The record-breaking jet which still haunts a country

[Gerald]

A decade after the end of World War Two, Canada built a jet which pushed technology to its limits. But its demise showed why smaller nations found it difficult to compete in the Jet Age.

The aircraft became a source of national pride for many Canadians (Credit: Avro Canada/Canada Aviation and Space Museum)

n the early years of the Cold War, Canada decided to design and build the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world.

Canada is well known for its rugged bush planes, capable of rough landings and hair-raising take-offs in the wilderness. From the late 1930s, the North American country had also started to manufacture British-designed planes for the Allied war effort. Many of these planes were iconic wartime designs like the Hawker Hurricane fighter and Avro Lancaster bomber.

Ambitious Canadian politicians and engineers weren’t satisfied with this. They decided to forge a world-leading aircraft manufacturing industry out of the factories and skilled workforce built up during the war. Tired of manufacturing aircraft designed by others, this new generation of Canadian leaders were determined to produce Canadian designs. Avro Aircraft, the Canadian airplane maker created after the war, was the company that would deliver their dream.

Freed from the set ways-of-thinking of Avro’s more established rivals, the firm’s engineers were able to work on revolutionary jet fighters, commercial airliners, flying saucers and even a space plane. They placed Canada at the technological cutting edge of the new Jet Age.

In so doing, these engineers challenged notions of what small countries like Canada could achieve in the hi-tech industries of the day, even if convincing politicians to stump up the cash for them was an altogether trickier business.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...unts-a-country

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...nged-the-world

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...al-to-concorde

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...ne-ever-to-fly

A beautiful sight! Some links have I add up here also with other aircraft.

[Jimbuna]

Fine diecast model.



And so similar in many ways as well as fate the TSR2

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Fine diecast model.



And so similar in many ways as well as fate the TSR2

Thought of your collection when I posted.

[Jimbuna]

In truth I don't have the Arrow because she is Canadian and my collection is solely British but the TSR2, Vulcan and Lightning in the bottom picture are all mine.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

In truth I don't have the Arrow because she is Canadian and my collection is solely British but the TSR2, Vulcan and Lightning in the bottom picture are all mine.

Ok! How many devices do you currently have?

[Jimbuna]

Between 250 and 300 and at a cost too high to admit too.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Between 250 and 300 and at a cost too high to admit too.

Your grandchildren are a forbidden fruit to them. Do you still collect and buy as when you started posting the threads on SS 10 years ago "about"?

[Jimbuna]

Quickly running out of space so I've become more selective.

[Buddahaid]

I watched a YouTube video on that about a year ago. I forget what killed it now but I seem to recall it was too expensive to make at the time.

[Jimbuna]

The Arrow and similarly the TSR-2 were both victims of rising production costs at a time when military funding was shrinking.

The final downfall of the Arrow came about when Canada failed to get the US and UK to purchase any airframes and the final demise came about for the TSR-2 when cheaper alternatives were readily available, ie the Buccaneer and Phantom.

Eventually, the smaller swing-wing Panavia Tornado was developed and adopted by a European consortium to fulfil broadly similar requirements to the TSR-2.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

I watched a YouTube video on that about a year ago. I forget what killed it now but I seem to recall it was too expensive to make at the time.

The Arrow and similarly the TSR-2 were both victims of rising production costs at a time when military funding was shrinking.

The final downfall of the Arrow came about when Canada failed to get the US and UK to purchase any airframes and the final demise came about for the TSR-2 when cheaper alternatives were readily available, ie the Buccaneer and Phantom.

Eventually, the smaller swing-wing Panavia Tornado was developed and adopted by a European consortium to fulfil broadly similar requirements to the TSR-2.