sectional area of the Olympus tailpipe is thus restricted.
Source: Flight International
