Tugan Aircraft Ltd. was an Australian aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s. It was based at Mascot aerodrome, now
Sydney Airport
Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...
. It is best known for having manufactured the
Gannet
Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies.
Gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the ...
, the first Australian-designed aircraft to enter series production.
History
The company was formed in 1933 by Leo Turl and Frank Gannon as Turl & Gannon.
[Meggs, p544] Both were former employees of
Genairco, which had gone out of business earlier that year; they started offering aircraft maintenance services in the former Genairco hangar and quickly acquired the
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF) and
Charles Kingsford Smith
Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand.
Kingsford Smith was b ...
as customers.
In order to expand the business into aircraft manufacture, Tugan Aircraft Ltd. was registered as a public company on 5 December 1933 with backing from members of the Carpenter family (owners of W. R. Carpenter & Co. Airlines in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, later known as
Mandated Airlines
Mandate most often refers to:
* League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919
* Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate
Mandate may also r ...
).
The first aircraft manufactured was actually a
Genairco Biplane, this was built using the wreckage of the third Genairco to be produced and was substantially modified, featuring an enclosed cabin and a
de Havilland Gipsy III
The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre (30 ...
engine.
[Meggs p545]
Charles Kingsford Smith approached the company to develop an improved version of the
Codock twin-engine aircraft
[Meggs, p548] that
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, ...
had designed and built for him while working for the
Cockatoo Island Docks & Engineering Company. Tugan Aircraft in turn approached Wackett, who at the time was working for
New England Airways
Keith Allison Virtue MBE (23 June 1909 – 7 February 1980) was a pioneer Australian aviator. Sir Lawrence Wackett, in the foreword of Keith Virtue's biography, writes that he was an experienced airman himself but he marvelled at the ability ...
; on 14 March 1934 Wackett agreed to act as a consultant to Tugan to design the new type.
The name Gannet was suggested for the new aircraft by Kingsford Smith as a contraction of the names Gannon and Wackett.
In order to expand the product line the company entered negotiations with
Miles Aircraft Limited to allow licence-production of the
Hawk
Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...
, but agreement could not be reached and none were built.
Tugan then proposed building a type broadly similar to the
Percival Gull
The Percival Gull was a British single-engined monoplane, first flown in 1932. It was successful as a fast company transport, racing aircraft and long-range record breaker. It was developed into the Vega Gull and the Proctor.
Design and devel ...
, to be called the Tugan Aircraft Hawk. Although an advanced stage of design was reached, no manufacturing took place.
The Prime Minister of Australia
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...
announced the formation of 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) on 19 June 1936, and that CAC would take over Tugan Aircraft.
The takeover was effected on 7 November that year and CAC continued the business of aircraft manufacture in the old Genairco hangar until November 1937, when its new factory in
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 ...
was ready.
[Meggs p545-46]
Aircraft
;
General Aircraft Company Genairco
:one aircraft built using some parts from a crashed example; substantially modified compared to original design
;C3 Hawk
:Four-seat single-engine design; none built
;
LJW7 Gannet
:six-passenger twin-engine airliner; eight built
References
Bibliography
*
*{{cite book , last= Cookson, first= Bert, title= The Historic Civil Aircraft Register of Australia (pre War), G-AUAA to VH-UZZ, year= 1996, publisher= AustAirData, location= Toombul, Queensland (privately published)
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Australia
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1933
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1936
1933 establishments in Australia
1936 disestablishments in Australia