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Topic spans: 1951 - 1997
The Avro Arrow: Canada's Broken Dream
It's the closest thing Canadian industry has to a love story and a murder mystery. The Avro Arrow, a sleek white jet interceptor developed in Malton, Ontario in the 1950s, could have been many things. It might have become the fastest plane in the world, our best defence against Soviet bombers, the catalyst to propel Canada to the forefront of the aviation industry. Instead, it became a $400-million pile of scrap metal, and the stuff of legends.
12 television clips
9 radio clips
The Arrow is destroyed
Broadcast Date: Feb. 20, 1979
To the horror of Avro employees, an order comes from the Ministry of Defence Production to erase all traces of the Avro Arrow. Complete planes and those in production are chopped into pieces, as are all models, tools and the entire production line. Blueprints, pictures and film are destroyed. The remains of the mighty plane are sold to a Hamilton scrap metal dealer and melted down to make pots and pans.The Arrow is destroyed
• Exactly who ordered the destruction of the Arrow remains a mystery – nobody in the government or military admitted to giving the order. Avro's Fred Smye said he got the call from the Department of Defence Production, and issued the order to have the planes destroyed. He called it "the worst mistake I ever made in my life." Pierre Sevigny, associate deputy minister for Diefenbaker, believed a spiteful Crawford Gordon issued the order himself.• Lax Brothers Salvage in Hamilton carried out the destruction and bought the scrap from the entire Arrow program for $300,000. The production line was cut up with acetylene torches, while the planes were chopped up with saws. Everything went to the smelter. Metal from the cut-up Arrows was sold for about 14 cents a kilogram - an entire 30,000 kilogram Avro Arrow went for a little over $4,000.
• Cameras were not allowed inside the Avro plant when the planes were destroyed, but the Montreal Standard's Weekend Magazine chartered a helicopter and had a photographer take pictures as the planes were dismantled.
• Test pilot Peter Cope compares the destruction of the Arrow to "a destalinization project." Mario Pesando, chief of project research at Avro, says it was "like the Romans at Carthage."
• Some pieces of the Arrow project survived the destruction and can be found in museums across Canada. Many small pieces were smuggled out by employees. In 1998, two Arrow Pratt & Whitney J-75 engines were found at Ottawa's National Research Council. The National Aviation Museum in Ottawa has the nose and cockpit and landing gear from RL-206, a pair of wings, and an Iroquois engine. Ironically, the museum also houses Canada's only remaining Bomarc missile.
The Arrow is destroyed
Medium: Radio
Program: As It Happens
Broadcast Date: Feb. 20, 1979
Guest(s): Kay Shaw
Host: Alan Maitland
Duration: 1:48
Last updated:
Aug. 12, 2002
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21 clips in this topic . page
Television
0:50
Aug. 6, 1969
A sonic boom from an air show smashes windows in eight blocks of downtown Kelowna.
Radio
2:49
Feb. 23, 1949
Pilot J.A.D. McCurdy shares his memories of the first airplane flight in Canada – forty years later.
Topic from Radio-Canada
For Teachers - Educational activities
External sites
- Avroland: A site dedicated to the people and aircraft of AVRO Canada & Orenda Engines Limited
- Canadian Aviation Museum: Avro Arrow
- FlightDeck Presents: Canada's Legendary Avro Arrow
- Homage to the Avro Arrow
- Avro Arrow Recovery Canada
- The Legend of the Arrow
- National Defence Historical Aircraft: Avro CF-105 Arrow Mk. 1
The Arrow is destroyed.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Aug. 12, 2002.
[Page consulted on Feb. 15, 2012.]