CAC Wirraway

what is it?

The CAC Wirraway is a training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) between 1939 and 1946. It was an Australian development of the North American NA-16 training aircraft. The Wirraway has been credited as being the foundation of Australian aircraft manufacturing.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 13.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 354 km/htop speed
• size 2,991 kgmax take-off weight
• built 755made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 89 years ago, in 1937.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 13.1 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1937

introduced

1939

retired

1959

status

retired

number built

755

role

trainer/general purpose

makers

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation

engines

1× Pratt & Whitney R-1340 S1H1-G / R-1340 Wasp

crew

2

length

8.5 m

wingspan

13.1 m

height

2.6 m

max take-off weight

2,991 kg

top speed

354 km/h

cruise speed

293 km/h

range

—

ceiling

7,010 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family