Wings Over Illawarra Airshow 2019

CAC CA-18 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter
and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The
Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants,
had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tacticalreconnaissance
aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). The replacement of the Allison
with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model and transformed the
Mustang’s performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the
Luftwaffe’s fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-
7, a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 two-stage two-speed supercharged
engine and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2/AN Browning machine guns.
In November 1944 the Australian government decided to order Australian-built Mustangs, to
replace its Curtiss Kittyhawks and CAC Boomerangs in the South West Pacific theatre. The
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) factory at Fishermans Bend, Melbourne was the
only non-U.S. production line for the P-51.
In 1944, 100 P-51Ds were shipped from the U.S. in kit form to inaugurate production. From
February 1945, CAC assembled 80 of these under the designation CA-17 Mustang Mark 20,
with the first Australian-built aircraft flying on the 29 April 1945 and the first aircraft was
handed over to the RAAF on 31 May 1945. The remaining 20 were kept unassembled as spare
parts. In addition, 84 P-51Ks were also shipped directly to the RAAF from the USA.