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History

This aircraft, unique in Europe, is one out of the two replicas built by « Sanders Aeronautics » in California during the 1990s. an authentic CA-13 central section (n° « A46-139 ») was combined with modified T6 wings and rear fuselage section. It performed its first flight after rebuild at Chino in 1991 and was based in the US before moving to its new base at Antwerp in late 2014.

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The Aircraft

CAC Boomerang

The CAC Boomerang is a fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation between 1942 and 1945. Approved for production shortly following the Empire of Japan's entry into the Second World War, the Boomerang was rapidly designed to meet the urgent demands for fighter aircraft to equip the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It was the first combat aircraft designed and constructed in Australia.

Different variants of the Boomerang were manufactured under a series of corresponding production contract numbers CA-12, CA-13, CA-14 and CA-19, the aircraft supplied under each subsequent contract would incorporate various modifications, typically aimed at improving the aircraft's performance. The Boomerang was handicapped by the available engine variant, which gave low power at altitude and resulted in the aircraft proving to be slower than contemporary fighter aircraft. The Boomerang rarely engaged in aerial combat. During early wartime operations, the Boomerang was mainly dispatched to equip home-based squadrons, freeing up other fighters for use overseas. In later service, the Boomerang would commonly be used for ground support duties, cooperating with Allied army units, in addition to secondary roles such as aerial reconnaissance and air-sea rescue.

The Boomerang was a small single-engine monoplane fighter aircraft, designed with an emphasis on high manoeuvrability. It had a stubby appearance, which had resulted from the structure being derived from the smaller Wirraway being paired with a considerably larger engine in the form of a 1,200 horsepower (890 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radial engine, which drove a three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller, license-built by de Havilland. The engine was closely cowled with two air scoops fixed to the upper and lower sides, the upper being for the carburettor and the lower for the oil cooler. Fuel was divided between one fuselage-housed 70-gallon self-sealing fuel tank and a pair of 45-gallon tanks within the centre section of the wing.

Although the original intention during development had been to use as many Wirraway components as possible, the final design of the Boomerang had substantially differed from the source, having adopted shorter wings along with a shorter, wood-sheathed, aluminium-framed fuselage, which had increased strength to withstand combat stresses and an original centre section. The low-mounted cantilever wing consisted of five sections, these being a central section, a pair of outer sections, and two detachable wingtips; the outer sections had a swept-back leading edge along with a straight trailing edge. The wing used a single spar and a stressed skin construction, along with fabric-covered ailerons, aluminium trim tabs and split trailing edge flaps. The main undercarriage hydraulically retracted into wheel wells forward of the main spar.

The Boomerang had a new single-seat cockpit located directly over the centre of the wing, which was furnished with a sliding canopy that had 1.5-inch bulletproof glass and armour protection. Common to many of the latest fighters at the time, the Boomerang was equipped with automatic cannons; as no such weapons had previously been manufactured in Australia, a pair of British-made Hispano-Suiza 20 mm were used. Allegedly, an example which an Australian airman had collected as a souvenir in the Middle East was reverse-engineered. Other armament fitted included four Browning .303 machine guns along with provision for up to four 20 lb smoke bombs; all of these were mounted within the wings.

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