29th May 1942.
The first flight of the mighty CAC Boomerang eighty years ago today. Designed and built in a very short period with our backs to the wall.
Certainly one of Australia's finest D.I.Y. moments.
Happy birthday Mr Boomerang! 👍
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAC_Boomerang
Hi @Noyade,
This is so cool! I will need to show my husband this post, he has a great love of aviation. Thank you for sharing.
Katie
Hi @KatieC
Apologies for the late response. If your husband has an interest in Australian aviation and what we historically were capable of in the past - may I suggest, for starters, Keith Meggs tomes on the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.
Make a nice Christmas gift. 👍
Love the CAC! Visited the one at RAAF Amberley not too long ago, also one of the planes I purchased in WarThunder (Because Aussie Pride :P)HBD Boomerang! 🎉
Thank you for the suggestion @Noyade, I think you are spot on for this year's Christmas gift! My husband has always been fond of the Boomerang in terms of Aussie-made but thinks the Caribou is the most interesting because it can fly backward and he's seen it go down the tarmac with just the nose wheel down.
@Remarka6le we are going to see the Solent Sky Museum in Southampton UK, the home of the Spitfire soon. There will be many WWI and WWII planes to admire!
Absolutely jealous @KatieC! That's right up there on my to-do list with the Kure Maritime Museum in Hiroshima and the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Hawaii.
Hey @Remarka6le,
We went to the Pearl Harbour museum when we got married in Hawaii and it was SO COOL. Highly recommend!
I have the National Air and Space Museum including the Smithsonian on my to-do list.
Eric
@EricL Same! Though that's more on the list because my wife is a fan of Bones lol
@EricL I'd love to go back to the Smithsonian, I went when I was very little and probably didn't have as much appreciation as I would today. The chance to see the ever-so-cursed Hope Diamond again!
My wife and I had an interesting experience at Vinnies today.
She bought the basket - I bought the books.
At the checkout there was an elderly woman who looked at the B-17 booklet and commented.
"You have an interest in aviation?" - I asked.
"Oh yes - my uncle flew Spitfires during the war"
And with a big grin she said - "then he became Prime Minister."
Taken aback - I asked who that was.
"John Gorton".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gorton
As far as aviation museums in Australia go - I was very impressed with the HARS museum down Wollongong way which we visited in 2020.
Another down that way was HMAS Albatross near Nowra.
https://hars.org.au/
https://mgnsw.org.au/organisations/fleet-air-arm-museum/
Plenty of photos taken - if interested. 🙂
CAC Sabre.
Hi @Noyade
Thanks for the photo and the links to the museums, I love the F-86 Sabre, it was one of the first model aeroplanes I built. Just a bit of info for our members, this variant only has the single 50 calibre gun mount that you'll see in grey near the red nose tip. But it has external fuel tanks that allow it to loiter past its 1200mile / 1931km range. In the event of a dog fight, the tanks can be jettisoned to allow the aircraft to maneuver more freely.
Hi @EricL
"this variant only has the single 50 calibre gun mount that you'll see in grey near the red nose tip"
CAC went with a much bigger bang than the traditional F-86 - you're looking at the starboard 30mm Aden cannon above. Another is on the port side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADEN_cannon
That is so cool @Noyade! You never know who you're going to meet or what amazing stories they have to tell until you open yourself up to conversation.
Really awesome shot of the CAC Sabre! @EricL I would love to see a photo of your model plane.
