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The CAC CA-15, also known unofficially as the CAC Kangaroo, was an Australian
propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
-driven
fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
designed by the
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manager ...
(CAC) during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Due to protracted development, the project was not completed until after the war, and was cancelled after flight testing, when the advent of
jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...
was imminent.


Design and development

During 1943, following its success in rapidly designing and mass-producing the Boomerang fighter for the
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF), CAC began design work on a fully-fledged
interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...
and
escort fighter The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, and r ...
. Because the Boomerang had become more and more obsolete against Japanese fighters like the
Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 19 ...
, Sir
Lawrence Wackett Sir Lawrence James Wackett (2 January 1896 – 18 March 1982) is widely regarded as "father of the Australian aircraft industry". He has been described as "one of the towering figures in the history of Australian aviation covering, as he did, ...
(as head of CAC) proposed designing a new high-performance fighter from scratch.
Fred David Friedrich Wilhelm "Fred" David, an Austrian Jew, who became the most significant aircraft designer for the Australian aircraft industry during World War Two; having been one of only a few people to have worked for both sides (Allies and Axis pow ...
, who had designed the Boomerang, was to lead an in-house design team at CAC. In June 1943, the design concept proposal was approved by the government and RAAF, which issued specification ''2/43'', enabling work to commence. The design was inspired by contemporary fighters – especially the German
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...
, details of which were available to the designers through Allied intelligence reports on captured aircraft.Ross 1995, p. 321. Although the CA-15 bore a superficial resemblance to the
North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team ...
,''Air Enthusiast'' October 1972, p. 179. the CAC design was not based directly on the American aircraft and had quite different performance objectives. For much of its development, the CA-15 was designed around
radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...
s, rather than the inline engines used in fighters like the Mustang. In fact, development of the CA-15 was slowed by a recommendation from Wackett, that CAC build Mustangs under licence, rather than bear the cost of developing a unique design. Nevertheless, it was believed that the CA-15 promised capabilities that would enable it to replace the P-51. At first, the CAC designers planned to use the 2,300 hp (1,715 kW) radial
Pratt & Whitney R-2800 The Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp is an American twin-row, 18-cylinder, air-cooled radial aircraft engine with a displacement of , and is part of the long-lived Wasp family of engines. The R-2800 saw widespread use in many importan ...
, with a
turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
. However, that engine became unavailable, causing further delays in development, and it was decided to fit an in-line
Rolls-Royce Griffon The Rolls-Royce Griffon is a British 37-litre (2,240  cu in) capacity, 60-degree V-12, liquid-cooled aero engine designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited. In keeping with company convention, the Griffon was named after a bird of prey, ...
Mk 61 (2,035 hp/1,517 kW). Engines for a prototype were leased from Rolls-Royce. It was intended that any production engines would have a three-stage
supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
.


Operational history

Development was further slowed by the end of the war, with the prototype flying for the first time on 4 March 1946, and was flown by CAC test pilot Jim Schofield, who also flew the first Australian built P-51. The prototype was assigned RAAF serial number A62-1001. According to aviation historian Darren Crick, it achieved a calibrated level flight speed of 448 mph (721 km/h) at 26,400 ft (8,046 m). Test flights came to an abrupt ending when Flt Lt J. A. L. Archer suffered a hydraulic failure (later found to be a leaking ground test gauge) on approach to Point Cook on 10 December 1946, which left him no choice but to orbit and burn off fuel. The main gear was only halfway down and unable to be retracted or lowered any further but the tail wheel was down and locked. On landing, the tail wheel struck the airstrip first causing the aircraft to porpoise and finally, the airscoop dug in. The aircraft settled back on the fuselage and skidded to a stop, heavily damaged.Crick 2003 After repairs at CAC, the aircraft was returned to ARDU in 1948. Archer reportedly achieved a speed of 502.2 mph (803 km/h) over
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, after levelling out of a dive of 4,000 ft (1,200 m), on 25 May 1948.https://oldmachinepress.com/2015/06/16/commonwealth-aircraft-corporation-ca-15-kangaroo/#:~:text=The%20CA%2D15%20weighed%207%2C540,32%2C000%20ft%20(9%2C754%20m). By this time, however, it was clear that jet aircraft had far greater potential and no further examples of the CA-15 were built. The prototype was scrapped in 1950, and the engines were returned to Rolls-Royce.


Operators

; *
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...


Specifications


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Crick, Darren
"RAAF A62 CAC CA-15"
''adf-serials.com'', 2003. * Donald, David. "Commonwealth CA-15: The 'Kangaroo' Fighter". ''Wings of Fame'', Volume 4, 1996, pp. 118–121. London: Aerospace Publishing. . ISSN 1361-2034. * Francillon, René J. ''The Royal Australian Air Force & Royal New Zealand Air Force in the Pacific''. Fallbrook, California: Aero Publishers Inc., 1970. . * Green, William, ed. "Antipodean Finale". ''
Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...
'', October 1972, Vol. 3. No 4, pp. 178–180. * * Ross, A.T. ''Armed and Ready: The Industrial Development and Defence of Australia 1900-1945''. Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia: Turton & Armstrong, 1995. . * Wilson, Stewart. ''Wirraway, Boomerang & CA-15 in Australian Service''. Fyshwick ACT, Australia: Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., 1991. .


External links


RAAF Museum, "A62 CAC CA 15"


{{ADF aircraft designations CA-15 1940s Australian fighter aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Abandoned military aircraft projects of Australia Aircraft first flown in 1946