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At the end of WWI , the west was terrified to discover that the soviets were starting to develop a fleet of high-altitude, long range bomber aircraft, many of which would carry nuclear weapons. These new unstoppable aircraft would be able to fly directly over the north pole and hit targets in Western Europe and North America.
Naturally, the west needed a counter aircraft - a bomber interceptor. These planes would be small, fast, and designed to catch up to the bombers and take them out well before they entered friendly airspace.
The US had several aircraft fill this role, such as the North American F-86D Sabre, followed by the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, and eventually in the late 50s, the Convair F-106 Delta Dart.
Looking at the world stage, you might have noticed a not-so-small nation lay right between the heart of capitlism and the USSR - canada.
Canada had effectively taken on a new role as defender of the north, falling under the flight path of soviet bombers, and it was about time it had its own aircraft to help protect its airspace.
The Jet would be called officially the CF-105 Arrow, built by Canadian aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe Canada, which is better known as Avro. It was designed with a crew of two in mind, sitting in tandem one behind the other.
It would be 77ft long, 23.8 meters, with a height of 21 feet, or a bit over 6 meters. The wings would be delta shape for speed, and have a wingspan of exactly 50 feet, or exactly 15 meters, which is a very nice round number. It would have many of the same advantages of the swept wing in terms of transonic and supersonic performance, but offered much more internal room and overall surface area, useful for fuel tanks and more lift when flying at serious speed.
And lets talk about that speed. The aircraft was designed to be deployed fast, and catch up to the best that the soviets would throw at the west. It would have a top speed of 1,136 kn (1,307 mph, 2,104 km/h), with some modifications to push it well into mach 2 territory.
Armament was stored in a large internal bay located in a "belly" position, taking up over one third of the aircraft fuselage. A wide variety of weapons could be deployed from this bay, such as the Hughes Falcon guided missile, the CARDE Velvet Glove air-to-air missile, or four general-purpose 1,000 lb bombs. Because of the shape, the front wheel was long and thin, and had to fit snuggly under the nose - an engineering marvel for the time.
This bomber interceptor would have a combat range of 360 nmi (410 mi, 670 km), or if just on patrol, a top range of around 718 nautical miles, 1,330 km (820 mi). Naturally there were plans to fit the aircraft with additional fuel tanks where needed, but as it was a defence fighter, it wouldn't have to go far from an airbase. It wouldn't be fantastic at intercepting or dog fighting other jets due to the drag of the delta wing at lower speeds, but as it was a bomber intercepter designed to fly fast and in a straight line - it fit the bill with flying colours and is considered one of the best, if not that best, jet interceptor ever designed.
But developing a home built superior bomber interceptor wouldn't be easy, and overcoming the technological challenges, and insurmountable political ones, would prove to be impossible.
You see, while the air force loved the arrow, the army and navy were a little bit jealous that so much money was being diverted to this project. The generals put poolitical pressure on the program, pentitioning it to be scrapped at the earilest opportunity.
There was also an argument that perhaps the focus had been in the wrong direction. The russians had proven space flight was possible, and perhaps that next there would be rockets heading to canada from orbit rather than flying over onboard bombers. Terrified of a possible missile gap, the new government of Canada in 1957 signed the NORAD treaty, a combined defence of north america with the USA. The US, who had its own aerospace industry, put pressure on the government for this deal to discontuine the arrow, and insead allow canad to Bomarc access nuclear tipped anti-aircraft missiles, and thus wouldn't need a bomber interceptor - they would just blow everything out of the sky.
Costing a fortune, this would mean that the government would need to choose between the Avro Arrow, or the new anti-ballstic missile system with the USA.
For canadians, the arrow is more than a simple jet fighter, it is a symbol of pride of their engineering prowress, their home-grown ingiunity, and their drive to create possibily the greatest aviation aircraft the world has ever seen.
It was lightning in a bottle, and perhaps we may never see its like again.
BUSINESS INQUIRES: Jared@foundandexplained.com
3 авг 2021
