The Avro Arrow - There Never Was

A detailed Summary of The Avro Arrow - There Never Was

It was supposed to be the biggest, fastest, and most powerful plane that the world, and especially Canada, had ever laid its eyes upon. It was in a class of its own, at least twenty years ahead of any other country technology-wise. It was to be the most technologically advanced supersonic jet fighter in the world, a combination of sheer brain and willpower of 14 000 world-class engineers and technicians. And yet, the Avro Arrow, which gave Canadians a sense of pride bigger than itself, was never meant to be. Formally named the CF-105, the Avro Arrow was a dream denied. The Arrow was built by A.V. Roe Canada to counterattack the air superiority of the Soviet bombers that would presumably carry nuclear warheads over North America. Ironically enough, the day it was unveiled, the public had its eye fixed on the launch of the first Sputnik, a product that would jumpstart the Soviet Union's space race. However, the Arrow didn't stay unnoticed for very long. It was soon the talk of the town in various parts of the world. Unfortunately, the Avro Arrow didn't last very long. On February 20, 1959, John Diefenbaker, then the Prime Minister of Canada, stood up in the House of Commons and stated, "The government of Canada has carefull

as the Canada/U.S. Defence Production Sharing Agreement of 1959. This alliance played a major role in the cancellation of the Arrow project, because part of the Production Sharing Agreement was for the United States to provide Canada with interceptors, which thereby created a situation in which the termination of the Avro Arrow seemed appropriate. This is an uncanny situation because the very country that has invaded Canada repeatedly, and has been by far its most dangerous and sustained threat over the centuries, now "looks after" Canada's defence.

In addition to the cost of the Arrow project and the American pressure, the government handling, or in this case, mishandling, of this whole affair seemed to seal the deal for the fate of the prominent Avro Arrow. When the concept of the Arrow was first created, the country was run, not surprisingly, by the Liberals. However, to the surprise of many, Conservative leader John Diefenbaker had won the election with a minority government. There seemed to have been a deep desire to terminate the CF-105 in the Diefenbaker government, but no action was taken at that time. It was politically dangerous to threaten jobs in the employment-poor Toronto area. However, when Avro started approaching the government for more funding, the Conservatives accused Avro of greediness and intense lobbying (http://www.geocities.com/cf105andonly/archive/cf-105.htm). When word of this got out into the open, the public's opinion immediately went to Avro, because they believed that the Arrow would become a symbol of one of Canada's great achievements. John Diefenbaker was much less supportive of the CF-105 project than the former Prime Minister, Louis St. Laurent. Diefenbaker made sure that every problem with the aircraft was published extensively by the media. However, it would be unfair to blame only the government for the problems the Arrow created. The RCAF itself was probably imprudent for setting the standards of an aircraft so high (Stewart, Greig, pg.62). Everything it demanded was technically achievable, as proven by the sheer existence of the Avro Arrow itself. On the other hand, it should have been

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Approximate Word count = 1775
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Technology