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Description
A replica of the famous Avro Arrow on display at Downsview Airport at the Canadian Air and Space Museum. Here is a short history of the aircraft: "The fascinating rise and demise of the Avro Arrow is a chronicle of triumph and tragedy for Canadian aviation. Born deep in the Cold War (it was rolled out on October 4th 1957, the same day the USSR launched the Sputnik into space) the Arrow bore from the first the uniquely Canadian quality of functionality in a vast and limitless wilderness. It was envisaged as North America's first line of defense against the supersonic bombers believed to be under development in the Soviet Union, which would attack from across wastes of the great North.

By the third test flight it broke the speed of sound, eventually reaching speeds as high as Mach 1.98. With the new Iroquois engine, which delivered considerably more power, the Arrow was expected to break world speed records. Indeed, projected versions of the plane were to go as fast as Mach 3. But on the 20th of February, 1959, days before the new Mark 2 series bearing the Iroquois engine was about to be tested, the bad news broke -- the Arrow was to be cancelled.

Avro was instructed to immediately halt all work, and to destroy all prototypes and plans. Employees were sent home, and 14,000 people lost their jobs. The cancellation is widely credited with contributing to the growing Canadian brain drain of the period - NASA grabbed up many of the key people displaced by the move, as did the Concorde and other projects.
The cancellation was a contentious affair, and its justification or demonization has been the subject of considerable debate. At the time, the threat that inspired the formidable characteristics of the Arrow, namely that of manned Soviet bombers emerging from across the polar regions, was perceived to be diminishing. The new menace of the day was believed to be from nuclear missiles, and missiles were to be the means of defense

Description
A replica of the famous Avro Arrow on display at Downsview Airport at the Canadian Air and Space Museum. Here is a short history of the aircraft: "The fascinating rise and demise of the Avro Arrow is a chronicle of triumph and tragedy for Canadian aviation. Born deep in the Cold War (it was rolled out on October 4th 1957, the same day the USSR launched the Sputnik into space) the Arrow bore from the first the uniquely Canadian quality of functionality in a vast and limitless wilderness. It was envisaged as North America's first line of defense against the supersonic bombers believed to be under development in the Soviet Union, which would attack from across wastes of the great North.

By the third test flight it broke the speed of sound, eventually reaching speeds as high as Mach 1.98. With the new Iroquois engine, which delivered considerably more power, the Arrow was expected to break world speed records. Indeed, projected versions of the plane were to go as fast as Mach 3. But on the 20th of February, 1959, days before the new Mark 2 series bearing the Iroquois engine was about to be tested, the bad news broke -- the Arrow was to be cancelled.

Avro was instructed to immediately halt all work, and to destroy all prototypes and plans. Employees were sent home, and 14,000 people lost their jobs. The cancellation is widely credited with contributing to the growing Canadian brain drain of the period - NASA grabbed up many of the key people displaced by the move, as did the Concorde and other projects.
The cancellation was a contentious affair, and its justification or demonization has been the subject of considerable debate. At the time, the threat that inspired the formidable characteristics of the Arrow, namely that of manned Soviet bombers emerging from across the polar regions, was perceived to be diminishing. The new menace of the day was believed to be from nuclear missiles, and missiles were to be the means of defense