enginehistory.org

[dmacphail]

Good day, gentlemen (and ladies?) I have just signed on as a member and unfortunately, my first posting is going to be a request for help. I have been an aviation historian for several decades and suffer from an obsession with the North American NA-16 trainer family. This group includes many variants, such as the BT-9, BT-14, AT-6, SNJ and Harvard, as well as the subject of this request, the Commonwealth Wirraway.

I must admit (and yes, I can see the eye-rolling and hear the tut-tutting) that my publications to date have been focused on the history of the overall aircraft type and have largely ignored the business end, the engine and propeller. However, several months ago, I teamed up with an Aussie engineer by the name of Derek Buckmaster with an eye to producing the most comprehensive book (s) ever on the Commonwealth Wirraway, Ceres and Boomerang. The (s) is an indication that there is far too much to say to wedge it all between only two covers.

In order to tell the complete tale, we are going to include the technical details of the P&W S1H1-G Wasp and the history of the relationship between P&W and CAC, which produced licence-built copies of the Wasp, as well as the aircraft itself.

At the moment, we are looking for sources of information, whether it be books, photographs, AEHS members, personal or 'official' documents and hope that those that have suggestions or materials available will see their way clear to lending a helping hand. We'll certainly keep the membership up to date as the project progresses and we thank you very much in advance.

Doug MacPhail (aka MacHarvard)