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Inside the Archive #1 | CAC CA-27 Avon Sabre
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DON’T, WHATEVER you do, confuse the original US Air Force F-86 Sabre with Australia’s variant, the CAC CA-27 Avon Sabre. Why? Because RAAF had by far the superior model. Here a bit of explaining is needed. The original Sabre began its development at the latter stage of WWII, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t going to meet requirements. Sent back to the drawing board, it was significantly redesigned to incorporate a swept wing and flew for the first time in October 1947. Whatever they did worked: it quickly broke the sound barrier in a shallow dive, making it – arguably – the first aircraft in the world to achieve the feat.
Fast-forward into the ’50s, and Australia handed Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) the task of building its version. Its edition, though, featured a far more powerful Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7 turbojet engine, revised cockpit layout, ability to carry cannons over machine guns and a bigger fuel capacity. The result was the Avon Sabre.
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The prototype CAC CA-26 Sabre Mk 30 (A94-101) flew on 3 August 1953, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Bill Scott. But less than three weeks later, Scott scaled the aircraft to 12,800 metres, slammed it into a dive and, at 11,000 metres, broke the sound barrier for the first time in this country. In total, 112 Avons were built, and for 10 years, they remained the jewel in the crown of RAAF’s fleet before being phased out and replaced by the Mirage.
Temora Aviation Museum has its own, A94-983 (above), which was first delivered to No. 78 Wing at Williamtown, and was subsequently allotted to No. 3 Squadron at Butterworth in October 1958. It operated for RAAF until 1971 when it was formally transferred to the Royal Malaysian Air Force. It returned to Australia and was first displayed to the public in March 1981.
See more from Australian Aviation’s RAAF 100 archive online.
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