The "Avro Arrow"

Following several studies of Canadian air defense needs at the end of the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1953, issued specifications for a supersonic all-weather interceptor aircraft with flight characteristics surpassing anything previously flown in the western world.

Avro Aircraft Ltd. of Malton Ontario devoted its design team to the project and one year later submitted a proposal for a delta winged aircraft powered by new Canadian designed and built engines, the Orenda Iroquois.

The successful design was completed by Jim Chamberlain and Jim Floyd, with Bob Lindley and Guest Hake. First drawings were released in June 1955 and the first production aircraft, designated CF-105, the Arrow, rolled out just over two years later. The Arrow was flown for the first time on March 25, 1958.

The Arrow did not fly with the powerful Iroquois engines before cancellation, yet it still exceeded all RCAF performance requirements with available Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojets rated at 12,500 lbs of thrust (the Iroquois achieved 19,000 lbs dry thrust and 26,000 lbs with afterburner). Speeds of Mach 1.96 were reached, although the Arrow was capable of flying in excess of Mach 2 (1,325 mph). The aircraft was over 80 ft long with a wingspan of 50 ft and weighed 57,000 lbs but could climb at 38,450 ft per minute to its ceiling of 53,000 ft. Most significantly, at that altitude the Arrow could manoeuvre comfortably while pulling 2G, a feat that contemporary fighters find difficult even today.

Pioneering work in aerodynamics, metallurgy, mechanics and electronics were employed in the construction of such an advanced aircraft and its powerplant. This Canadian technological leadership was lost when the government ordered the cancellation of the Avro contract and the destruction of anything relating to the aircraft. The fifteen thousand highly skilled design and construction employees were dispersed throughout the international aerospace industry.