AAC Wamira

The AAC Wamira was a turboprop military trainer aircraft, designed for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) by the Australian Aircraft Consortium (AAC). The project was cancelled shortly after the first prototype was completed.

Design and development

The story of the aircraft and its creators are interwoven, as AAC was set up expressly to design and build the aircraft. The consortium came into being in 1981, with its members being the three main aircraft manufacturers in Australia at that time - the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC), the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF), and Hawker de Havilland (HdH). The RAAF, which expressed an intention to buy 69 aircraft, specified a turboprop trainer of broadly conventional tricycle undercarriage low wing monoplane layout, to be powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25C engine. Unusually however its two seats were to be in a side-by-side configuration. The RAAF also specified that the type be fully aerobatic; be capable of cross-country navigation and weapons training; and have a 200 kt cruising speed at Sea Level, and a minimum service life of 20 years and 8,000 flying hours. AAC signed a Design and Development contract in June 1982 and began work to produce an aircraft to meet the design criteria under the designation A10.

When it became clear that the aircraft as specified by the RAAF had limited appeal to other potential users, a version with the more usual tandem seating was designed, this being designated the A20; both models were named Wamira. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Westland Aircraft to establish a joint venture to market (and hopefully sell) the A20 in Europe. ["Anglo-Australian Aircraft Company to be Established by Westland and the Australian Aircraft Consortium", "Newsdesk - Military", "Australian Aviation" magazine, No. 24, September 1984. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Manly, NSW. ISSN 0813-0876] The A20 was subsequently entered in the competition to replace the Royal Air Force (RAF) fleet of BAC Jet Provosts, ["A20 Back in the Trainer Race", "Newsdesk - Military", "Australian Aviation" magazine, No. 26, March 1985. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Weston Creek, ACT. ISSN 0813-0876] a competition eventually won by the Short Tucano. The A20 was never a serious contender due to it being only a design rather than a flying aircraft.

By the time the RAF competition was lost, the whole Wamira project was in doubt. This was partly due to delays in completing the prototype, but mainly due to huge cost overruns. At the time the RAAF was replacing its front line fighter fleet and wanted an Airborne Early Warning platform and in-flight refuelling aircraft to enhance the new type's capabilities,Hawkins, Max. "Wamira Project Flies into Turbulence", "Defence Update", "Australian Aviation" magazine, No. 27, June 1985, p58-59. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Weston Creek, ACT. ISSN 0813-0876] and an Auditor-General report found that the Wamira project cost was likely to be more than double that originally estimated. In July 1985 it was announced that the RAAF trainer requirement was now a competition, and that the Short Tucano and Pilatus PC-7 and PC-9 (all of which had tandem seating) would be considered as well as the Wamira. The same month CAC was absorbed by HdH, meaning that HdH now had a two-thirds share in AAC, and quickly became sole owner of the Wamira project when it bought GAF's share. [Hawkins, Max. "Introducing - Son of Wamira!", "Defence Update", "Australian Aviation" magazine, No. 28, September 1985, p65-66. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Weston Creek, ACT. ISSN 0813-0876] On 16 December 1985 the Pilatus PC-9 was announced as the winner of the competition and the Wamira project was cancelled. [ [http://www.defence.gov.au/Raaf/raafmuseum/research/aircraft/series3/A23.htm RAAF Museum PC-9 page] retrieved 2008-01-22.] Ironically the consortium partners were later jointly responsible for licence-production of the PC-9.

[http://www.endeavour-aerospace.com Endeavour Aerospace] acquired the Wamira design and associated rights from the Australian government in 2000. The aircraft design was subsequently renamed Phoenix. Endeavour Aerospace believes that the design has potential in the General Aviation market as a pilot trainer and recreation/sports/utility aircraft. The original drawings and design records have been kept in safe storage since being acquired.

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