The Avro Arrow vaulted Canada into the front ranks of the
world's militaryt aircraft design and manufacturing as the Cold War pitted
world powers against each other. It brought together the most brilliant minds
Canada had to offer, and more, in the quest for a jet fighter full of cutting
edge technology capable of flying at twice the speed of sound. But less than a
year after the Arrow's first test flight in March 1958, the program was
cancelled and the few existing Avro Arrows and all their specs were put to the
torch in a controversy that reverberates even today. Aerospace historian Chris
Gainor explores the decades-old reasons for the cancellation of the Arrow in
this detailed, well-balanced account:
- Did Prime Minister John
Diefenbaker cancel the Arrow program for political reasons?
- What role did the U.S.
government play in the Arrow's demise?
- In a time when
intercontinental ballistic missiles were becoming a real threat, was the
Avro Arrow needed?
- What took the place of the
Avro Arrow in Canada's air defence?
- What was the impact of the
Arrow's cancellation on Canada's economy?
- What happened to the
brilliant team that helped create the Arrow?
- What don't we know about the
destruction of completed Arrows after the program was cancelled?
These are among the many questions that surround the
aircraft that never really had the chance to fly.
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