Shutting Down the National Dream: A.V. Roe and the Tragedy of the Avro Arrow

by Greig Stewart, Jan Zurakowski (Foreword)

In 14 years from 1946-1959, A.V.Roe Canada and its two subsidiaries, Avro Aircraft & Oneida Engines, almost single-handedly set the aviation world on its ear. Their designers and engineers were described by NATO's General Norstad as "just about the best team anywhere." By 1958, Avro had designed, and was about to produce, the most sophisticated piece of aviation design and technology the world had ever the Arrow, decades in advance of world competition. But in 1959, Prime Minister Diefenbaker cancelled the Arrow and, to ensure the annihilation, ordered the scrapping of the six existing planes. Author Greig Stewart tells the story behind the story of A.V. Roe and the fabled Arrow. A story of the right stuff at the wrong time. A tragedy of government errors. A love story of a nation, a plane, and a dream.

320 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Elinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

On a day known in Canadian history as "Black Friday", 15,000 people lost their jobs because the federal Conservative Government led by John Diefenbaker shut down the Avro Arrow aircraft program. Many people know nothing about this, and they should. Truly a tragedy for Canada. The United States benefited however - many of the A.V. Roe Company engineers and designers ended up at NASA.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to "Arrows to the Moon: Avro's Engineers and the Space Race: Apogee Books Space Series 19" next. I expect it to follow many of the same people who went to NASA after the ARROW program was shutdown.

[Zoltan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this back in high school. It's the story of the rise and fall of a Avro Canada, an aircraft manufacture that over its lifespan came close to some aviation firsts, but through bad timing, government indifference, political hostility (or American pressure?) and management decisions, it failed to achieve what it might have. The end comes in the mid-1950s with the Arrow, a jet fighter that some believe was not equaled anywhere until the mid-1970s.

I took this as a sad kind of coming of age story about realizing your limitation, the idea that politics mattered- and not paying attention to them could get you even if you could master the technical issues. It's also about the personal costs of putting your heart into a company and what happens when it fails.

[Bob Findlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative accounting of Canada's attempt at making a mach 2 fighter interceptor in the late 50's.