The Avro Arrow: Canada's Enduring Legend

           When I was a boy, my father told me all sorts of tales. One tale that stood out in my young mind was the tale of the Arrow. I can't say which event exactly sparked my interest in aviation, but hearing the tall tales of the Arrow no doubt helped contribute to my obsession later on in life. Many experimental and prototype aircraft existed in the same timeframe as Avro Canada's big dream, some perhaps even more daring and innovative than the Arrow, yet are forgotten by all except the most die-hard aviation fanatics. So what are these legends? Why do they still persist? In this blog I'll be going over the various legends surrounding the Arrow- and how they still linger in 2022.

          A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of revisiting one of my favorite museums, the Hangar Flight Museum in Calgary, Alberta. Sprinkled throughout the collection are small artifacts here and there of Avro Canada, some of which are tools that were used to build the legendary interceptor prototypes. As my fiancé (now wife) and I walked around the museum, we had a chat with one of the volunteers. I heard all the same folk tales I've heard a thousand times before. It could outrun the Blackbird and the Americans were scared of it, they could push it to hypersonic speeds if they wanted to, Diefenbaker was intimidated in private by Eisenhower, it could launch and shoot down satellites- of course, few, if any of these folk tales are grounded in reality. I've heard many stories like that about the Arrow, even tales that the British simply upscaled the design of the Arrow for the Vulcan bomber, which is an even more outlandish claim. One of the more notable (and popular, if downright ridiculous) stories about the Arrow claim that one did escape the blowtorch and is currently sitting tucked away in Britain or even right here in sunny Saskatchewan at an undisclosed location in a barn! As a note though, an Arrow ejection seat did turn up in the UK- how it got there is beyond my idea, but I doubt any Arrow did survive past 1959. The biggest legend of them all though is one I'm sure we've all heard; if we rebuilt the Arrow today, it would still be competitive against even the new F-15EX and F-35- both of which are dubious claims as the Arrow was never designed to dogfight, let alone make quick maneuvers.

          So far, I've done nothing but lampoon the Arrow. There seems to be more fiction than fact surrounding it. My first article was dedicated to debunking the whole claim that the aviation industry in Canada died with it. However, deep down I feel a sense of pride for all the legends told at museums and in the studies of fathers to their children. Why would I feel pride for outright fabrications of Canadian history? A few reasons, actually. The first reason is it keeps the memory of a beautiful aircraft in the mind of the public. Second reason being it sparked the interest of flying in so many people like myself, and will no doubt continue to do so long after I and everyone reading this are gone and returned to dust. What's my final reason? That maybe, just maybe, there's a child out there right now hearing an elder tell the tall tales of the Arrow's feats and maybe, just maybe will go on one day to design something that can do all the things people claim the Arrow could have done and give us a national pride we've yearned for since the Arrow left us.

          What do you think? Do you think these legends will inspire someone to create something that lives up to all the claims? Do you have an "Arrow Tale" you'd like to share? Leave a comment below if you'd like and let me know what you think.