| 26" x 20" | "Canadian Shield" Don Connolly Countersigned Edition Size: 850 |
$125.00 (Cdn) |
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The Avro Arrow was conceived to provide the RCAF with a supersonic interceptor capable of meeting very stringent Canadian operational requirements. Originally projected to cost 2 to 3 million dollars per copy, it was hoped that over 500 might be built and the cost partly offset by export orders. However, the fate of this brilliantly designed machine was sealed by factors ranging from friction between Avro executives and government officials to the misconception that the missile age would render manned interceptors obsolete. Staggering cost escalations occurred, due partly to the costs of developing the radically new and powerful (26,000 lb. thrust) Iroquois engine, and the most advanced automatic landing, flight control, and weapons systems that could be envisioned in 1958. Nonetheless, it was an incredible engineering achievement that so many problems were overcome and that the aircraft experienced such a successful test program. (For example, it reached a speed of Mach 1.98 on the interim J-75 engines, which were 40% less powerful than the planned Iroquois). The story of A.V. Roe Canada, from its start with the assembly of Mk X Lancasters (led by KB700, "The Ruhr Express"), through the production of the experimental Jetliner (the first passenger jet designed on this continent) and nearly 700 CF-100s, and on to its collapse with the Arrow is a gripping tale. The cast of personalities included the colorful Crawford Gordon, the enigmatic Howard Hughes, and the "Chief" - J.G. Diefenbaker, Canada's Prime Minister of the time. Add in the test pilots, the 13,000+ Avro engineers and workers, an equal number of subcontractors, and you find a story of epic proportions, which deeply affected the country. To this day, if you stand in front of the torch-scarred nose section of Arrow RL 206 in Canada's National Aviation Museum, you may still experience a sense of the continuing controversy as you pause to marvel at what was, and what might have been.  Janus Zarakowski, a Polish-born WWII fighter ace, was A.V. Roe's chief experimental pilot on the Arrow program. He took each of the first three Arrows on their maiden flights. An extremely competent and admired pilot, he was renowned for his calm efficiency at the controls of supersonic aircraft (and for his white knuckled apprehension at the wheel of an automobile!). Now long retired from flying (one of his last flights was logged in RL 203), he observes that "The latest, most formidable Soviet air defense interceptor, the MIG 31, has performance similar to the Arrow even though the Arrow flew over 20 years earlier", "whereas the Prime Minister of Canada stated over 30 years ago that this aircraft (the Arrow) would be obsolete before it could be delivered, even in minimum quantity by 1961."
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