Ernie P.
Posts: 2192
Score: 100
Joined: 9/29/2007
Last Login: 6/19/2013
From: Bealeton, VA, USA
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JohnnyS
3136,
I've been married for 13 years: If you do it right it gets better every year! ''Happy Wife -> Happy Life''!!!
OK, I will ask a few questions for you.
1. The installed weapons were reverse-engineered from a sample brought back from the Middle East.
2. The designer had previously worked for Heinkel as well as for two Japanese aircraft firms.
3. It was designed with an emphasis on maneuverability.
4. Although designed as a fighter it was most successful as a close-support attack aircraft, either attacking directly or by marking targets for larger aircraft.
5. It was also used to assist with air sea rescue operations.
Congratulations on the 13 years. I hope you enjoy many more. And it sounds as though you are describing the CAC Boomerang fighter. Thanks; Ernie P.
The CAC Boomerang was a World War II fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia between 1942 and 1945. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation gave Boomerangs the model numbers CA-12, CA-13, CA-14 and CA-19.
The Wirraway trainer provided a starting point for the Boomerang's airframe. CAC general manager (and former chief designer) Lawrence Wackett and chief designer Fred David began detailed design work at the CAC factory in Fishermans Bend, Melbourne on 21 December 1941. David was a Jewish refugee from Austria, who had worked on aircraft designs for Heinkel in pre-Nazi Germany, as well as for Mitsubishi and Aichi in Japan. As a result, he had a comprehensive knowledge of advanced contemporary fighter designs, including the Heinkel He 112 and A6M Zero.
The RAAF ordered 105 CA-12 (Mark I) Boomerangs on 2 February 1942, before the prototype first flew on 29 May 1942.
The Boomerang was a small fighter, designed with an emphasis on manoeuvrability. It had an overall length of just 7.7 metres (25.5 ft) and an 11 m (36 ft) wingspan. Although the original intention had been to use as many Wirraway components as possible, the final design was quite different, with shorter wings, a shorter, wood-sheathed, aluminium-framed fuselage, increased strength for combat stresses and a new centre section.
Test flights found that the CA-12 handled well. It was very well-armed, with two 20 mm cannon and four .303 calibre (7.7 mm) machine guns, all mounted in the short, thick wings. The Boomerang was also generously equipped with armour plating to protect the pilot. However, general performance was mediocre. Although lively at low level, performance fell away rapidly over 15,000 ft (4,600 m), and at the maximum speed of 265 knots (490 km/h) was not sufficient to make it an effective counter to the Zero. In addition, the best European fighters were reaching almost 350 knots (650 km/h), and even relatively sluggish fighters like the Wildcat and the Kittyhawk were much faster than the Boomerang.
As a result, by early 1942 the CA-14 variant was being designed, around the U.S.-built, 1,700 hp (1,268 kW) Wright Cyclone R-2600 engine, to address the CA-12's deficiencies in speed, climb and ceiling.[2] However, the 145 Cyclones ordered were not delivered as scheduled, and in mid-1942 Wackett authorised use of the 1,850 hp (1,380 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800, which could also be obtained from the CAC factory in Lidcombe.
However, the significantly greater weight of this powerplant led to an unacceptable risk of undercarriage failure. CAC eventually returned to the Twin Wasp, to which was added a General Electric B-2 turbo-supercharger mounted inside the rear part of the fuselage, new propellor gear, a geared cooling fan (influenced by reports on Focke-Wulfs captured in Europe) and a larger, squared-off tailfin and rudder.
By July 1943, the significantly re-worked CA-14 prototype, now known as the CA-14A, had a top speed which was 25–30% better than the CA-12, and an operational ceiling which was 4,000 ft (1,200 m) higher. Overall, it compared favourably with the Spitfire Vc and early model Thunderbolts and Mustangs. By this time, however, British-built Spitfires had filled the interceptor role and Mustangs had been ordered, to fill the bomber escort, air superiority and close air support roles. In addition, work had begun on the all-new CA-15, also known as the Kangaroo. Consequently, production Boomerangs were never fitted with superchargers.
Boomerangs underwent various improvements and modifications, which were grouped under three CAC designations: CA-12, CA-13 and CA-19. A total of 250 aircraft of these marques were built: 105 CA-12s, (RAAF serial numbers A46-1/105), 95 CA-13s (A46-106/200) and 49 CA-19s (A46-201/249). The CA-13 and CA-19 are sometimes known collectively as the Boomerang Mark II.
The sole CA-14A was used for research by No. 1 Aircraft Performance Unit RAAF, and was also seconded to the Bureau of Meteorology for a period after the war ended.
Following 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, sufficient 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.
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RE: Knowledge Quiz for Warbird wiz - 
