Avro Arrow: The Story of the Avro Arrow from Its Evolution to Its Extinction

by Richard Crgan, Richard Organ, The Arrowheads

Book Overview

The illustrated memoir of the most advanced fighter jet of the 1950s.

At its creation in the mid-1950s, the Avro Arrow was a fighter jet without equal. This Cold War aircraft was 20 years ahead of its time. Unfortunately, political realities resulted in the complete termination of the Arrow project. Cancellation of the Arrow called for the destruction of all photos, drawings, models, specifications and tooling. Even the aircraft...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550460471
• ISBN13: 9781550460476
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Boston Mills Press
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Avro Arrow - High Altitude Fighter that Never Was

If this plane had ever been put into production in 1958, it would probably be just being retired. Designed and created by Canadian aircraft company Avro in the 1950's, this is a fascinating story of a small group of dedicated people doing what no one thought they could against huge odds and very nearly succeeding. Had it not been for political ineptitude and some high level interference from US Air Force and aviation officials, this incredible jet fighter would have been a World Class Leader of its time. Both the US and Canada needed a high altitude, long range, high speed interceptor to defend against potential Soviet bombers. This required a large aircraft with a large radar and a lot of fuel. Avro Company, which had no experience in developing their own designs, let alone one this complex, did the impossible. With limited funds, this tiny aviation company took on the giants of US aviation and built a superior interceptor to anything else out there. This plane has become a cult classic. Only 5 were ever built. All were ordered destroyed by the Canadian government to 'save money'. This book tells the story and has dozens of excellent B & W photos, color photos, line drawings, cut away, statistics and data. I highly recommend this book for modelers, aviation buffs of all kinds. This is more than a story of a plane, it's about the underdog trying to win at all odds, what could and should have been.

Avro Arrow - Book

An informative summary of the wonderful Avro Arrow aircraft which was way ahead of its time but killed off by stupidity, politically motivated interference from the US and Canadian governments and deliberate misinformation from all sides. A fascinating but sad and familiar chapter in the history of western aviation. See also the BAC TSR-2 aircraft and the Decca Secondary Surveillance Radar system.

The original source of all things arrow, and a fine book as well.

This was the original serious history of the Arrow, and remains one of the best sources for information on one of the greatest should-have-beens in aviation history. Minimal politics, maximum info. When it was first released, it had no equal for the number of drawings (three view and schematic), let alone the number of photos it included. Introducing the swept wing follow-on to the CF-100, and supplying more information on the tentative projects that resulted in the selection of the Arrow, the book was and remains a landmark, not just for the Arrow, but for the extent of information in anything short of a pilots manual. The first three view of the Arrow with the modified air-intakes, and even a little on the Mach 3 Arrow, as well as a flight log for each flight of the Arrow. A treasure then, and a treasure now, data and graphics from this book are to be found on most websites that deal with the Arrow.

truly engrossing

One of the finest book dedicated to this controversial program! Being interested in technical details and aircraft perfomances,I found many factory drawings about structures, internal systems arrangements, armament layout and cutaway views. Important performance figures are available from tables and charts. But the most interesting feature is the the description of the development and testing phase that shows all the potential of this doomed plane. Finally some basic facts on an aircraft still surrounded by an halo of mistery about its birth and its death!

Engrossing

An exhaustive book on one of great "mystery" of jet fighter history.The aircraft program is fully narrated from the enthusiastic "go ahead" to the painfull termination.Direct testimonies of executives,engineers and test pilots make the plot really vivid showing the feelings behind this endeavour:the epilog still looks like the end of a dream. Illustrations,pictures,factory drawings are truly intriguing,since few were previously available.Particularly impressive is the "log",where significant figures are released on aircraft data and performances. Finally some light on a cold war aicraft that "might have been"!