The CAC Boomerang

Author: Don Williams

Title: The CAC Boomerang

Binding: Paperback

Number Of Pages: 104

Release Date: 2024-10-31

Details: "The author examines this unique aircraft and its origins, its service and the men who flew it... The in-depth research is complemented by a wealth of photographic material... along with a number of superb profiles, which combine to present an all round excellent volume on this somewhat overlooked stop gap fighter." - Classic Wings

The CAC Boomerang has a unique place in Australian aviation history, being the nation's only home designed and produced fighter.

The design was born in dark days at the start of the Pacific War when the RAAF possessed not a single modern fighter and the southwards onslaught of Japanese forces seemed unstoppable. The single seat Boomerang owed its origins to the Wirraway two seat general purpose aircraft produced by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in Melbourne. Because of existing Wirraway production, a Boomerang prototype flew less than six months after the design was conceived - a remarkable achievement.

Lacking the performance of contemporaries such as America's P-39 and P-40 and Japan's Zero, the Boomerang's subsequent history is chequered. It served with three RAAF home defence squadrons in the fighter interceptor role but had only fleeting, unsuccessful, contact with enemy aircraft. However, the Boomerang found its true niche as an army cooperation aircraft, and the type gave very useful service with Nos. 4 and 5 Squadrons in New Guinea and Bougainville.

With hindsight the Boomerang provided an insurance policy if other fighters could not be obtained from the US and Britain. In that role it was successful, and its production maintained a skilled wartime workforce at the CAC factory.

This is the first stand-alone history of the Boomerang. The author Don Williams examines this unique aircraft and its origins, service and the men that flew it.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations & Glossary
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Maps
Chapter 1 - Strategic Leadership of Australia's Air War in WWII
Chapter 2 - Why Australia Needed an Emergency Fighter in WWII
Chapter 3 - A Battle Won: Approval to Produce an Australian Interceptor Fighter
Chapter 4 - Tests and Further Orders
Chapter 5 - The Production Battle: Early Victories and Later Losses
Chapter 6 - The CAC Boomerang Described
Chapter 7 - The Boomerang Goes to War: RAAF Service
Chapter 8 - No. 4 Squadron
Chapter 9 - No. 5 Squadron and Other Units
Chapter 10 - Prominent Boomerang Pilots
Chapter 11 - Assessing the Boomerang
Appendix: Summary of Boomerang Air Combat Engagements
Sources
Index of Names

EAN: 9780975642320

Package Dimensions: Height: 9.8 inches, Length: 6.8 inches, Weight: 0.39903669422 pounds, Width: 0.3 inches