CAC CA-4/CA-11 Woomera Ideas and Inspiration

[GTX_Admin]

Hi folks,

A place for your CAC CA-4/CA-11 Woomera Ideas and Inspiration.

[GTX_Admin]

To begin with, some photos:



I have always loved the rugged look the twin wheel main undercarriage has.



The twin barrette guns on each nacelle were interesting too:

[elmayerle]

I wonder how those nacelle barbettes compare in effectiveness and reliability with the ones the Italians used on the Piaggio P-108?  These are the only two aircraft I know of with such a fit.

[KiwiZac]

Oh how I've longed for the day such a thread is possible!!! 

No pics but my own 1/72 project is a Kiwi one - feel free to use my backstory as inspiration for a build: http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=5000.0

[jcf]

A Beaufighter, an Avenger and a Los had a wild weekend and the Woomera was the result.


 

[Kerick]

Very interesting design. With the guns in the engine nacelles it something of a hold over from the turret fighter.

[GTX_Admin]

I am toying with the idea of making my new 1/48 one a post war target towing tug akin to this:

[kitnut617]

Interesting aircraft, I wouldn't mind getting hold of one in 1/72 scale.  My 'Big Book' says three companies have produced it in 1/72 too, just need to find one. Companies are KPL, Master Models and NKR Models, first one is a USA company (vacuform) and the other two are Czech (resin)

[elmayerle]

Interesting aircraft, I wouldn't mind getting hold of one in 1/72 scale.  My 'Big Book' says three companies have produced it in 1/72 too, just need to find one. Companies are KPL, Master Models and NKR Models, first one is a USA company (vacuform) and the other two are Czech (resin)

Good luck on that, I believe the first and third have been OOP for some time now.

[Volkodav]

My usual 2c worth, why not a carrier based torpedo bomber/attack version?

It would of course fly off the RANs modified Ark Royal that I swear I will get around to building one day and serve post war as an alternative to the failed Short Sturgeon.

[GTX_Admin]

How about an anti-tank (or anti-ship) version armed with BFG?

[jcf]

My usual 2c worth, why not a carrier based torpedo bomber/attack version?

It would of course fly off the RANs modified Ark Royal that I swear I will get around to building one day and serve post war as an alternative to the failed Short Sturgeon.

Failed Short Sturgeon? By what metric do you declare the Sturgeon a failure?
It was never procured in its original attack-recce role as the carriers it was intended for were canceled because
the war was over. The TT versions performed the role well until superceded by changes in technology that made
them unnecessary. The turbo-prop SB.3 lost out to the Gannet for a number of reasons, however, that doesn't
mean the base design was a failure.

[TurboCoupeTurbo]

Failed Short Sturgeon? By what metric do you declare the Sturgeon a failure?

A beauty contest 

[jcf]

Failed Short Sturgeon? By what metric do you declare the Sturgeon a failure?

A beauty contest 

Really? The first two, RK787 and RK791, and the TT.3 prototype look pretty good to me.


RK791 in race colours in 1949.
https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1949/1949%20-%201387.html


TT 3 prototype

[TurboCoupeTurbo]

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder some times... 

 



Nope, still fugly.

 

[Old Wombat]

It could still hold its own against the Gannet, at least in a beauty contest.

[jcf]

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder some times... 

 



Nope, still fugly.

 

Funny how the TT.2 version operated for years but people seem to think the single flying (only two were constructed) SB.3 is
the exemplar of the type.

[TurboCoupeTurbo]

I don't really think any of the versions were all that good looking with the stubby nose and weird hunchback over a narrow and deep fuselage. 
It looks like 5 year old badly traced all a picture of a Sea Hornet.

The SB.3 is just the shining example of its ugly, when the 5 year old sneezed while drawing it.

[Volkodav]

How about an anti-tank (or anti-ship) version armed with BFG?

17pdr Molins gun?

[Volkodav]

My usual 2c worth, why not a carrier based torpedo bomber/attack version?

It would of course fly off the RANs modified Ark Royal that I swear I will get around to building one day and serve post war as an alternative to the failed Short Sturgeon.

Failed Short Sturgeon? By what metric do you declare the Sturgeon a failure?
It was never procured in its original attack-recce role as the carriers it was intended for were canceled because
the war was over. The TT versions performed the role well until superceded by changes in technology that made
them unnecessary. The turbo-prop SB.3 lost out to the Gannet for a number of reasons, however, that doesn't
mean the base design was a failure.

Exactly, it was never procured as an attack/recce due to being overtaken by events, therefore it failed.  The same could be said of a lot of designs, great and not so great.  The Sturgeon didn't fly unto June 1946 while the CA-4 flew in September 41 and the CA-11 in June 44 so could have entered service before the war ended (had it not been cancelled, thereby meaning it is, by my definition, also a failure).

In fact the reason the Woomera was cancelled was the RAAF was operating the B-24 and Beaufighter and just didn't need them anymore.  Perhaps this could have been the spur for CAC to redesign it as a carrier based attack bomber that the RN could have been interested in as an interim for the BPF (they would of course have needed larger carriers, such as my notional Ark Royal based light fleet carrier). 

[GTX_Admin]

Hmmm...carrier (or land) based Woomera AEW in similar vein to AEW Avenger:

[finsrin]

thatz a way back Avenger photo.  Remember seeing it in books in the 50s.
Another one of those flash back moments !
Forgotten version of Avenger that didn't get much (if any) press.

[kitnut617]

Without taking this too much further off topic, when I was a kid I spent hours browsing through my Dad's set of Aircraft of the Fighting Powers (all mine now), the Sturgeon was one of my favorites. Loved the contra-props --- and probably why I go for anything with contra-props to this day.

[GTX_Admin]

How about an anti-tank (or anti-ship) version armed with BFG?

17pdr Molins gun?

Maybe...or something more local.

[KiwiZac]

Interesting aircraft, I wouldn't mind getting hold of one in 1/72 scale.  My 'Big Book' says three companies have produced it in 1/72 too, just need to find one. Companies are KPL, Master Models and NKR Models, first one is a USA company (vacuform) and the other two are Czech (resin)

Good luck on that, I believe the first and third have been OOP for some time now.

I got the KPL kit off eBay for less than US$30 posted after missing out on one for $50, it's rough but buildable and the instructions say 1983 or so. If you get one make sure you've stocked up on spares and be prepared for fragile and cloudy clear bits! My stalled-but-on-the-comeback WIP as an RNZAF example is here.

I may be mistaken but I thought NKR was an Australian company? Greg? That kit goes for three figures when it surfaces (missed one by hours on AMI for I think A$120), although by all accounts you're better off scratching it. Never seen much of the Master Models kit.