The next edition of Valiant Wings' Airframe Album series is the much anticipated book on the CAC Boomerang. This aircraft is probably best known as a fighter that never shot down another aircraft  during WWII. By the time the Boomerang entered service, there was not only a paucity of Japanese aircraft in their theater of operations, but the RAAF had other aircraft to take care of any air attacks. Fortunately, the Boomerang proved to be a particularly rugged and capable army cooperation fighter and was quite successful in that role.

The book opens up with a nice history on the Boomerang, debunking the myth that it was based on the company's Wirraway trainer. In fact, there is only a 2% commonality of parts between the two aircraft. The rest of this section includes its development and eventual use by the RAAF. In with this section is a production history as well as a nice set of specifications of the major variants; including prototypes.

We then go into a Technical description of the aircraft that is divided into segments such as Fuselage, Undercarriage, Engine, Wings and so on. Each one of these sections has drawings from the tech manuals, period photos as well as images taken from various extant airframes. To my eye, it is the excellent drawings provided from the Tech Manuals that offers the clearest look at the various systems.

Next major section is on the evolution of the Boomerang. This includes art work on Prototype, Production, and Planned variants. Here we get to see the changes made to the aircraft from the initial prototype on through the production run and even into versions that were never built.

A section I particularly enjoyed was that of camouflage and markings. This is one that is probably to be well sourced by modelers. The Boomerang went through several sets of changes in markings and as you might imagine, even when things were 'standardized', such as the white theater markings, there were differences.

This is followed by an extensive list of survivors, each entry providing as much data as is known on each airframe. I was quite surprised at how many of these aircraft or at least partial airframes were still around. Most are, of course, in Australia, with several complete airframes and at least one that is airworthy with more on the way.

The last section includes a listing of kits, decals, accessories and book references for the Boomerang. This area also includes a mini-history on each of the approximately 250 aircraft that were built. 

In all, it is another superb effort from Valiant Wings and a book that easily gets my highest recommendation. It is an absolute must for those who are planning on building one of the various kits. It is the best book I have read on this subject. I would guess that this one will sell out rather quickly so best to get in your order while it is still available.

July 2013

For more on Valiant Wings, including getting this book, visit www.valiant-wings.co.uk. Thank you for the review copy.

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