Operational history A No. 4 Squadron Boomerang and ground crew at Nadzab, New Guinea in October 1943 (AWM P02531.013) CAC Boomerang during assemblyFollowing the devastating first air raids on Darwin on 19 February 1942, the need for interceptors became more pressing. Despite the Boomerang's astonishingly short development phase — especially since the Australian aviation industry had never built fighters before, let alone designed them — by the time the Boomerang entered service, an adequate number of Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks had arrived from the United States. In January 1943, these were replaced in the air defence role over Darwin by No. 1 (Fighter) Wing RAAF, which had returned from Europe, equipped with the Spitfire Mk Vc.Two of the first three operational Boomerang units, No. 83 Squadron and No. 85 Squadron, were used for home defence. No. 84 Squadron was deployed to Horn Island in northern Queensland and to Dutch New Guinea (modern Irian Jaya) in an attempt to address the continuing shortage of fighters in this area. The squadron was only modestly successful however. The Boomerang's low top speed and poor high altitude performance meant that No. 84 Squadron could drive off enemy attacks but rarely get close enough to Japanese aircraft to bring their guns to bear. On the only occasion when a Boomerang did close with a Japanese aircraft, its guns froze. Fortunately, there were not many air raids in this area, and after using Boomerangs for eight months No. 84 Squadron upgraded to the Kittyhawk.The Boomerang found its real use as a close support aircraft. In contrast to Europe or North Africa, the ground war in the jungles of the south-west Pacific was, in broad terms, an endless series of small unit actions fought at very close quarters by widely dispersed forces with no clear front lines. It was here that the Boomerang found its niche – as close to the troops on the ground as possible.It had the range to go wherever it was needed (usually the aircraft were based closed to the area of ground operations), heavy armament by the standards of the day and, because it was easier to fly than most fighters, the pilot could get in close to the objective and have time to concentrate on the ground forces. Sprightly low-level handling helped avoid ground fire and rough terrain and the unusually extensive armour plating protected pilots. In addition, the aircraft's simple wood and aluminium airframe proved capable of absorbing battle damage. Nonetheless, several of the aircraft were shot down - including two by US units, as the aircraft resembled a Zero from certain angles - and more were damaged during landing accidents, as the Boomerang was prone to ground looping.No. 4 Squadron and No. 5 Squadron flew Boomerangs in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Borneo in the close support role with marked success. Flying in pairs (one to observe the ground, the other to observe the air around them), their tasks included bombing, strafing, close infantry support and artillery spotting. When attacking larger enemy formations Boomerangs often operated in conjunction with heavier aircraft. In this role the Boomerang would get in close to confirm the identity of the target and mark it with a 20 lb (9 kg) smoke bomb with the heavier aircraft delivering the major ordnance from a safer distance. The partnership between 5 Squadron Boomerangs and RNZAF Corsair fighter-bombers in Bougainville was said to be particularly effective.The other user of Boomerangs in New Guinea was 8 Communications Unit, which used the aircraft to assist with air-sea rescue flights.See also the North American P-64 which is another single seat fighter that evolved from the basic NA-16 trainer design.Data from The Great Book of Fighters[8]General characteristicsCrew: 1 Length: 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m) Height: 9 ft 7 in (2.92 m) Wing area: 225 ft² (20.9 m²) Empty weight: 5,373 lb (2,437 kg) Loaded weight: 7,699 lb (3,492 kg) Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radial engine, 1,200 hp (895 kW) PerformanceMaximum speed: 305 mph (265 knots, 491 km/h) at 15,500 ft (4,730 m) Range: 930 mi (810 nm, 1,500 km) Service ceiling 29,000 ft (8,800 m) Rate of climb: 2,940 ft/min (14.9 m/s) Wing loading: 34.2 lb/ft² (167.1 kg/m²) Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (256 W/kg) ArmamentGuns:2× 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano or CAC cannons 4× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns Bombs: Could be fitted when the large drop tank was not carried
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