Danny, both developed from the NA-16, then the design diverged.
"The CAC Wirraway (an Aboriginal word meaning "challenge") was 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.[1]
Role Trainer/general purpose
Manufacturer Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
First flight 1937 (see Development)
Introduction 1939
Retired 1959
Primary users Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Navy
Produced 1939–1946
Number built 755
Developed from North American NA-16
Developed into CAC Boomerang"
Wiki
After the war the Wirraway was developed into the "Ceres" agricultural aircraft.
The Texan originated from the North American NA-16 prototype (first flown on April 1, 1935) which, modified as the NA-26, was submitted as an entry for a USAAC "Basic Combat" aircraft competition in March 1937. The first model went into production and 180 were supplied to the USAAC as the BC-1 and 400 to the RAF as the Harvard I.
Fareastdriver. Very much a stop-gap fighter developed because we had little else at home. Most of our kit was in various sandpits or Singapore. One (currently in the Australian War memorial) is credited with a Zero kill. It was successful as a trainer and Army co-operation aircraft. (Forward Air Control in today's terms).
I was interested in how the photo showed up the subtle differences in the same design.
Last edited by seafury45; 15th Mar 2018 at 08:03.