Is this a real photo of RAAF bomber flying low through the hanger in Canberra, Australia?

Image credit: Sutcliffe Gallery Australia, 1955.

This image is an example of pre-Photoshop image manipulation. Original caption: “Low flying fun with the RAAF”, 1955.

This dramatic photograph of a Canberra bomber of 2 Squadron “flying” through the hanger at Amberley RAAF base was the result of boredom.

A group of airmen serving their National Service there set the aircraft on stands under the wings and retracted the undercarriage, then one of them lay on the ground huddled in “terror”. Later, in the darkroom, the stands were erased to leave this fun image.

The Sutcliffe Gallery Australia is currently known as the Frozen in Time Gallery. The original image can be found from this web page.

There are many variations of this image. One image below:

All variations of the original image are photoshopped.

Thanks to Steph on Twitter who asked me about this photo.