Hey Pyro!!
Don't forget us down here!!!!
CA - 13 Boomerang Actual Data
Wingspan 36ft
Length 25ft 6in
Engine 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney Radial
Weight Empty 5,373lb
Weight Loaded (combat) 7,699lb
Max Speed 304mph TAS
Rate of Climb 2,150fpm at 5k
Climb to Height (10k)
Armament 2x 20mm + 4x .303 Guns
"When Australia suddenly found itself in the front line, in December 1941, it had no modern fighters save a few Buffaloes supplied to the RAF in Singapore. To try to produce a stop-gap quickly the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation at Fishermen's Bend, Melbourne, decided to design and build their own. But the design team, under Wing Commander Laurence J. Wackett, was severely restricted. The new fighter had to be based on the familiar North American trainer series, which since 1938 had served as the basis for the excellent Wirraway general-purpose combat machine and trainer, of which 755 were made by CAC by 1946. Moreover the only powerful engine available was the 1,200hp Twin Wasp, judged by 1942 to be much too low-powered for first-line fighters elsewhere.
Despite these restrictions the resulting machine was tough, outstandingly manoeuvrable and by no means outclassed by the Japanese opposition. Wackett's team worked day and night to design the CA - 12 in a matter of weeks and build and fly the prototype in a further 14 weeks. Testing and production went ahead together and, as there were no real snags, with most of the first 105 CA -12s soon flying with 2 OTU Mildura."
-rkat-
21 Sqn RAAF Australia (WB)
[This message has been edited by -rkat- (edited 03-30-2000).]
