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But it still would have ended in tears as it seems Canada long ago gave up on the concept of a meaningful combat air force.

Mr. Boyle I am sorry that the Arrow fans, who are mostly from Ontario, have dragged you into what is mostly a political argument.

One good reason that the Arrow was cancelled was its high price.

From the Montreal Star, October 23, 1963,” Gen. Charles Foulkes, charman of the chiefs of staff committee from 1951 to 1960 testified yesterday that the Liberal Government of Prime Minister St. Laurent decided in 1957 it would cancel the Arrow interceptor program as soon as it was returned to power…Gen. Foulkes confirmed the 1959 statement of Mr. Diefenbaker that the chiefs of staff had recommended cancellation of the Arrow…the chiefs concluded that it did not make any sense to produce an $8,000,000 interceptor in Canada when one could be obtained in the U.S. for $2,000,000…”

The General did not mention anything about performance, or the lack thereof, because that was classified as SECRET at the time and for many years after. The old Generals did warn the Arrow fans to let this dog sleep but they were ignored. It would have been much better to let the Arrow be forgotten but because of all the untruths that have been told the facts must now come out.

After a little reading I have found that Avro could not deliver an airframe that met specifications and the RCAF really did not want the aircraft.

The Canadian Department of National Defence seems to be responsible for two main things. It issued the specification for an interceptor and then checked to insure that the contractor was meeting specifications.

The original specification is interesting for its maneuverability requirement. They wanted a 2g turn at Mach 1.5 at 50,000 feet without loss of height or speed. This should have excluded a delta wing planform from the beginning since deltas don’t turn quickly without losing speed. Both the NAE and DRB [DND advisors] indicate that the aircraft had more drag then the contractor claimed. The project was cancelled in April ’53. Then something strange happened. For some reason it was decided to seek the opinion of an outside agency and NACA (NASA precursor) was asked to review the project..

A report of 19 NOVEMBER 1954 summarizes that NACA confirms that the drag is 50% higher than Avro claims. [That is basically what our guys said and I am proud that they knew that.] NACA also recommends “proper application of the area rule” and states that delta wings are “…poor planforms for high endurance and long range.”

[The NACA report is very interesting because it cost the Americans millions to discover the area rule, which was a trade secret, and they gave it to Canada for free. They also provided a B-47 bomber to test the Iroquois engine. I for one, am very sorry that for fifty years some Canadians have accused the Americans of wrongdoing without a shred of proof. It winds up that the Arrow was a completely “made in Canada” white elephant and the U.S. bears no responsibility for it.]

From an Arrow Mk 1 brochure it is clear that Avro did not change the wing planform much and only applied the area rule to the nose, intakes and tail section. Many other companies that succeeded in producing Mach 2+ aircraft applied the rule to the entire aircraft from tip to tail.

Clearly the aircraft still has a range problem after the fixes, based on information from a once secret memorandum dated 17 Jan 58 which states in part, “A reduction in ferry range to 1254 nm is not acceptable.”

The aircraft also may not have met the turn specification even though Avro managed to get it reduced to 1.5 g. In the report on “RCAF FLIGHT NUMBER TWO” that took place “28 Sep 58” they write, “…a level 180 degrees turn was attempted at Mach 1.5. Approximately 1.25G was required to maintain altitude at 45 degrees angle of bank. The altitude, however, did vary somewhat and the speed dropped to Mach 1.4.”

Not too long after that the program is cancelled for good and then, for some reason, all evidence was destroyed.

This is very strange. The Arrow’s performance was secret at the time and only four groups in Canada knew much about the problems. The government, the opposition parties, Avro management, and some people at the DND. Although the records seem to indicate that it is the DND that initiates the destruction of all traces of the aircraft they really don’t have any reason to do so. The DND is not responsible for a contractor failing to meet specifications. The Conservatives also have no worries since it was not their program. There is really only two of these four groups that benefits from the complete destruction of all evidence and they shall remain nameless.

From where I sit it does not look like the RCAF ever wanted the Arrow but an aircraft that met their specificatons. It looks like they are trying to get the Arrow cancelled from ’53 and keep getting overruled by politicians. Then they are ordered to take the Arrow and like it but that government gets defeated. Diefenbaker finally does the sensible thing and cancels the program as the DND recommends. The guilty parties then manage to shift the blame for the disaster onto Diefenbaker and the Americans and the rest is history.