Australian Aircraft production 1941/1942?

[Freebird]

Very interesting discussion posted on another thread, about Australia's production ability (early war).
Suppose that the Australians were given the green light to source/produce US engines in say, July 1941, how long would it take to get it up and running?

And suppose that the urgent need for AU aircraft production was accepted at about the same time (due to the embargo increased tensions) what kind of engines could Britain or the US afford to send, and what kind of aircraft could be quickly built?
Could other engines be substituted?

I'm assuming that the production would be of the Beaufort/Beaufighter, and later the Mossie.

Could Australia build Hurricanes or P-40's to supplant the Wirraway?

Could they build a 2 or 4 engine bomber, like the Wellington or Hampden for example?

How long would the start up take?

A couple of points;

First, Australian aircraft engine production:

Aero Engine Production - The Lidcombe Engine Plant

It takes time to establish an engine factory even in the US or Britain. Not just the building but the machine tools have to come from somewhere as do the raw materials and/or subcontracted parts. Even Allison only made about 1/3 of the engine "in house" with about 1/3 of the engine specific parts (connecting rods, camshafts and others) contracted out and the other 1/3 being things like nuts, bolts, studs and such. The nut, bolt and stud makers also had many other manufactures of equipment demanding their product so the pre-war nut, bolt and stud makers had to expand their facilities also. Just because and nation built a certain product in 1945/46 does not mean they could make it in 1942.

AS for another posters idea that you can just take an axe out to the back wood lot and chop down any assortment of trees to make airplanes out of, well, I think we all know how preposterous that is. ALL wood is not the same and only certain types of wood can be used in certain applications with any hope of success. This was well known in boat building going back hundreds of years (if not a thousand) and some countries used to import certain wood/s for ship building even in the 1700s.

Thanks for the link SR, provides a pretty good summary of the Australian aero engine situation during and immediately after the war.

However.....


"When the Beaufort project was launched, if was decided that facilities should be established for the production in Australia of suitable engines. When the supply of Taurus engines from England became impossible because of war conditions, the aircraft was redesigned to take the more powerful twin row Wasp, and the Australian engine factory was consequently planned to produce that type".


whilst true, is an understatement of what was happening. "Wartime conditions" is a polite way of saying we were scr*wed by the British govt, when they placed their ban on the export of engines, and the export of techs to build them. Moreover, our plans to build US designed engines go back to before 1938. It was what wackett wanted to do from a very early point. I suspect he knew something, though I cannot prove that. Whatever the truth, for nearly two years his wishes were overruled, largely because of empty promises given by the British. We could have been producing more US engines earlier, instead we were asked to wait by the british, which we did, and then were bitterly disappointed by their decision to embargo us. Its a sad issue, seldom talked about and largely forgotten, and it really stilted our aircraft industry at a critical moment.....

 

[tomo pauk]

Hi, Firebird, perhaps you could chime in at this thread:

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/canada-australia-what-would-you-build-32007.html

 

[davebender]

I would recommend 26 July 1941. That's when USAFFE HQ was established in the Philippines along with a massive military expansion to threaten / intimidate Japan. Strengthening Australian military capability could be tacked onto the historical American plan.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/australia/oceania_pol01.jpg
There's no such thing as a free lunch. If Australia wants Lend-Lease the U.S. will want something in return. That something would probably consist of strong Australian garrisons for the Gilbert Islands, Solomon Islands, New Ireland and New Britain. Those islands sit astride the U.S. supply line to the Philippines so the advantage of securing them is obvious.