The Avro Arrow was one of the greatest things that happened in Canadian history, but it was not allowed to accomplish its mission. The Arrow's role was to replace the CF Canucks as a supersonic which would intercept in any weather Avro Arrow Essay Words | 4 Pages. Avro Arrow In the study of Canadian military history the Avro Arrow has become a buzzword found on the lips of all technological, political and even airforce enthusiast. At the risk of seeming unoriginal in topic selection, this critique reviews the fascinating biography, Fall of an Arrow, by Murray Peden. Peden's historical biography · Essay – Avro Arrow Since the dawn of mankind, humans have always wanted to conquer the skies. After the Wright Brothers first flight, mankind has dreamed of
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defense to survive; this image was pushed to the extremes by the lack of Canadian support and general apathy. Not many people think of Canada as a country that can hold its own when in a conflict with those of similar economic conditions such as Russia, avro arrow essay, America or even France, avro arrow essay.
However, historically and statistically, Canada has been an extremely strong military power, but only when the need arose.
Then comes the Avro Arrow, arguably one of the most controversial projects ever financed by the Canadian government. This delta-wing interceptor known officially as the CF Arrow, was a prototype machine which was technically several decades more advanced than its Russian and American counterparts. The Arrow was designed and produced by Canadians and its initial prototypes were capable of Mach 2 speeds with new technological armaments and automation features.
All this research was placed at a cost of four hundred million Canadian dollars, and it directly produced 14, jobsbefore it was cancelled by the Diefenbaker government in The cancellation of the Avro arrow essay Arrow was a terrible idea and its consequences are reflected upon in the dismal state of our military and technological reputation in global avro arrow essay. The Avro Arrow was not a failure avro arrow essay technology, labor, effort or enthusiasm, but rather a failure of judgment and Conservative political views.
The Arrow induced a sense of pride in Canadians, and would have represented our independence from the United States, avro arrow essay.
The Arrow would not only save our culture from America, but also our economy; as thousands of the machines would have been sold to other countries. Finally, the cancellation of the Avro Arrow started a tide of events that would end the influence of the Canadian army and slow down technological innovation for several decades.
There are many different theories about why the Arrow was cancelled. Other Canadians point their fingers at the Minister of National Defence, George R, avro arrow essay. Pearkes and Chairman Chief of Staff, Charles Foulkes who thought that the Bomarc missile would be an excellent yet cheaper alternative to the Arrow, avro arrow essay.
Yet, like the Canadian military, the US military actually gave a high recommendation to the Arrow project. Overall, the American influence on the Avro Arrow was positive. Even though World War II ended inthe Cold War between the US and USSR made countries such as Canada who were caught in the middle very nervous about its own defense.
The Korean War in gave enough reason for the Royal Canadian Avro arrow essay Force RCAF to start building superior aircraft. Canada needed an interceptor against them, avro arrow essay. It started with the Tupolev TU-4m, avro arrow essay, which gave the Russians the capability for the first time to reach many industrial centers of North America.
Later on, Russia owned a great number of bombers that could reach the USA by traveling through Canada. Every single one of these systems were utterly revolutionary, developed by the best minds who immigrated to Canada to work on the Arrow. He was considered by historians to be one of the greatest industrialists and business mind in Canadian History. After the Cold War broke out, Crawford took over as the President of A, avro arrow essay.
Roe Canada Avro Canadaa small crown corporation that designed and produced military-class aircraft. With Canada placed in between the United States and the Soviet Union, it found itself in a sticky situation and needed a high speed interceptor to destroy Soviet bombers.
Enter the Avro Arrow: the pinnacle of Canadian engineering and ambition and a status symbol to Canadians, only to be erased to become mere legend in our history. Canada has been greatly influenced by America; we see that influence even today with American television, American brands and American culture. While Canada allied with America during the Second World War and the Cold War, our culture became lost in the midst.
Throughout the second world war, Canadian soldiers were mixed along aside American troops for many for their campaigns. By the time world war two rolled around, Canadians were often fighting an American-centric war using American equipment under American command.
In fact, there was no greater American influence in any department than the military. The Avro Arrow was the first departure from this tradition and would have set the foundation for Canadian arms manufacturing. If the arrow was not cancelled then the aeronautics department in Canada, would look extremely different in the present day.
Not only did the Avro Arrow set us free from the United States, but it was a source of Canadian pride. Thousands of people in Canada watched the few test flights of the five prototypes, and millions of newspaper articles were written about the potential of the Arrow. It fact, many historians believe that the Arrow was the source of Canadian morale during the Cold War era: a shining light in a mysterious war.
To add insult to injury, when the program was terminated, a huge avro arrow essay drain swept almost all Arrow engineers into the United States, especially Lockheed Martin, who was responsible for the F and regarded as the most advanced jet fighter in service.
The Arrow was a source of pride for all Canadians, and canceling the project lowered national morale tremendously.
Although few remember, before the war broke out, Canada was still in the depths of the Great Depression, and the unemployment rate was still extremely high. When the war ended and many companies started to slow down,the aeronautics company Avro was still going strong. Under the ownership of Gordon Crawford, the small company of Avro evolved into a massive manufacturing power that eventually split into two different companies; Orenda engine development and Avro aircraft development.
It paid a work force of over fourteen thousand workers, mostly those armed with high degrees, such as engineers, avro arrow essay, designers, workers and the brass. In a country of only seventeen million people, most of whom worked in the agricultural industry and fields that did not require education, fourteen thousand workers was a huge amount.
The initial cost per plane was 3. In fact, many historians are still amazed by the fact that Avro could keep the price down on such an advanced interceptor, considering that it could fly three times faster and farther than its American counterpart while using more advanced weapons and targeting systems.
The Canadian government repeated statements that the cost of the Arrow exceeded the projection cost avro arrow essay wound up costing four million dollars a piece.
The initial maximum speed of the Arrow was set at Mach 1. Their other demands included the changing of the missile system from the Sparrow 2D to the Sparrow 3, avro arrow essay, and the inclusion of heat seeking ability. In addition,the RCAF also decided to change the radar system from the Avro arrow essay system which was also used by American interceptors to the ASTRA radar system which had a significantly larger detection radius.
Therefore, the argument brought forth by the Canadian government regarding an unanticipated increasing production costs are false.
But not only was the Arrow a cost effective interceptor, but it was also a gold mine. In fact, the Americans were highly interested in the Avro Arrow. The SAGE network is a system of ground based detection units which can avro arrow essay bombers inside of its range. The SAGE network has been very successful in Europe where countries are smaller, but in large countries such as America, such a network would be extremely inefficient and costly.
After the committee at the USAF finalized its decision, avro arrow essay, it recommended the Arrow, only to see the program disintegrate. In addition, the Arrow program cost Canadians million dollars already, and we had five working prototypes. The prototypes prove that the program was not a failure, since the cancellation can be avro arrow essay to the narrow views of the Conservative government. When the Diefenbaker government cancelled the Arrow project, it mysteriously ordered all prototypes, records, and documents to be destroyed immediately.
Even to this day, the government has not commented on the reason why this action was needed. The research documents and records could have been used to improve other projects, or even sold to other countries for a sizable amount.
The amount of technological knowledge left in those documents were so ahead of it time that it would take twenty-five years for another interceptor to surpass its abilities; the Soviet MiG Every single component of the Arrow was a new benchmark standard for its time. The most fascinating engineering prospect of the Arrow was the fact that it did not recycle any old systems; meaning everything in the Arrow could be built from the ground up. The delta-wing design of the Arrow was the most controversial design decision made by Avro.
By choosing a delta-wing design, the engineers chose speed over weaponry, as wing-mounted missiles could not be mounted onto a delta-wing, avro arrow essay. In addition, the delta wing also provided space for fuel and weapons inside the bomb bay.
For reasons unknown, avro arrow essay, the RCAF and the general public did not see the advantages of the delta-wing system. Delta-wing were not even considered for any another interceptor until recently, where engineers realise that speed is a much more important asset for an interceptor than the amount of bombs; and this is seen in the CF Hornet, the F Tomcat and the MiG Aside from the delta-wing design, there other controversial design decisions also.
The last controversial design choice avro arrow essay within the wing-mounted missile system, avro arrow essay. This made the plane more streamlined, and in turn much faster than a conventional plane. Unfortunately this style of armament was not popular among the RCAF officials, though e still see this style of armament in the latest American jet-fighters like the F Lightning and the F Raptor,touted as the avro arrow essay advanced jet-fighters of the modern day.
The Iroquois engine was the most controversial component and arguably the most important enabling technology. The Iroquois engine was the source of speed for the Avro Arrow, and it provided 26, pounds of dry thrust compared to 5, avro arrow essay, pounds of the VK-1 MiGalso an interceptor under development at the time.
The Sparrow II and Sparrow III missile system were developed exclusively for the Arrow and used the latest and greatest technology. The Sparrow II was avro arrow essay of heat-seeking and homing automatically onto its targets, a concept which was unheard of in its day compared to conventional missiles that fired straight forward, avro arrow essay. With all these powerful technologies on the horizon, avro arrow essay, the cancellation of the Arrow also meant the cancellation of these technologies excluding the Sparrow III.
The Canadian government effectively stopped the progression of future technology in the avionics field for several decades. The Arrow would not only have saved our culture from America but also our economy,as thousands of machines would have been sold to other countries. Finally, avro arrow essay, the cancellation of the Avro Arrow sparked a tide of events that would end the influence of the Canadian army and slow down technological innovation for several decades.
The legacy of the Arrow is a perfect example avro arrow essay how politics should never mix with war. Avro Arrow: the Story of the Avro Arrow from Its Evolution to Its Extinction.
Cheltenham, Ont. Stewart, Greig. Shutting down the National Dream: A. Roe and the Tragedy of the Avro Arrow. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Related posts: The Regional and Global Results of the Yom Kippur War and its Related Security Councils Resolutions Essay Decline of pan-indian identity Essay American Exceptionalism: Declaration of Independence Essay Lobbying and United States Essay Unemployed Immigrants in Canada Essay x Haven't Found The Essay You Want?
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· The Avro Arrow was not a failure of technology, labor, effort or enthusiasm, but rather a failure of judgment and Conservative political views. The Arrow induced a sense of pride in Canadians, and would have represented our independence from the United blogger.comted Reading Time: 10 mins The Avro Arrow was one of the greatest things that happened in Canadian history, but it was not allowed to accomplish its mission. The Arrow's role was to replace the CF Canucks as a supersonic which would intercept in any weather Avro Arrow In the study of Canadian military history the Avro Arrow has become a buzzword found on the lips of all technological, political and even airforce enthusiast. At the risk of seeming unoriginal in topic selection, this critique reviews the fascinating biography, Fall of an Arrow,
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