North American P-51 Mustang CA-17 Mustang Mk 20

In November 1944 the Australian government decided to build Mustangs locally to replace Curtiss Kittyhawks and CAC Boomerangs in the South West Pacific theatre. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) factory at Fishermans Bend, Melbourne, was the only non-U.S. production line for the P-51. In 1944, 100 P-51Ds were shipped from the U.S. in kit form; from February 1945 CAC assembled 80 of these as the CA-17 Mustang Mark 20 (the remaining 20 kits were kept as spare parts). The first Australian-built aircraft flew on 29 April 1945 and was handed to the RAAF on 31 May 1945. It used the same Packard V-1650-7 engine as the P-51D it was derived from. In October 1953 six Mustangs, including A68-1, the first Australian-built CA-17, were allotted to the Long Range Weapons Development Establishment at Maralinga, South Australia, for low-yield atomic bomb trials; the aircraft survived the detonations intact. A68-1 was bought by a U.S. syndicate in 1967 and restored to flying condition.