Warbird Information Exchange

Interesting aeroplane that Canada built in the late 1950's but was scrapped. Still a very sore spot for many Canadians.

You can see another full model of it at Canadian Air & Space Museum
http://casmuseum.org/ You can read about the whole project and what happened.


Alberta students to restore Avro Arrow model

Students and instructors from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology are working to restore a full-scale model of Canada's legendary Avro Arrow fighter jet.

The model, built by Allan Jackson in Wetaskiwin, Alta., in 1987 and lent to CBC for a miniseries on the plane, is getting a complete overhaul.

Restoring the model was an opportunity that student Ryan Sears said he couldn't pass up.

"I knew a little bit, basically from reading the odd book on it [the jet] or on TV, but now I know a little bit more," he said.

"It's quite fascinating to know each wing is 1,200 square feet — you know, it's 20 feet high — and basically the mass size of it. You know, you can't really grasp it until you see it."

The model was built to commemorate the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow, a twin-engine supersonic interceptor jet designed and built in the 1950s by A.V. Roe Canada in Malton, Ont., and intended for use by the Royal Canadian Air Force and other countries.

The project, estimated to have a final cost of $1 billion, was scrapped suddenly in 1959 because it was deemed too expensive. Progressive Conservative prime minister John Diefenbaker's government ordered all prototypes destroyed, while thousands of aviation employees lost their jobs.

Hailed for the advanced technology it represented, the plane has since been celebrated as a symbol of some of Canada's best technological innovation, and mourned for its loss.

Jackson said he hopes the restoration will bring attention to the story of the Arrow.

"I hope it gets on display, and people can come and see it and tell the story of the Arrow and the people at Avro," Jackson said.

"A lot of those key people … went on to the U.S. and helped put a man on the moon, so that's important to know that."

The plane is being restored to mark the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada.

The crew hopes to unveil the finished plane on July 1.

www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/0 ... ation.html

If I remember correctly, wasn't the Jackson model only 7/8 scale?

Sounds like a good project for them...maybe they'll fix the droopy wings too!

i'm glad that somebody brought this subject up. i read about it the other day and was impressed that someone is doing something about this. i saw a documentary about this aircraft a while back. it seems that it was too good.....ahead of its time would be the p/c way of putting it, and the americans put the squeeze on its demise. kind of like who killed the electric car, only cooler !

It's 1:1 scale.

I remember hearing about a smaller one somewhere, and also that it was made of composites and supposed to fly. Somehow.

I might be totally out to lunch on that, but that's not something that I could make up...

...I don't think.

The point is, Wetaskiwin = full size, which also = huge.

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Nothing holds like a good, tight crossthread.

Yeah I heard the same thing about a smaller one that was being built and is going to be able to fly. Not sure where though.

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Ryan Orshinsky
Windsor, ON
CH2A - Engineering
rorshinsky@ch2a.ca
http://www.ch2a.ca

Ther Arrow is cool, glad they are doing this. Next they need to rebuild the Enforcer

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

Amen to that!

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Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

Is this the one used in the miniseries? I have the DVD which includes the flight manual and some documentaries. Great watching!

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

It's great to hear that another replica will be on display for us to see. The one at Downsveiw is incredible. It really made me proud of the job my father's friends did building the original (he was working at DeHaviland but had a lot of buddies over at Avro)

The AVRO Museum in Calgary, Alberta is the one that building a .6 size flying example. You can read about it at http://www.avromuseum.ca/