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Description
Built by Avro Canada at it's plant in Malton, Ontario (Just outside of Toronto), the CF-105 "Arrow" was the result of an RCAF requirement for an a day or night all weather supersonic jet interceptor that would be capable of defending Canadian airspace from possible attack by the Soviet air force's multi engined bomber fleet should a third world war break out between east and west.

The aircraft was by far the most advanced technical achievment in Canada's burgeoning aeronautical industry. It was capable of flying at speeds of Mach 2 at an altitude of 50,000 feet+ and the Mark 2 variant was to be fitted with what was arguably the most powerful jet engine at that time, the Orenda PS.13 Iroquois.

However, the Conservative Government (Which won the 1957 election) considered the Arrow/Orenda program a byproduct of "Rampant Liberal Spending", and with the false belief that the bomber threat was diminished with the advent of unmanned nuclear missiles, the Arrow was cancelled. On February 20th, 1959 ("Black Friday") the word reached Avro Canada that all work on the Arrow was to be stopped immediately. Later it was announced that the program was terminated and over 14,000 Avro employees were laid off.

But the worst was yet to come. Soon, the sounds of electric saws and blowtorches echoed across the Malton plant. The five Mark 1 prototypes (RL-201-205) were demolished and taken away to be melted down. The same fate befell the Mark 2 prototype (RL-206). Many of the designers, technicians, and other skilled labor moved to the US, and some became members of the team that helped put man on the moon in 1969. Today only the nose section of RL-206, some wing sections, landing gear a complete Iroquois engine and various other pieces of the aircraft remain as a tragic memento of what was, and more importantly what could have been.

I used the color profiles from "Avro Arrow: The Story of the Avro Arrow From Its Evolution To Its Extinction" by the Arrowheads as well as the many photos shown in the book for reference.

Description
Built by Avro Canada at it's plant in Malton, Ontario (Just outside of Toronto), the CF-105 "Arrow" was the result of an RCAF requirement for an a day or night all weather supersonic jet interceptor that would be capable of defending Canadian airspace from possible attack by the Soviet air force's multi engined bomber fleet should a third world war break out between east and west.

The aircraft was by far the most advanced technical achievment in Canada's burgeoning aeronautical industry. It was capable of flying at speeds of Mach 2 at an altitude of 50,000 feet+ and the Mark 2 variant was to be fitted with what was arguably the most powerful jet engine at that time, the Orenda PS.13 Iroquois.

However, the Conservative Government (Which won the 1957 election) considered the Arrow/Orenda program a byproduct of "Rampant Liberal Spending", and with the false belief that the bomber threat was diminished with the advent of unmanned nuclear missiles, the Arrow was cancelled. On February 20th, 1959 ("Black Friday") the word reached Avro Canada that all work on the Arrow was to be stopped immediately. Later it was announced that the program was terminated and over 14,000 Avro employees were laid off.

But the worst was yet to come. Soon, the sounds of electric saws and blowtorches echoed across the Malton plant. The five Mark 1 prototypes (RL-201-205) were demolished and taken away to be melted down. The same fate befell the Mark 2 prototype (RL-206). Many of the designers, technicians, and other skilled labor moved to the US, and some became members of the team that helped put man on the moon in 1969. Today only the nose section of RL-206, some wing sections, landing gear a complete Iroquois engine and various other pieces of the aircraft remain as a tragic memento of what was, and more importantly what could have been.

I used the color profiles from "Avro Arrow: The Story of the Avro Arrow From Its Evolution To Its Extinction" by the Arrowheads as well as the many photos shown in the book for reference.