CAC Celebrate Fifty Years of Manufacturing

At the outbreak of war, 30 Wirraway aircraft had been completed and by the end of 1940 nearly 200 had been delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force. Production later attained a rate of 45 a month. This was a remarkable achievement for a four-year-old aircraft company, since Australia had never achieved quantity production before 1936 even of an automobile. The CAC plant at Fisherman’s Bend was probably the only one in the world that could, under its own roof, turn out complete military aeroplanes and engines at the same time.

During the war CAC designed and built Boomerangs, Wackelt Trainers and Mustangs. It also manufactured the piston aero engines of each aircraft under licence. These included the Pratt & Whitney Wasp and Twin Wasp in addition to the Rolls Royce Merlin.

Postwar, the company commenced production of its first turbine engine, the Rolls Royce Nene. The Nene was installed in the Hawker de Havilland manufactured Vampire fighters and then flown by the RAAF. In the 1950s and 60s, CA-27 Sabre fighters with new Avon engines were manufactured under licence for the RAAF and CAC commenced designing its own primary trainer, the Winjeel. Orders were placed for the production of 62 Winjeel primary trainer aircraft for the RAAF.

The ship handling and launching equipment of the Lkara anti-submarine guided weapons system was also designed and built at CAC for the RAN. Other orders obtained at that time were for the manufacture of Mirage wings and Alar 9C engines for the GAF production line of the Mirage 1110 aircraft. In 1965, CAC was chosen as the prime contractor for the production under licence of 97 Macchi MB326H aircraft and 147 Rolls Royce Viper engines for the RAAF and RAN. This project was completed in 1972.

During each programme, aircraft and engines of high quality were built, often better than the corresponding article manufactured overseas.

In the seventies, the company became increasingly involved in international manufacturing sub-contracts. It undertook sub-contracts for the production of 56 Bell light observation helicopters and introduced new helicopter manufacturing technology to CAC for the first time. It also built under offset arrangements emergency doors for Lockheed L1011 airliners and escape chute containers for McDonnell Douglas DC-1O trijets, as well as engine components for Rolls Royce and Pratt & Whitney. By 1976, exports constituted 15% of CAC’s total turnover. In 1981, CAC won substantial US contracts for the supply of F-18 Hornet airframe and engine components, including the manufacture of General Electric F404 engines.

Major current programmes include the building of Hornet aircraft components for export (engine access doors, rear fairings and wing pylons), assembly and testing of the F404 engine for the RAAF and the manufacture of a range of F404 engine components for export.

Other projects encompass the design and installation of the AQS-901 sonics processor into Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft for the RAAF life of type extension for RAAF Aermacchi MB-326H jet trainers and repair and overhaul including life of type extension of RAAF Mirage major airframe components.

The company is also involved in the repair and overhaul of RAAF Alar 9C and Viper engines, design and manufacture of inflight catering equipment for Australian airlines, manufacture of escape slides for the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, components for General Electric CF6 engines, manufacture of Sikorsky S-70 gearboxes and design of maintenance trainers for Sikorsky MH53E helicopters.

Over the last 50 years CAC has produced more than 1,750 military aircraft and over 2,500 aero-engines in Australia. It is also a major supplier of equipment and services to overseas aerospace companies as well as to the Australian Defence Force. Exports now account for a third of its annual turnover compared with barely one per cent in 1971.

In July last year the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawker de Havilland Ltd, Bankstown NSW, a member of the UK-based Hawker Siddeley Group of Companies. The combined HDH/CAC group employs more than 3,300 people throughout Australia and is the major private enterprise in the Australian aerospace scene.

CAC in its half-century of history has spanned the transition from manufacturing 220mph fighter planes equipped with . 303 machine guns and piston engines to producing 1,500mph multirole supersonic fighters of the 1980s with sophisticated air-to-air missiles, electronic systems and complex jet engines.

The company now has the experience, knowledge and capability to tackle the technological challenges of the future, with the confidence of being second to none.

Please note that effective from July 1 this year CAC was formally renamed Hawker de Havilland Victoria Ltd. However, as our story detailed the history of what has always been known as the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation we decided to use their traditional appellation throughout the article rather than their new and lesser-known title.