Recently I visited the restoration team at the B-24 Liberator Memorial Restoration Fund who are rebuilding the only Consolidated B-24 Liberator in the Southern Hemisphere, B-24M (RAAF serial number A72-176). The aircraft is being restored in one of the original WW2 hangars on the former Werribee Satellite Aerodrome, near Point Cook, Victoria. The project got underway […]
Historic Aircraft, RAAF historic aircraft, Warbird Restoration Projects
Since I last reported on the progress on the restoration of the Bristol Beaufort in November 2013, I am pleased to say considerable progress has been made with the Beaufort port wing. The wing, sourced in the USA but originally recovered from Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the 1970s, has finally yielded a serviceable main spar assembly which has passed all its exhaustive testing […]
Australian Warbirds, RAAF historic aircraft, Warbird Restoration Projects
Toward the end of the war the need for pilot training was dramatically reduced and large numbers of CAC Wirraways were placed into storage. A small number of aircraft continued in Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) service as trainers at Uranquinty and Point Cook, Victoria and 17 aircraft were transferred to the newly formed Royal Australian […]
Australian Warbirds, Historic Aircraft, RAAF historic aircraft
The CAC Wirraway was ordered by the Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF) to meet their needs for a general purpose and training aircraft. In the general purpose role they replaced the attractive but obsolete Hawker Demon. In the training role the Wirraway fulfilled the new function of advanced trainer, a new category which was introduced with […]
Australian Warbirds, Historic Aircraft, RAAF historic aircraft
March 27th 2014 marks the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the CAC Wirraway, an aircraft of immense significance to Australia. The mass-production of military aircraft in Australia was commenced by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) with the production of the Wirraway. Thousands of pilots carried out their advanced training in Wirraway aircraft at Service […]
Australian Warbirds, Historic Aircraft, RAAF historic aircraft
During the month of December Warbirds Online featured the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) Boomerang aircraft its history and news on restoration projects currently underway in Australia. There could be no more suitable aircraft to be celebrated in this way. As a part of our ‘special feature’ on the CAC Boomerang we shared a number of videos and have consolidated four of […]
Australian Warbirds, RAAF historic aircraft, Warbird videos, Warbirds
Kent Lee of Coffs Harbour NSW is a man of many interests and talents. What is less known is Kent’s abiding interest in aviation and flying. A particularly interesting aspect of his aviation passion is his collection of CAC Boomerang survivors of which he has 4 identities, which are verified [….]
Australian Warbirds, RAAF historic aircraft, Warbird Restoration Projects
Every Warbird enthusiast will surely have a sturdy collection of Warbird books, both as a handy reference and for the pleasure of reading. I recently acquired The CAC Boomerang: A Detailed Guide to the RAAF’s Famous WWII Fighter (Airframe Album) and consider it to be a worthy candidate for a book review. It is not often that you […]
Australian Warbirds, RAAF historic aircraft, Warbird Books, Warbirds