CAC Woomera

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CA-4 Wackett Bomber / CA-11 Woomera
CA-4 Wackett Bomber prototype A23-1001
Role light bomber
reconnaissance
dive bomber
torpedo bomber
Manufacturer Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
First flight 19 September 1941
Primary user Royal Australian Air Force
Number built 2

The CA-11 Woomera was a production development of the earlier CA-4 Wackett Bomber prototype, and was an Australian torpedo and dive bomber aircraft that was designed and constructed by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) during World War II. The order for the Woomera was cancelled before it became operational with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Design and development

In early 1939, the Australian Government ordered large numbers of Bristol Beaufort bombers, with major components to be built in a variety of locations, including railway workshops, and in doing so it by-passed the local aircraft company, the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.

CAC, under Sir

Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-S3C3-G radials. Unfortunately, the novel fuel tanks never proved reliable, and in January 1943 the CA-4 prototype was completely destroyed in a mid-air explosion,[3]
probably due to a fuel leak.

With a re-designed tail and rudder, and an improved nose armament of two 20 mm cannon and two .303 (7.7 mm) calibre machine guns, the CA-4 became the CA-11 Woomera.[3]

Production

Faced with the crisis caused by the Japanese entry into the war in December 1941, the RAAF accepted the design even before testing was complete, and ordered 105 examples of the CAC bomber on 8 March 1942. However, after the loss of the CA-4 prototype, the redesigned CA-11 did not fly until June 1944. By the time production was due to commence, the dive-bombing concept had fallen into disfavour and the RAAF was filling the light bomber/reconnaissance/strike role with British-designed

P-51 Mustang
fighters. The only completed CA-11 Woomera, A23-1, was stripped for parts and scrapped in 1946.

Loss of CA-4

On 15 January 1943, the prototype CA-4 Wackett Bomber, A23-1001, crashed on a test flight to assess powerplant performance and evaluate aerodynamic effects of a new fixed leading edge slat. During the return to the CAC airfield at Fisherman's Bend, the pilot, Squadron Leader Jim Harper, had detected a fuel leak in the port

R-1830 engine. As the problem worsened he attempted to shut down the engine, feathering the propeller; however, the actuation of the feathering switch caused an explosion and uncontrollable fire. The three-man crew subsequently attempted evacuation at 1,000 feet (300 m), yet only Harper succeeded in parachuting free, while the CAC test pilot Jim Carter and power plant group engineer Lionel Dudgeon were both killed. The airframe subsequently impacted 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Kilmore, Victoria. The wreckage was recovered and used for components.[4]

Operators

 Australia

Specifications

Orthographic projection of the first prototype CA-4 Wackett Bomber

Data from War Planes of the Second World War: Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft, Volume Seven[5]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 3
  • Length: 39 ft 7 in (12.07 m)
  • Wingspan: 59 ft 2.5 in (18.047 m)
  • Height: 18 ft 2 in (5.54 m)
  • Wing area: 440 sq ft (41 m2)
  • Airfoil: root: NACA 2218.5; tip: NACA 2209[6]
  • Empty weight: 12,765 lb (5,790 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 22,885 lb (10,380 kg)
  • Powerplant: 2 ×
    Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C3-G Twin Wasp
    14 cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,200 hp (890 kW) each
  • Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 282 mph (454 km/h, 245 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 184 mph (296 km/h, 160 kn)
  • Range: 2,225 mi (3,581 km, 1,933 nmi) (with external tank and one torpedo)
  • Service ceiling: 23,500 ft (7,200 m)
  • Rate of climb: 2,090 ft/min (10.6 m/s)

Armament

  • Guns:
  • Bombs:
    • 4× 250 lb (113 kg) bombs internally in engine nacelle bays
    • and 4× 500 lb (224 kg) bombs
    • or 2× 45 cm Mk XII, Mk XV or 57 cm Mk 13 aerial torpedoes mounted under the fuselage
    • or 1× torpedo and 1× 293 imp gal (1,330 L; 352 US gal) external fuel tank mounted under the fuselage

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Notes

  1. ^ Ewer 2009 Chapter 6
  2. ^ Ewer, 2009, p169
  3. ^
    ISBN 1875671080
    .
  4. ^ Isaacs, p. 58.
  5. ^ Green, 1967, p. 16.
  6. ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CAC Woomera.
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