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In the 1940s, a special fighter plane was constructed by an Australian company, known as the CA-15. It was called the "Kangaroo" for some rather peculiar reason. The first time it was tested on the ground, the landing gear was so bouncy that the heavy plane bounced up and down the runway.
When it actually went into the air, it was a pilot's delight. It was very easy to fly and they didn't have any bad habits, they said. The cockpit featured a large glass bubble roof, providing the pilots with a spectacular view around them. Although large and heavy, the steering was smooth and powerful. It was light and easy to fly at normal speeds, and provided pilots with sufficient time to slow down if necessary, before it slowed down too much and stalled.
The Kangaroo was also very quick. It was powered by a huge engine, which produced more than two thousand horsepower. It could reach heights of up to 20,000 feet in five and a half minutes, a speed much faster than the then famous American Mustang planes. A test pilot named Lee Archer in 1948 tested the plane to a staggering speed of more than 502 miles per hour.
Unfortunately the Kangaroo arrived at the wrong time. When it was proving itself to be one of the best propeller planes ever, inventors began to develop jet engines. The Kangaroo was no longer needed when the military moved to the future and much faster, the jets. The project was abandoned and the one prototype constructed was destroyed in 1950.
