043B - Inside the CAC Wirraway

 CLASS: Fighter-Trainer

YEAR OF DESIGN: 1937

LENGTH: 27 feet 10 inches

WINGSPAN: 43 feet 0 inches

MAX AIRSPEED: 220 MPH

CEILING: 23, 000 feet

TYPICAL ARMAMENT

2 x 7.62 mm front-mounted Machine Guns

1 x 7.62 mm rear swivel-mou8nted Machine Gun

[Each forward gun is equipped with 250 rounds].

[Rear turret gun usually equipped with 300-350 rounds].

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TYPICAL BOMB LOADING
1 x 500-pound bomb.

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2 x wing-mounted 100-pound bombs and

2 x wing-mounted 250-pound bombs

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The Wirraway, a fighter trainer developed and built by Australian airplane manufacturer Commonwealth Aircraft Company (CAC) was used in the outlying Australian-British territories in the Pacific Theater as an emergency light fighter and dive bomber. The main reason for this employment of the Wirraway in true combat operations was the shortage of British planes due to the war in Europe.

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The Wirraway, developed from some of the first monoplane types in the early and mid-1930s, featured the sturdy cylindrical steel frames of the heavier biplanes, yet lacked the modern upgrades to compete in the quickly developing aviation field.

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The Wirraway was often pitted against the much more advanced Ki-43 Oscar or the A6M Zero. While the top speed for the Wirraway was close to that of a bomber at 220 MPH, the Japanese Army and Navy fighters easily reached max speeds of over 300 MPH. Additionally, the Japanese planes had much better armament. These disadvantages, in addition to the low numbers of planes in the RAF and RAAF fleets allowed the Japanese to easily prevail in the air war over New Guinea and the nearby island chains in the early part of the Pacific War..

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