The Arrow Scrapbook Rebuilding a Dream and a Nation

274 Pages·1999·10.35 MB·English

by  Peter Zuuring

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In the mid-1950s, the Royal Canadian Air Force and industry were very busy RReebbuuiillddiinngg ee
developing and building a new generation of aircraft whose main role was to
intercept Soviet bombers coming in over the North pole. This first line of North
aa DDrreeaamm AA
American defence was to be state-of-the-art, cutting-edge stuff. Although not
exclusively Canadian, it did arise out of home-grown specifications and the blood,
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sweat and tears of the people who flocked to the Canada-based enterprises to build aanndd aa
it. According to Jim Floyd, a vice president of engineering at AVRO, rr
it was a time when we didn’t know that it couldn’t be done... oo
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“We just did it !”
The Air Force called the weapon the “Arrow” and formally designated it as the “Thank you for SS
CF-105. This sleek, powerful beauty was made for the name. Pictures of the plane
reminding Canadians cc
in flight leave no doubt as to the merit of its design. From above, it was the
that they can do rr
shadow of the Arrowhead, for the defence of Canada. Little did anyone know
what a symbol the Arrow would become or the adversity that the government great things!’ aa
and the Air Force would experience in the years to come.
Paul Hellyer - Ex Minister, National Defence pp
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“You’re going to open a lot
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of wounds with this one.”
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General Baril - Chief of the Defence Staff
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“I know, you absolutely
shattered many of our
Arrow myths.”
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Gary Palmer - Experimental Aircraft ee
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Association, Ottawa ee
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P R E S S
R D N
EBUILDING A REAM AND A ATION
Peter Zuuring
P R E S S
Dalkeith, Ontario - 1999
Dedication
1
In honour of the men and women
who put their energy, creativity and trust
into a major national defence project.
The Arrow was meant to protect
us from an enemy outside
our borders, yet was destroyed
by our friends within.
The Arrow Scrapbook
2
Contents
Dedication 1
........................................................................
Preface 3
................................................................................
Foreword 4
............................................................................
Per Ardua Ad Astra 7
...................................................
Back in the Fifties 11
.................................................
Meantime in the RCAF 61
.......................................
Road to Cancellation 101
.......................................
Dirty Business 119
........................................................
Post Cancellation Vignettes 135
.......................
Legends Revisited 163
...............................................
Arrow Legacy 177
..........................................................
Arrow Alliance 225
........................................................
Appendices 235
...............................................................
Credits 264
....................................................................
Bibliography 266
............................................................
Index 268
.......................................................................
The Arrow Scrapbook - Contents
Preface
3
A Day to
Remember
Paul Hellyer
“It should be a day
of applause; it should
be a day when
Canada could sing her
gratitude for the
growth and development
which has taken place in
the last 50 years.
The sun rose in the East 50 years
ago for the Canadian aircraft
industry. But it went down Friday.”
Montreal Star, Feb. 23, 1959 Paul Hellyer, in the Parliament of Canada,
Courtesy, Montreal Gazette. February 22, 1959, commenting on the
fiftieth anniversary of flight in Canada and
the death of the Avro Arrow
Preface - The Arrow Scrapbook
Foreword
4
The Arrow is addictive
W
hen you get involved with the Arrow, start to dig into its saga, you get frustrated,
disturbed and intrigued. You just cannot get it out of your mind. You wonder, how could
this have happened? How could a whole industry just evaporate overnight? How could
Canada’s military give up the fastest jet in the world? How could a government and a prestigious
Peter Zuuring,
aircraft company get to such a sorry state that a major industrial venture vanished and the lives of
Author
thousands of working Canadians were turned upside down?
“Knowledge Grows
Like a Tree”
The simple truth is that the technology and physical major roles in shaping and executing the policy of the
assets of the Arrow program day. But details on these roles are still being unearthed
University belonged to the Canadian today as new documents are declassified. From a technological
of Toronto slogan government. It had the power point of view, the book Arrowcovers the conception,
to do what it wanted with them, development, construction and
and it did. After Black Friday, destruction of the aircraft.
when the Arrow program was I was completely fasci-
cancelled, the physical pieces nated by the story, actually
were destroyed or scattered sat in a Tim Horton’s for
to other government agencies, three hours taking in every
scrap yards — or the page and photo. But still I
basements (via pockets and wanted more! The CBC
lunch pails) of unhappy television mini-series,
former employees. By the Shutting Down the National
fall of 1959, all vestiges of Dream: The Avro Arrow Story,
an innovative decade had been destroyed. attracted a record two and a
half million viewers, acquainted
Why did this happen? How did it happen? some with the whole tragic
Who was responsible? saga, rekindled the interest of many others.
Some answers have been provided. Authors Palmira
Campagna and Greig Stewart pointed to players who had
The Arrow Scrapbook - Foreword
So, what has been learned?
5
Could we prevent an episode like this from happening book. If the idea interests you, please let me have your
again? What could be done today to bring closure to these comments and suggestions.
bad memories and, at the same time, provide an opportunity In preparing this manuscript, I spoke to many former
and a lesson for renewal? I have an idea for an exciting Avro/Orenda employees and all ranks of RCAF
national project that I explore in the latter part of this personnel. I spent more than fourteen months
in the archives of the National Aviation
Museum, the National Research Council, the
Department of Defence Directorate of Heritage
and History, the National Archives, the Defence
Department Photo Unit and the basements of
many Arrow enthusiasts. I looked at hundreds
of documents, drawings and reports. I read
reams of correspondence. Still, the opinions
and conclusions I have drawn are my own. I
hope I have provided a credible, meaningful
and entertaining work.
Peter F. Zuuring
Dalkeith, Ontario
April 1999
Arrow art: looking into
the afterburner of an
Iroquois Mk II
Photo: Peter Zuuring
Foreword - The Arrow Scrapbook
6 CrheiceHofum ogofhfm t thCehnaee dm AsAp rdibrrioe sSwlpl,to sas.finfg,
The Arrow Scrapbook - Per ardua ad astra
Chapter One
Per ardua ad astra
7
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
-slogan of the RCAF (inherited from the RAF)
O
n August 25, 1958, the Canadian military’s chiefs from May 15 to July 17, 1959, working under cover,
of staff and its chairman, General Charles Foulkes, hurriedly, until the deed was irrevocably done.
unofficially cancelled the CF-105 Arrow program. The Orenda Iroquois engines’ fate was more protracted.
A further six months was to pass before the Right Honourable Neither the loan of an operational engine and expertise
John G. Diefenbaker, Prime Minister of Canada, stood up to the British Bristol-Siddeley nor a U.S. Curtis-Wright Air Marshal Hugh Campbell
in the House of Commons and did it officially. Ironically, licensing deal did anything to stave off the demise of this at the Avro CF-105 rollout
on that day, February 20, 1959, J.L. Plant, president and exceptional product. The Department of Defence Production ceremonies. What a change
general manager of Avro Aircraft Limited, received a letter passed the engines and parts to the Crown Assets Disposal of heart just a year and a
from Air Commodore G. G. Truscott stating that “we are Corporation on November 30, 1960. Rumour has it that a half can bring!
finally getting communications in line.” scrap dealer in Buffalo, New York, bought the lot after the
Avro Newsletter, Spring 1958
About three weeks later, chief of the air staff, Air Marshal engines had been rendered inoperable. But the trail stops
Hugh Campbell, concluded that there was no practical use dead and the mystery of who really bought the engines
for the Arrow or its major components. He suggested to remains.
George Pearkes, Minister of Defence, that the RCAF negotiate
with the United States Air Force for the return of nineteen
J-75 engines and electronic instruments, and that the
necessary arrangements be made to dispose of the Arrow
airframes and Iroquois engines.
By May 12, 1959, all tooling, jigs, parts-in-process and
four Mk II Arrows in various states of completion were
being reduced to scrap by Avro under the watchful eyes
of the Department of Defence Production. Four operational
Mk I Arrows were on hold pending a possible deal with
the United Kingdom. A fifth Mk I Arrow, RL-202, had not
been repaired after its November 7, 1958 accident. An
aerial photo taken by Russell on May 8, 1959, clearly shows
the stricken Arrow at the Avro plant in Malton, Ontario,
with nose assembly, access panels, flight-control surfaces
and control boxes removed. After inquiries by Britain’s
Royal Aeronautical Establishment for the use of the Mk I
fell by the wayside, the remaining Mk I Arrows were put
Montreal Star, Oct. 23, 1963
to the torch. A scrap yard at Ancaster, Ontario, was busy
Courtesy, Montreal Gazette
Per ardua ad astra - The Arrow Scrapbook
It never ceases to amaze me that a project of this perseverance and skill of the people that made up A.V.
8 magnitude, started in 1953 and worked on diligently by Roe Canada Limited. The organizational strength and
thousands of people for six years, could be so utterly foresight of its management made it Canada’s third largest
destroyed by a handful of determined officials in a matter corporation in just twelve years and produced incredible
of days. Wrecking is always easier than building! Still, leading-edge products.
nothing should be taken away from the creativity, ingenuity,
Photo: Nam, Molson
collection
Herb Nott’s celebrated
1959 aerial photo, above,
is eclipsed by Russell’s photo
to the right showing 202
being dismantled. I believe
this to be the start of the
Mk I series cut-up.
Photo: May 8, 1959 Russel, Fednews.
The Arrow Scrapbook - Per ardua ad astra