The Avro Canada CF105 Arrow was a deltawinged interceptor aircraft designed and built by Avro Canada. The CF105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 feet (15,000 m) and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) primary interceptor into the 1960s and beyond.
The Arrow was the culmination of a series of design studies begun in 1953 that examined improved versions of the Avro Canada CF100 Canuck. After considerable study, the RCAF selected a dramatically more powerful design, and serious development began in March 1955. The aircraft was intended to be built directly from the production line, skipping the traditional handbuilt prototype phase. The first Arrow Mk. 1, RL201, was rolled out to the public on 4 October 1957, the same day as the launch of Sputnik I.
Flight testing began with RL201 on 25 March 1958, and the design quickly demonstrated excellent handling and overall performance, reaching Mach 1.9 in level flight. Powered by the Pratt & Whitney J75, another three Mk. 1s were completed, RL202, RL203 and RL204. The lighter and more powerful Orenda Iroquois engine was soon ready for testing, and the first Mk 2 with the Iroquois, RL206, was ready for taxi testing in preparation for flight and acceptance tests by RCAF pilots by early 1959.
On 20 February 1959, Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker abruptly halted the development of both the Arrow and its Iroquois engines before the scheduled project review to evaluate the program could be held. Canada tried to sell the Arrow to the US and Britain, but no agreements were concluded. Two months later the assembly line, tooling, plans, existing airframes, and engines were ordered to be destroyed. The cancellation was the topic of considerable political controversy at the time, and the subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production remains a topic for debate among historians and industry pundits. "This action effectively put Avro out of business and its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered".
In the postSecond World War period, the Soviet Union began developing a capable fleet of longrange bombers with the ability to deliver nuclear weapons across North America and Europe.
The main threat was principally from highspeed, highaltitude bombing runs launched from the Soviet Union travelling over the Arctic against military bases and builtup industrial centres in Canada and the United States. To counter this threat, Western countries developed interceptors that could engage and destroy these bombers before they reached their targets.
A. V. Roe Canada Limited had been set up as a subsidiary of the Hawker Siddeley Group in 1945, initially handling repair and maintenance work for aircraft at the Malton, Ontario Airport, today known as Toronto Pearson International Airport. The next year the company began the design of Canada's first jet fighter for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), the Avro CF100 Canuck allweather interceptor. The Canuck underwent a lengthy and troubled prototype stage before entering service seven years later in 1953. Nevertheless, it went on to become one of the most enduring aircraft of its class, serving in a variety of roles until 1981.
Recognizing that the delays that affected the development and deployment of the CF100 could also affect its successor, and the fact that the Soviets were working on newer jetpowered bombers that would render the CF100 ineffective, the RCAF began looking for a supersonic, missilearmed replacement for the Canuck even before it had entered service. In March 1952, the RCAF's Final Report of the AllWeather Interceptor Requirements Team was submitted to Avro Canada.
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 77 ft 9 in (23.70 m)
Wingspan: 50 ft (15 m)
Height: 21 ft 2 in (6.45 m)
Wing area: 1,225 sq ft (113.8 m2)
Airfoil: root: NACA 0003.5 (modified); tip: NACA 0003.8 (modified)
Empty weight: 49,040 lb (22,244 kg)
Gross weight: 56,920 lb (25,818 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 68,605 lb (31,119 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J75P3 afterburning turbojet engines, 16,500 lbf (73 kN) thrust each dry, 23,500 lbf (105 kN) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed: 1,136 kn (1,307 mph, 2,104 km/h) at 50,000 ft (15,000 m) max. recorded speed (Mach 2+ potential)
Maximum speed: Mach 1.98
Cruise speed: 527 kn (606 mph, 976 km/h) / M0.91 at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
Combat range: 360 nmi (410 mi, 670 km)
Service ceiling: 53,000 ft (16,000 m)
Wing loading: 46.5 lb/sq ft (227 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.825 at loaded weight
Armament
Missiles: * 2× AIR2A Genie unguided nuclear rockets
or
Up to 4× Canadair Velvet Glove (cancelled 1956) or 8x AIM4 Falcon or 3 AIM7 Sparrow II 2D active guidance missiles (cancelled)
Avionics
Hughes MX1179 fire control system
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