Home > Main Menu > Military > RAAF Museum > History > RAAF

Air Force Museum, RAAF Base Williams, Point Cook, VIC 3027 Australia.
Recorded Info 61 3 92561300, fax 61 3 92561692 (25 km SW of Melbourne)

HISTORY OF THE RAAF

........... Meanwhile, the anticipated tapering off of the flow of British aircraft began to help the infant Australian aircraft industry which had begun its struggle for recognition. In 1927, de Havilland had started its Australian factory, and was manufacturing Moth aircraft. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty Ltd (CAC, which had been incorporated in 1936, was to develop the Wirraway from the basic North American NA33 design. Wing Commander L.J. Wackett, who had commanded a squadron during World War I, was convinced that Australia should have its own design and manufacturing organisation and, in 1924, he convinced the RAAF that he should open a "RAAF Experimental Section" at Randwick, N.S.W. With a devoted band of engineers and artisans, Wackett worked on propellers and engines and, more importantly, designed and built several land and seaplanes. The Widgeon II amphibian was one of his projects ("I proved its capability by flying it on a 9000-mile journey across and around part of the Australian continent in 1928", he said). Lack of funds closed the "experimental section", but Wackett continued with his designs and was later to become managing director of CAC. He was knighted for his service to aviation.

The following paragraph is of interest because it shows the purchase of Seagull Flying boats, which can be related to the Wackett drawings found for converting a Widgeon to a Seagull. There may or may not be a relationship. {Editor, Flying Boats of the World}

In 1934 the RAAF which had been ailing through the Depression years through obsolescent aircraft and lack of funds, had received a much-needed boost and a sharp rise in morale with the decision of the Government to purchase eighteen Hawker Demon fighters and twenty-four Supermarine Seagull V amphibians. Avro Anson bombers followed, and the creation of nineteen home defence squadrons was approved in principle. As international tension grew, it became all too clear that if war erupted Britain would be hard-pressed to support the defence of Australia 10,000 miles away. A big breakthrough for the RAAF occurred in 1938 when an order was placed for fifty Lockheed Hudson bombers from the United States. These, the first American-built aircraft in the RAAF inventory, were delivered early in 1940. They could not have arrived at a more critical time. It was also welcome news when, in 1939, the Australian and British governments reached agreement to build Bristol Beaufort bombers in Australia, both for the RAAF and RAF. These were built in Melbourne and Sydney, while in Sydney from 1939 the De Havilland Company was building Tiger Moths fitted with Australian-built engines. The Tiger Moth had been selected as the standard elementary trainer for the Empire Air Training Scheme. The Australian aircraft industry was booming.

Go to Top of document

Home > Main Menu > Military > RAAF Museum > History > RAAF