CA-21 Spiteful

The CAC CA-21 Spiteful was an Australian fighter designed by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. It was developed from the Vickers-Supermarine Spiteful, in favor of the P-51 based CA-15.

Development
The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC), headed by designer Lawrence Wackett, ceased development of their troubled CA-15 fighter – a machine resembling the P-51D Mustang – in favour of licence production of the Vickers-Supermarine Spiteful XIV. For use as a pattern and initial pilot familiarisation tool, RB516 (the fifth production aircraft) was flown to CAC’s Fisherman’s Bend, Melbourne, facility by Vickers test pilot Lt Patrick Shea-Simonds. Shea, as he was known to all, remained in Australia to oversee the completion of the first prototype CAC CA-21 Spiteful and to fly it for the first time on April 12, 1945. A production order for 150 CA-21s was signed soon after, and all former Spitfire VIII and many Mustang squadrons soon began to phase out their mounts in favour of the new Griffon-powered machine. A second order for 100 aircraft was eventually whittled down to 75 after the success of the invasion of Japan in late 1945, and by war’s end in June 1946 the remaining CA-21s ordered had been delivered.

Performance
The CA-21 differed from the original Vickers-Supermarine Spiteful only in that the Griffon engine was licence-built by General Motors Holden within Australia, freeing up the Rolls-Royce production lines for British use. GMH engineers managed to tweak even more out of the monster V-12, their Griffon 61A developing a maximum 2150hp (compared to a British/“stock” 61 developing 2035hp). A handful of RAAF pilots reported breaking the 500mph barrier in their CA-21s, but this was never officially confirmed (the official top speed attained by a CA-21/Spiteful remained at 494mph, set by Spiteful XVI RB518 early in its test programme, flown by Shea).

Operational history
A second order for 100 aircraft was eventually whittled down to 75 after the success of the invasion of Japan in late 1945, and by war’s end in June 1946 the remaining CA-21s ordered had been delivered. Two squadrons were kept in Japan as part of the occupation force, with the remainder returned to Australia. Once there the majority of the CA-21 squadrons were disbanded and their aircraft put up for disposal. Only a handful escaped the smelter, being bought cheaply for use as playthings. All of the J-Force aircraft were eventually replaced by the Hawker/CAC CA-24 Sydney jet, and were disposed of in situ by bulldozer and bonfire.

Today seven CA-21 Spitefuls survive: - prototype A62-101 miraculously escaped the scrapper’s torch and is with the RAAF Museum at Point Cook - with a private collector in New South Wales is A62-167 - after being mounted on a pole in Toowoomba, Queensland for some years, A62-158 has been acquired for static display by the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin - A62-172 was owned by Ansett Airlines pilot John Rickards at Brisbane for several years (civil registration VH-BUA), and after his death in 1992 was sold to the USA. It remains airworthy with Planes Of Fame, Chino, Ca - A62-160 is with Precision Aerospace in Australia under active restoration to fly for an anonymous owner - A62-137 has had an on-off restoration process with a succession of owners: it is currently at Duxford, Cambridgeshire with Historic Flying Ltd and is set to fly by 2011 - A62-108 today flies with Judy Pay at Point Cook, Vic. It has flown since 1985 with the civil registration VH-JPS (“Judy Pay’s Spiteful”)In addition to these aircraft, two CA-21s were used as part of British nuclear tests during the 1960s, and A62-130 was flown for some years by film actor Garth Jeffries until lost in a fatal accident in 1989. There is also speculation that one of the J-Force aircraft survives in Japan but this is unlikely. Several unidentified wrecks can also be found around Japan.