Commonwealth Aircraft Factory in Melbourne, Australia

I’m currently reading an excellent book called “Tool Box On The Wing” by Geoffrey Ellis (Mallinson Rendell, 1983). Ellis was firstly an RAF engineer and air gunner in the 1920’s and early 1930’s, and in 1933 he transferred to the New Zealand Permanent Air Force (which is hilarious to read his reaction as he discovered the whole Air Force here was smaller than an RAF Squadron!! A bit like now).

The book follows his career as the NZPAF becomes the RNZAF, and on into the war. When the RNZAF was about to get its Hudsons, Ellis was the officer in charge of a small RNZAF team sent to RAAF Laverton to train on maintenance of the new bomber type.

Whilst there he said he and another engineer were taken to the Commonwealth Aircraft Factory to see them making engines. He describes how they watched a team fitting frozenn parts to red hot cylinders straight from an oven so when they cooled there would be a shrink fit. He also says he watched a robot carving a propellor blade out of a chunk of metal.

Since they were there specifically to learn about the Hudson and were on a very tight schedule to do so, would the engines and prop lades being made be for the Hudson? Or would they have been for locally manufactured planes like the Wirraway and Boomerang? This was in 1941.

If they were making Hudson parts, what else was made in Austrlia under licence?