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Black Friday
Feb. 20th, 2009 12:16 pmFifty years ago today, the heart and soul of the Canadian aerospace industry was ripped out and thrown away, as the government made the shameful decision to cancel the Avro Arrow fighter-interceptor program. This plane was equal to anything the Americans were producing, but it was cancelled because of cost overruns and pressure from the Americans to join the BOMARC missle defence program. The Diefenbaker government gave in, and fifty thousand people were out of work in one day. Many of them headed for pastures new, and got jobs with NASA or the Concorde project. Everything related to the project was destroyed, including the six prototypes, one of which was hours away from its first flight.
In one day, Canada went from this to THIS. Now, not even the factory remains. A.V. Roe, regularly the government's whipping boy when it came to cancelled projects, was dissolved by Hawker-Siddley in 1962. The plant traded hands a couple times, going to Douglas, then to McDonnell-Douglas, and finally to Boeing before being demolished a couple years ago. Engine manufacturer Orenda Areospace still lives as a subsidiary of Magellan Aerospace, a fraction of what it used to be.
Avro CF-105 Arrow: 4 October 1957-20 February 1959.
In one day, Canada went from this to THIS. Now, not even the factory remains. A.V. Roe, regularly the government's whipping boy when it came to cancelled projects, was dissolved by Hawker-Siddley in 1962. The plant traded hands a couple times, going to Douglas, then to McDonnell-Douglas, and finally to Boeing before being demolished a couple years ago. Engine manufacturer Orenda Areospace still lives as a subsidiary of Magellan Aerospace, a fraction of what it used to be.
Avro CF-105 Arrow: 4 October 1957-20 February 1959.
