CF-105 Arrow - Fast Facts
The Arrow supersonic interceptor was Canada’s response to the Cold War threat of Russia attacking the North American continent over the Canadian arctic.
In April 1953, the RCAF issued Specification AIR 7-3 for an all-weather military aircraft capable of Mach 1.5 at 50.000 ft. – it was the most demanding specification in the world and international aircraft manufacturers said it simply couldn’t be done – Avro Canada accepted the challenge.
The specification required an aircraft that could operate in 100 degrees Fahrenheit above or below zero.
The Arrow could go from an idle on the runway to an in-flight cruise speed of Mach 0.92 in just 90 seconds.
Operating from it’s own hangar, the Arrow could be completely refueled and re-armed for take off in less than six minutes.
The weapons bay on an Arrow was larger than the bomb bay on a World War Two B-17 bomber.
The Arrow’s computerized flight control and weapons systems made it the world’s first fly-by-wire aircraft.
The Arrow, flying at a subsonic cruise of Mach 0.92 had a projected range of some 750 miles compared to the 350 miles of the Bomarc missiles that were to replace it.
Avro publicly unveiled its CF 105 Avro Arrow in a rollout ceremony at Malton Plant on Oct 4, 1957 – the same day Russia successfully launched its very first Sputnik satellite into space greatly increasing Cold War tensions.
Canada’s first Arrow, RL 201 flew for the first time on March 25, 1958.
Built at a time when aircraft typically could only break the sound barrier speed of Mach 1.0 in a dive - the Arrow RL 201 broke the sound barrier in a steep climb on only it’s third flight on April 3, 1958.
While the first Arrow to fly broke the sound barrier on only its third flight – the second Arrow, on its second flight – the third Arrow broke the sound barrier on its maiden flight. These feats stand as strong testament to the outstanding achievements in design, engineering and manufacturing at Avro Canada.
The first Mk 1 Arrows had a climb rate of 38,450 ft/minute – the estimated rate of climb for the more powerful Iroquois powered Mk 2 aircraft was 44,500 ft/minute.
Designed to fly Mach 1.5, the Mk 1 test aircraft RL 202 was recorded at Mach 1.98 on Nov 11, 1958. The World Encyclopedia of Aircraft lists the Canadian Avro Arrow as a Mach 2.4 aircraft.
The Arrows were test flown in succession by four test pilots: Jan (Zura) Zurakowski, RCAF F/Lt Jack Woodman, W. (Spud) Potocki and Peter Cope.
Jan (Zura) Zurakowski, WW 11 fighter pilot, career test pilot and the first to fly the Arrow never held a regulation pilot’s license in his lifetime.
Of all the Arrow test pilots William (Spud) Potocki was the only one to fly all five Arrow test aircraft.
Peter Cope, transferred from the CF100 Canuck test program, was the only test pilot not to fly RL 201 – the very first Arrow built.
Spud Potocki recorded the fastest flight of an Arrow in RL 202 when he reached Mach 1.98 on Nov 11, 1958.
Avro Design Engineer Red Darrah was the only passenger to ever fly in an Arrow – checking the fly-by-wire systems in RL 203 for Spud Potocki on Feb 19, 1959. The very next day the Arrow program was cancelled.
Spud Potocki was the only pilot to fly RL 205 – it was ordered destroyed by government having ever only completed a forty-minute maiden flight on Jan 11, 1959.
Although there were five test aircraft, no two Arrows were ever in the air at one time as Avro only had one telemetry flight test recording system.
A large aircraft, the 100,000 hp required for the Arrow to fly supersonic consumed a quarter ton or one hundred gallons of fuel per minute.
Empty, the Arrow weighed 48,821 pounds – with full internal fuel, some 68,664 pounds.
The Arrow carried 19,849 pounds or 2,544 gals of fuel that was being constantly pumped thru fourteen separate tanks to preserve the balance of the aircraft in flight.
The first five MK 1 Arrows had Pratt & Whitney J75 engines with each having a dry thrust of 12,500 lbs of “dry” and some 19,250 lbs of “wet” thrust with afterburner.
The Mk 2 Arrows with the Canadian Iroquois engines would have had 19,250 lbs of “dry” thrust and 26,000 lbs of “wet” or afterburner thrust.
The Iroquois would go from idle to full dry thrust in just 2.8 seconds or to full afterburner 26,000 lb thrust in only 4.5 seconds after opening the throttle.
Black Friday – Feb 20, 1959. At the recommendation of a Defense Minister who had come to believe manned interceptors were obsolete in the age of missiles, the entire Arrow and Iroquois engine programs were cancelled by the Canadian Government.
Canceling the Arrow program instantly put 14,300 Avro employees out of work along with a similar number employed by the program’s 650 subcontractors.
In a subsequent memo dated March 26 1959, RCAF Air Marshall Hugh Campbell recommended to the Defense Minister that all Arrow airframes, engines, engineering and test data be reduced to scrap to avoid the embarrassment of such material ever being put on public display.
With the cancellation of the Arrow program, and the replacement Bomarc Missile System still failing in testing, Canada was left essentially defenseless for two and half years during the height of the Cold War with Russia.
The Canadian Armament Research & Development Establishment, in a report published two years after the aircraft were destroyed, reported that the Avro Arrow had met 95% of its specification in only 72 hours of test flights.
In April 1953, the RCAF issued Specification AIR 7-3 for an all-weather military aircraft capable of Mach 1.5 at 50.000 ft. – it was the most demanding specification in the world and international aircraft manufacturers said it simply couldn’t be done – Avro Canada accepted the challenge.
The specification required an aircraft that could operate in 100 degrees Fahrenheit above or below zero.
The Arrow could go from an idle on the runway to an in-flight cruise speed of Mach 0.92 in just 90 seconds.
Operating from it’s own hangar, the Arrow could be completely refueled and re-armed for take off in less than six minutes.
The weapons bay on an Arrow was larger than the bomb bay on a World War Two B-17 bomber.
The Arrow’s computerized flight control and weapons systems made it the world’s first fly-by-wire aircraft.
The Arrow, flying at a subsonic cruise of Mach 0.92 had a projected range of some 750 miles compared to the 350 miles of the Bomarc missiles that were to replace it.
Avro publicly unveiled its CF 105 Avro Arrow in a rollout ceremony at Malton Plant on Oct 4, 1957 – the same day Russia successfully launched its very first Sputnik satellite into space greatly increasing Cold War tensions.
Canada’s first Arrow, RL 201 flew for the first time on March 25, 1958.
Built at a time when aircraft typically could only break the sound barrier speed of Mach 1.0 in a dive - the Arrow RL 201 broke the sound barrier in a steep climb on only it’s third flight on April 3, 1958.
While the first Arrow to fly broke the sound barrier on only its third flight – the second Arrow, on its second flight – the third Arrow broke the sound barrier on its maiden flight. These feats stand as strong testament to the outstanding achievements in design, engineering and manufacturing at Avro Canada.
The first Mk 1 Arrows had a climb rate of 38,450 ft/minute – the estimated rate of climb for the more powerful Iroquois powered Mk 2 aircraft was 44,500 ft/minute.
Designed to fly Mach 1.5, the Mk 1 test aircraft RL 202 was recorded at Mach 1.98 on Nov 11, 1958. The World Encyclopedia of Aircraft lists the Canadian Avro Arrow as a Mach 2.4 aircraft.
The Arrows were test flown in succession by four test pilots: Jan (Zura) Zurakowski, RCAF F/Lt Jack Woodman, W. (Spud) Potocki and Peter Cope.
Jan (Zura) Zurakowski, WW 11 fighter pilot, career test pilot and the first to fly the Arrow never held a regulation pilot’s license in his lifetime.
Of all the Arrow test pilots William (Spud) Potocki was the only one to fly all five Arrow test aircraft.
Peter Cope, transferred from the CF100 Canuck test program, was the only test pilot not to fly RL 201 – the very first Arrow built.
Spud Potocki recorded the fastest flight of an Arrow in RL 202 when he reached Mach 1.98 on Nov 11, 1958.
Avro Design Engineer Red Darrah was the only passenger to ever fly in an Arrow – checking the fly-by-wire systems in RL 203 for Spud Potocki on Feb 19, 1959. The very next day the Arrow program was cancelled.
Spud Potocki was the only pilot to fly RL 205 – it was ordered destroyed by government having ever only completed a forty-minute maiden flight on Jan 11, 1959.
Although there were five test aircraft, no two Arrows were ever in the air at one time as Avro only had one telemetry flight test recording system.
A large aircraft, the 100,000 hp required for the Arrow to fly supersonic consumed a quarter ton or one hundred gallons of fuel per minute.
Empty, the Arrow weighed 48,821 pounds – with full internal fuel, some 68,664 pounds.
The Arrow carried 19,849 pounds or 2,544 gals of fuel that was being constantly pumped thru fourteen separate tanks to preserve the balance of the aircraft in flight.
The first five MK 1 Arrows had Pratt & Whitney J75 engines with each having a dry thrust of 12,500 lbs of “dry” and some 19,250 lbs of “wet” thrust with afterburner.
The Mk 2 Arrows with the Canadian Iroquois engines would have had 19,250 lbs of “dry” thrust and 26,000 lbs of “wet” or afterburner thrust.
The Iroquois would go from idle to full dry thrust in just 2.8 seconds or to full afterburner 26,000 lb thrust in only 4.5 seconds after opening the throttle.
Black Friday – Feb 20, 1959. At the recommendation of a Defense Minister who had come to believe manned interceptors were obsolete in the age of missiles, the entire Arrow and Iroquois engine programs were cancelled by the Canadian Government.
Canceling the Arrow program instantly put 14,300 Avro employees out of work along with a similar number employed by the program’s 650 subcontractors.
In a subsequent memo dated March 26 1959, RCAF Air Marshall Hugh Campbell recommended to the Defense Minister that all Arrow airframes, engines, engineering and test data be reduced to scrap to avoid the embarrassment of such material ever being put on public display.
With the cancellation of the Arrow program, and the replacement Bomarc Missile System still failing in testing, Canada was left essentially defenseless for two and half years during the height of the Cold War with Russia.
The Canadian Armament Research & Development Establishment, in a report published two years after the aircraft were destroyed, reported that the Avro Arrow had met 95% of its specification in only 72 hours of test flights.
