Australian Boomerang comes back to Jersey for air display

Jersey International Air Display Picture: DAVID FERGUSON Boomerang

The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Boomerang was built in response to the country’s urgent need for military aircraft, and such was the speed of its development that no initial prototype was produced.

It took just over 16 weeks after the Australian government gave approval to the project for the plane to complete its first flight in May 1942.

Using a Pratt & Whitney engine, the Boomerang, which last performed in Jersey in 2018, can accelerate up to just over 300mph, has a range of about 900 miles and can ascend to a maximum altitude of 29,000ft.

The addition of two more aircraft to the display’s roster has also been announced. However, they will not be taking off separately but rather while attached to each other.

They are the Max Holste MH-1521 Broussard, a 1950s French six-seater utility plane, which will be used to launch the electrically powered MC-15E-Cristaline Cri Cri. The Broussard was designed by its namesake Mr Holste to meet a French Army requirement for a lightweight liaison and observation aircraft. It features a nose-mounted 450-horsepower Pratt & Whitney piston engine, which allows the plane to accelerate up to a maximum speed of 168mph and a maximum altitude of 18,045ft.

The Cri Cri, French for cricket, was designed by Michel Columban in the early 1970s. It is the world’s smallest twin-engined aircraft. It is powered by two 35-horsepower electric Electravia GMPE 104 motors.

It holds the world air-speed record for an electric aircraft of 175.46mph. It is thought that the motors could propel the plane to 220mph but that doing so might cause too much stress to the machine’s airframe.

lThe official programme for the Jersey International Air Display will be published in Wednesday’s JEP.

Thursday’s JEP will feature a free Red Arrows poster and an eight-page picture supplement of the event will be published the following day.

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