CAC Boomerang Restorations by Ian Baker

Since we last visited Ian Baker in 2018 to view his efforts to restore several CAC Boomerang series aircraft, the scope and scale of his operation has expanded considerably. Firstly several other collectors and restorers of the type have decided in the past 12 months to exit from their projects and as a result several more Boomerangs have been added to Ian’s holdings of aircraft for restoration as well as large inventories of parts and components to assist in his restorations.

In addition to Ian’s previously reported personal restorations of CA-12’s A46-89 and A46-90 and customer owned CA-13 A46-140, Ian has acquired CA-13s A46-126, A46-128, A46-158 and static restoration CA-13, A46- 160. Several other as yet undetermined identities are also included in the holdings and once identified we will publish the details. The airframes have now been rearranged in Ian’s current workshop to allow for ease of access so that restoration work can continue in relative comfort and Ian has added storage space for the huge holding of parts he has recently added to the collection.

Previously there had been a belief that very little wing structure survived post war scrapping of Boomerangs however Ian has amassed quite a number of original Boomerang wing structural sections to be utilized for reference and comparison and these will greatly aid in speeding the construction of the new wing sets required for each of the aircraft. We were very surprised to see the breadth and depth of Boomerang components which had survived through the years to facilitate the restoration work. Ian’s workshop is truly an Aladdin’s cave of CAC Boomerang componentry.

Ian is currently in the process of constructing a purpose built facility to allow for the restorations to progress in a more streamlined manner and provide better facilities. However, Ian is proceeding apace with progress on his restorations in the current workshop and in the manufacture of new items for his aircraft. Those unaware of Ian’s background in the aerospace industry will be surprised to see the beautiful restoration work in the detail of the row of fuselages coming together in the workshop and the restored component sets lining the shelves awaiting their turn to be fitted to the airframes. The detail of the reproduction items is virtually indistinguishable from the original product and the quality is to the highest industry standards.

Naturally, no matter how good the scavenging for parts is there are not enough serviceable components for all of the airframes and Ian has a methodical approach to reproducing items from original patterns in batches as required both for his own needs and those of other Boomerang restorers. This batch approach translates into an economy of scale whereby costs are kept lower.

The approach to the restoration of each airframe is now standardized starting with the fuselage structure which consists of two major sections being the forward and rear steel tube frame sections which are bolted together to form the whole. The frames are separated then X-rayed and structurally assessed before having any damaged or corroded material replaced. Sometimes the frame is in relatively good condition and requires little replacement and others can require a lot of work. The frame when originally constructed by CAC was filled with linseed oil to counter corrosion and this has often stood the passage of time surprisingly well and there is little rust internally.

Once the fuselage frames are rebuilt, rejoined and aligned in a jig, they are again filled with the same original linseed oil. The next phase is to mount the forward fuselage bulkhead, engine mount frame and then stainless steel firewall which essentially completes the structure of the Boomerang fuselage.

At this stage the tricky task of building the bespoke fuselage outer shell can be initiated. Each Boomerang shell is created for that aircraft and because of the largely handmade nature of the aircraft no two shells are exactly the same they are mounted on stand out brackets fixed to the fuselage tube structure. The shell starts off being made as a base wooden frame of stringers and frames to which is fixed a ply covering and finally a cloth doped skin which is then painted. The shell once complete is then removed to allow for fit out of the fuselage.

The restoration then continues with the fitting of the systems within the fuselage including fuel, electrical and hydraulic systems, instrument panels, controls, seat, air systems and oxygen tanks as well as radio fit out. The empennage is then able to be fitted along with rigging the control cables and tailwheel assembly, next comes the center section with its undercarriage and fuel tanks.

Once on its wheels the Boomerang is ready for its  Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radial engine, 1,200hp (895 kW) with associated accessories. Once the power plant is fitted the bespoke engine cowlings can be fitted and adjusted along with the complex and difficult cooling gills. The prop is also often fitted at this stage. Finally comes the outer wing panels along with their plumbing and wiring and the process of commissioning all the aircrafts systems ready for test and flight trials.

It is fascinating to see in Ian’s workshop the progress each of the airframes is making through the above processes.

Those considering acquiring a Boomerang should note that several of these aircraft are for sale and should contact Ian Baker for more details. The CAC Boomerang is still a very affordable prospect as a warbird compared to other WWII era fighters and offers excellent “bang for buck”.

© John Parker 2019