Results: ** The Avro Arrow Part 1 ** Flying back in time with The Royal Canadian Air Force

The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft designed and built by Avro Canada. The CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 feet (15,000 m) and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) primary interceptor into the 1960s and beyond. Have you heard of the AVRO Arrow?

Following the Second World War, nations found themselves divided among two ideological camps: the capitalist West (led by the United States) and the communist East (dominated by the Soviet Union). As tensions grew among opposing parties — worsened by espionage, proxy wars, aggressive dialogue and nuclear escalation — Canada increased its military commitment to the Western cause in what became known as the Cold War. Many people were building Bomb shelters. My High School had a Bomb Shelter. Do you remember the Cold War and Bomb Shelters?

By the 1950s, there was a growing concern that Soviet bombers would attack North America via the Canadian Arctic. (NATO intelligence suggested that such an attack could occur as early as 1954.) So, in 1953–54, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) commissioned Avro to design and build the Arrow: an all-weather nuclear interceptor meant to fly higher and faster than any aircraft in its class. Did you know, It was, at the time, the most demanding specification in the world, and many international manufacturers believed it impossible to achieve?

After earning the right to build the Arrow, Avro became a dominant force in Canadian aerospace and the economy at large. By 1957, Avro employed more than 20,000 people, making it one of the largest companies in the country. With plans to build everything from jetliners to cameras that could photograph speeding airplanes, Avro drew major investment from the government and its own employees. Confidence in the company — and Canada's aerospace industry — was soaring. The Avro Jetliner was a tremendous success. In the Cold War atmosphere the federal government stopped its further development in 1951 in order to force the company to concentrate on the CF-100 jet fighter. C.D. Howe had no choice but to insist that Avro concentrate on the CF-100 Canuck. The RCAF, the first air force to operate jet transports, ordered 2 Comets in November 1951. The Jetliner was offered to the National Research Council but only its nose was saved, due to lack of space. It was sold for scrap in 1956. The nose section is on display in the Canada Aviation Museum. Do you find it astonishing that the Federal Government forced the destruction of the Avro Jetliner when they had an order from Howard Hughes for 30 Aircraft?

The Arrow was to be an immense project — in size, scale and ambition. Weighing about 20,000 kg when empty, with a 15.2 m wingspan, the jet was, as journalist David Wilson has written, "form sublimely married to function." It boasted the world's first computerized flight control and weapons system. Faster than any jet in its class, the Arrow would travel nearly twice the speed of sound at an altitude of 53,000 feet. Testing the Arrow was intensive. Have you ever witnessed a test flight of a plane?