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A Part of Our Heritage - Avro Arrow - YouTube
CF-105 Avro Arrow it has to be mine and most Canadains favorite and the story of it's production and the politics behind it and the loss of not just the plane but the jobs lost make it a sad story.
The Arrow's cancellation was announced on 20 February 1959. The day became known as "Black Friday" in the Canadian aviation industry.
“The government... has made a thorough examination in the light of all the information available concerning the probable nature of the threats to... North America in the future years, the alternative means of defence against such threats, and the estimated cost thereof. The conclusion arrived at is that the development of the Arrow aircraft and Iroquois engine should be terminated now.”[RIGHT]—Prime Minister Diefenbaker addressing the House of Commons, 20 February 1959.[/RIGHT]
The decision to terminate the program immediately put 14,528 Avro employees out of work, as well as nearly 15,000 other employees in the Avro "supply chain" of outside suppliers.
Declassified records show Avro management was caught unprepared by the suddenness of the announcement by the government; while executives were aware that the program was in jeopardy, they expected it to continue until the March review.
It was widely believed that during this lead-up to the review, the first Arrow Mk 2, RL-206, would be prepared for an attempt at both world speed and altitude records.
Rumours had circulated that Air Marshal W.A. Curtis, a First World War ace who headed Avro, had ignored Diefenbaker and spirited one of the Arrows away to be saved for posterity. These rumours were given life in a 1968 interview, when Curtis was asked point-blank if the rumour was true. He replied: "I don't want to answer that." He proceeded to question the wisdom of printing the story of a missing Arrow, and wondered whether it would be safe to reveal the existence of a surviving airframe only nine years later. "If it is in existence it may have to wait another 10 years. Politically it may cause a lot of trouble."
The fanciful legend endures that one of the prototypes remains intact somewhere.
I say if anyone has ever seen the plane intact or pieces of it outside of Canada after they were destroyed or have some arrow parts in a collection then the Canadian Air and space Musuem would be very intersted in them..
The WW2 German Stuka (JU 87) Dive Bomber is one of my faves as it's engine's ''screams'' when diving to bomb its targets.
It wasn't the engine that made the screaming noise, it was a siren...
Quote:
Two unique characteristics made these aircraft stand out: first, the dive brakes, automatic pull-up systems, and the strengthened airframes ensured that the bomber maintained control during dives; then, the wind-powered sirens terrorized the enemy psychologically.
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