No Replacement for Avro Arrow?

In 1946 the Royal Canadian Air Force decided to replace part of their squadron with a longranged, twin-engined all weather supersonic interceptors, that was an all Canadian plane. The arrow was clearly the most advanced plane of its time. Clearly the Canadian Governments decision to scrap the Avro CF-105 Arrow was a big loss to Canada and Canadians. The Avro Arrow was state of the art and one of the most advanced Interceptor Jet fighter of its time. The first five Arrows was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney J75 engines, but later Orenda engines developed the Canadian-made PS13 Orenda Iroquois.

Which were much better performances wise and was made up of 30% Titanium which was scarce and expensive at that time. Using Titanium they were able to cut down weight by 850 pounds and had a total weight of 2000kg. The Iroquois was the most powerful engine of the American continent, it had a very good weight-to-thrust ratio, it was fuel efficient. Development cost had not exceeded ninety million, cheap even for that time.

The Arrow also had an Electronics system much more advanced then what was in any other plane back then.

Everything about this plane was advanced from the shape of the wings and design down to the landing gears was all State of the Art. When the Government decided to scrap this plane, it was a waste of knowledge it is not smart too develop a plane like the Arrow and destroy every plane and flight records, data, blueprints etc.

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The Government could have kept one plane and use it for tests and Supersonic research. Had growing momentum been allowed to continue, we would have seen many new advances in aviation originating from Canada, a then recognized world leader in research and development. We were at the doorstep of the future and it was Canada’s chance to the aviation world. Scrapping the Arrow was not Economically a wise decision by the Government. On Friday, February 20th at about 11:00a.m., Prime Minister John Diefenbaker announced in the House of Commons the termination of the Arrow and Iroquois programs and 14,000 employees were laid off that day. They just thought that there was going to be a scaling down of the project but not an entire cancellation then destruction of all Arrow and parts. There was also a potential of future profit that would have benefitted Canada. “If the Arrow and the Iroquois had been continued, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) countries would have had a first rate Interceptor and our country’s balance of payments may probably have been in better a shape, as our NATO partners lined up to place orders for the Arrow”. Later these bright creative Canadian Engineers and Mechanics, Technicians left Canada and to the United States to work for major American companies like Boeing, Mc Donnell Douglas and for National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) and help put the first man on the moon. If the Arrow and Iroquois program had survived and if those technicians and engineers etc, would have stayed, Canada would have a Space program.

Also the Governments decision was probably Canada’s last chance for independence from the United States. Since the project was cancelled the Royal Canadian Air Force was forced to purchase the Bomarc Missile and F-101 Voodoo that the RCAF had already rejected before they started the Arrow project, the Missiles and the Voodoo fighters were very expensive to purchase and maintain and, could never replace the Arrow. “People thought that push-button warfare was the future, history has proven that an advanced all-weather interceptor, with long range supersonic capabilities were needed, and was not replaced by the new missile age”. The Voodoo and Bomarc were prehistoric compared with the high-tech Arrow. If Canada still had the Arrow, the North American Air Defense Command(NORAD) wouldn’t have forced the Voodoo or Bomarc upon us and tell us what to do with them. For NORAD there was an advantage for them if the Arrow was cancelled then they control what planes Canada flies or uses. Therefore the Canadian Governments decision to scrap the Avro CF-105 Arrow was a big loss for Canada and Canadians, the Arrow was state of the art, government loss money and chance for space program, and last chance for independence from the U.S. “We were at the doorstep of the future and it was Canada’s chance to lead the Aviation world”.