CAC Boomerang

History

The Commonwealth Boomerang (aka Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation - or "CAC" - Boomerang) is an entirely indigenous Australian design. Based on the CAC Wirraway (which in turn evolved from the North American NA-16 trainer), the Boomerang was developed as a direct response to the imminent Japanese invasion of mainland Australia. As with other aspects of Australian war production, pre-war aviation design received little attention. As the Japanese Empire continued to gain ground throughout Asia and the Pacific, Australian lands were now ripe for devouring.

It appears that this Commonwealth territory no longer exists.

The boomerang is a practical and very traditional design, broadly similar to the early thick-hulled monoplanes seen in the second half of the 1930s. The wings - taken directly from the Wirraway design - were mounted forward and low on the fuselage, again a completely new design.

Additionally, the tail and retractable landing gear systems are also derived from the creation of previous designs, making the boomerang essentially a conversion model to its origins. The pilot sits behind the cabin, under a glass canopy.

The armament is excellent, including 2 x 20mm cannons on the wings and 4 x 7.7mm machine gun arrays on the wings.

With aircraft development in full swing in the UK and US, the engines produced by the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp were deemed underpowered for their new designs. As a result, the remainder of this engine was available for Australia and was quickly installed in the Boomerang hull. This combination of power and design has produced aircraft that can reach speeds in excess of 300 mph, have a top speed of 34,000 feet per hour, and have a range of 1,600 miles.

The Pratt & Whitney Radial has an output of 1,200 horsepower. From design to flying prototype, the CAC team developed the Boomerang in just three months of development.

At first glance, the stats might seem boring considering the guy will be battling designs from the mighty Pacific Japanese Nakajima, Aichi and Mitsubishi, but the Boomerang is surprisingly good in theaters In the short time he was allowed to operate. The factors that contributed to its success were directly related to the system's ability to withstand penalties, the impressive firepower delivered to the target through a combination of machine gun and artillery armament, and the ability to fight alongside the best Japanese fighters ability is directly related.

As soon as the boomerang entered front-line service, it was replaced by more powerful American designs that rolled off the line in record speed. After the U.S. had amassed a plethora of resources, Canada and Australia (as well as the U.K.) quickly enacted the now-available U.S. designs collectively.

Still, as a symbol of the boomerang, it has long remained a symbol of a country that prides itself on designing and producing warriors when they need it most.

Only about 250 prototypes were produced, making it one of the rarest serial fighters of the war.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

ARMAMENT

VARIANTS