Friedrich Wilhelm "Fred" David, an Austrian Jew, who became the most significant aircraft designer for the Australian aircraft industry during World War Two; having been one of only a few people to have worked for both sides (Allies and Axis powers) in designing aircraft used during the war. David's most famous aircraft was the

CAC Boomerang The CAC Boomerang is a fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation between 1942 and 1945. Approved for production shortly following the Empire of Japan's entry into the Second World War, the ...

used by the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

during the Pacific War. pp60 As an Austrian Jew who had recently arrived in Australia in 1939 as a refugee, David was technically an enemy alien, so he had to report to the local police station weekly having been interned by Australian immigration officials. David was well-suited to the CAC project, since he had previously worked for

Heinkel Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, wit ...

in pre-Nazi Germany, as well as

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

and

Aichi Kokuki was a Japanese aerospace manufacturer which produced several designs for the Imperial Japanese Navy. After the war, the company was reorganized as Aichi Machine Industry Co., Ltd (愛知機械工業) where they made small '' kei'' cars until ...

in Japan. His design contributions in Japan resulted in the

Mitsubishi A5M The Mitsubishi A5M, formal Japanese Navy designation , experimental Navy designation Mitsubishi Navy Experimental 9-''Shi'' Carrier Fighter, company designation Mitsubishi ''Ka''-14, was a WWII-era Japanese Aircraft carrier, carrier-based fighter ...

Claude fighter and the

Aichi D3A The Aichi D3A (Navy designation "Type 99 Carrier Bomber"; World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, Allied reporting name "Val") is a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber. It was the primary dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Na ...

Type 99 Val dive-bomber. Fred David worked on several projects throughout the war but his most technically advanced aircraft never got past the prototype stage, the

CAC CA-15 The CAC CA-15 was an Australian propeller-driven fighter aircraft designed and built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) during World War II. Due to protracted development, the project was not completed until after the war, and was can ...

Kangaroo piston fighter. The project was commissioned in early 1943 to overcome the speed and aeronautical limitations of the

but the prototype did not fly until March 1946. However, despite the aircraft exceeding the maximum speed and climb rate of the Spitfire and Mustang, it was now obsolete with the dawn of the jet age. After the war, Fred David moved on to working for the Australian government's research arm becoming a specialist in aerodynamics. This role evolved into becoming the team head of the

Ikara (missile) The Ikara missile was an Australian ship-launched anti-submarine missile, named after an Australian Aboriginal languages, Australian Aboriginal word for "throwing stick". It launched an acoustic torpedo to a range of , allowing fast-reaction att ...

project that designed the anti-submarine missile used by the RAN, Royal Navy, Chilean Navy and Brazilian Navy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Fred 1900 births 1992 deaths Australian aerospace engineers Australian Jews Austrian emigrants to Australia

See also

References