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.jpg) Wirraway aircraft under construction at a CAC factory in 1940 | |
| Industry | Aircraft manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 17 October 1936 (1936-10-17) |
| Defunct | 1985 |
| Fate | Acquired byHawker de Havilland |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
Key people | |
TheCommonwealth 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.
In 1935 the Chief General Manager ofBHP,Essington Lewis, visitedEurope and formed the view that war was probable. On his return to Australia, concerned at the lack of manufacturing capabilities there and at the possibility of aircraft not being available from 'traditional' (i.e. British) sources during wartime, he commenced alobbying campaign to convince theGovernment of Australia to establish a modern aircraft industry. The government required little persuasion and encouraged negotiations between a number of Australian companies. The outcome of these negotiations, begun in August 1935, was the formation of CAC the following year. Initially the companies involved were BHP,General Motors-Holden and Broken Hill Associated Smelter. These were joined byImperial Chemical Industries, theOrient Steam Navigation Company and theElectrolytic Zinc Company at the time of CAC's formation (the company was incorporated inMelbourne on 17 October 1936). By September 1937 a factory had been completed atFishermans Bend.
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Shortly after the establishment of CAC,Mascot-basedTugan Aircraft was purchased. This led toLawrence Wackett joining the company; he immediately became the General Manager. It is almost entirely due to Wackett's efforts that theWirraway became the first aircraft produced by CAC. In 1935 Wackett had led a technical mission to Europe and the United States to evaluate modern aircraft types and select a type suitable to Australia's needs and within Australia's capabilities to build. The mission's selection was theNorth American NA-16; with CAC's modifications this became the Wirraway. CAC also undertook production of thePratt & Whitney R-1340 engine used in the Wirraway and also built some propellers when supplies from alternative sources became problematic. With its first aircraft type the company thus became one of very few in the world that have produced an aircraft fitted with engines and propellers made by the same company (see alsode Havilland).
While CAC largely produced Australian versions of foreign aircraft, it also developed a number of original designs during and afterWorld War II. These indigenous designs include theWackett, which was only the second type produced by the company. The Wackett was a simpletrainer aircraft, but later designs during World War II were the sophisticatedWoomera andCA-15, however these types were destined to fly only inprototype form. Other, jet-powered aircraft designs in the 1950s and 1960s did not even leave the drawing board, however in 1951 CAC was given the go-ahead to design and manufacture a version of theF-86 Sabre with a revised engine and armament. The Sabre was developed and produced concurrently with the indigenousWinjeel trainer, with Sabre manufacture coming to an end in 1961.
In 1964 after a large amount of political lobbying CAC began producing components for the Sabre's replacement, a version of theDassault Mirage III, as a subcontractor to theGovernment Aircraft Factories (GAF). In 1967 CAC commenced licence production of a version of theAermacchi MB-326 optimised for Australian conditions, this programme ending in 1972. In 1971 CAC joined the small number of aircraft manufacturers which have built both fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft, when it began production of a variant of theBell Kiowa for theAustralian Army andRoyal Australian Navy, the last of these was delivered in 1977. The same year CAC embarked on a Life Of Type Extension (LOTEX) programme for the Macchi, which was suffering fatigue problems. The LOTEX programme lasted until 1984. CAC became a fully owned subsidiary ofHawker de Havilland in 1985 and was renamed Hawker de Havilland Victoria in 1986.[1] It was purchased byBoeing Australia in 2000.
CAC produced an extremely wide range of aircraft for theRoyal Australian Air Force and civilian operators. These aircraft included the:
The Kiowa was the last type built by CAC. The company was part of the Australian Aircraft Consortium which designed theA10 Wamira, but this programme was cancelled in 1985 shortly after the prototype was completed. At the time of purchase by Hawker de Havilland, CAC had begun delivering components for the GAF-built version of theF/A-18 Hornet.
During its existence the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation produced over 1700 aircraft of all types, including prototypes and aircraft assembled locally from imported components. Of these, almost 550 were examples of aircraft types wholly designed by the company. The designations used by CAC reflected production or design work in fulfillment of different in-house projects or government contracts rather than different types produced (for instance the different designations for the Wackett and Winjeel prototypes compared to their production versions). Early types were given consecutive manufacturer's construction numbers (c/nos.), while later types (beginning with the production version of the Winjeel) were given c/nos. with the model number as a prefix. Construction numbers 1210 to 1224 appear not to have been assigned. The list of company designations and construction numbers is:
Engine types produced by CAC include the:
To supplement revenue and retain skilled sheet metal workers, CAC produced and bodied buses based onBedford chassis under the brand name of Comair. CAC major shareholder in the 1950s was General Motors Holden and from 1946 until 1973, Comair produced over 3,600 bus bodies, primarily onBedford OB,SB andVAM 70 chassis for Victorian operators.[5][6] Subsequently, General Motors Holden divested its shareholding in CAC and the company signed a licensing agreement to buildVöV-Standard-Bus bodies onMAN chassis.[7][8] It bodied 135MAN SL200 chassis forACTION.[9] It resumed production on Bedford chassis in 1977, but only a few were produced.[10][11]
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