Royal Australian Air Force

CAC Boomerang
The only aircraft that was completely designed, built and operated exclusively in Australia during WWII. The Boomerang was not an exceptional fighter, it spent most of it's career as a ground support aircraft. Boomerangs were the only plane available to the RAAF at the beginning of the war, but were quickly replaced with Spitfires from Britain and P-40 the USA.

When the war in the Pacific began, the only real fighters the RAAF had was a small numbers of the Brewster Buffalo. To overcome this shortfall and the possibility the Australia could not get fighters from overseas design work was started on the CA-12 Boomerang. Using parts from the CA Wirraway the Boomerang was designed and built in only three months. 105 airframes build during 1942-3.

Later Versions
In 1943 a second batch of 95 improved CA-13 Boomerang mk II's were built. The most obvious change was the addition of two 20mm cannon. Later versions had the CA-14 had a turbocharger to improve high altitude performance and the CA-14A had square tail feathers. Neither were produced in quantity because of the availability of the Spitfire mk.VIII. The final version was the CA-19 Boomerang mk.II with minor modifications over the CA-13. Only 49 CA-19's were built.

 

Role   

 Fighter

Crew   

 One

Engine   

1 x Pratt-Whitney R-1830

Span   

10.97m

Length   

7.77m

Height   

2.92m

Max. Speed   

305 mph

Range   

1,600 miles

Armament   

(wings) 4 x .303 MG
(wings) 2 x 20mm

 

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