In article ,
Ken Duffey wrote:
N329DF wrote:

Beaten easily by the C-47

and a close 2nd, the T-6/SNJ/Harvard 1938-1995

I think we agreed last time that the longest OPERATIONAL jet was the
Lockheed T-33 - which just beat the Canberra by a couple of years.

Canberra's still in service, and not showing any likelyhood of going
away soon, so it is still working its way up the list.
There's also the one Meteor still in use - Martin-Baker's "T8"
hybrid (F8 wings and engines, T7 fuselage IIRC), so you could,
at a pinch, claim that the Gloster Meteor has been in service
since 1943 (and no jet *could* have been operational longer

You have to be very precise with your definition - by 'service career'
do you mean with a military arm ?? or in service with an airline or
serving with some organisation.

For example the T-6 is still 'serving' with the CAF - and I think one is
still used (in service) by the RAE at Boscombe Down as a chase plane.

But would they count as still having a 'service career' ??

If it's "operational, front-line military service" then the Canberra
probably does win out.

--
Andy Breen ~ Interplanetary Scintillation Research Group
http://users.aber.ac.uk/azb/
"Time has stopped, says the Black Lion clock
and eternity has begun" (Dylan Thomas)