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The Avro Arrow: For the Record
Declassified government records shed additional light on the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the Avro Arrow.
The controversial cancellation of the Avro Arrow ― an extraordinary achievement of Canadian military aviation ― continues to fire debate today. When the program was scrapped in 1959, all completed aircraft and those awaiting assembly were destroyed, along with tooling and technical information. Was abandoning the program the right decision? Did Canada lose more than it gained?
Brimming with information to fill in gaps in the Arrow’s troubled history, and with an update on the latest search for the scale models launched deliberately into Lake Ontario as part of the test program, The Avro Arrow tackles the outstanding questions head on.
The controversial cancellation of the Avro Arrow ― an extraordinary achievement of Canadian military aviation ― continues to fire debate today. When the program was scrapped in 1959, all completed aircraft and those awaiting assembly were destroyed, along with tooling and technical information. Was abandoning the program the right decision? Did Canada lose more than it gained?
Brimming with information to fill in gaps in the Arrow’s troubled history, and with an update on the latest search for the scale models launched deliberately into Lake Ontario as part of the test program, The Avro Arrow tackles the outstanding questions head on.
280 pages, Paperback
Published February 16, 2019
15 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Palmiro Campagna
6 books6 followersI am a retired engineer. As a researcher, writer, I have been responsible for having declassified the largest group of documents on the Avro Arrow, putting to bed many of the myths surrounding this chapter in Canadian history. I have answered the key questions of who ordered the destruction of the completed aircraft and all technical information and added insight into why the project was canceled. In my latest work, The Avro Arrow: For the Record, I revisit the key arguments with additional information and clarity, aimed primarily at a younger generation who are not overly familiar with the subject. My work has extended into the realm of UFOs and Avro's link to the United States effort in building one. In all my books key documents are reproduced.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 5, 2026
Published in 2019 by Dundurn, authored by Palmiro Campagna, this book purports to answer the most asked questions regarding the Avro Arrow. Mainly why was it cancelled, by whom ad were there any other issues. While more information could surface, this book answers those questions unambiguously. He also destroys the common myth that cancellation was due to extreme cost and adds other information of interest. Many of his information sources were classified as secret and only released in the 2010s. He tells all the answers and often quotes Cabinet, and other high-ranking meetings. The quotes are clear.
Chapter Three clearly states several facts. First there was a National federal election shortly before the Arrow project was cancelled. The Liberals were unseated and replaced by the Progressive Conservatives. Louis St. Laurent was Prime Minister until 1957 but was replaced by John Diefenbaker during 1957. Second, both Prime Ministers and their Ministers of Defence strongly supported the Arrow cancellation as did their senior Chief of Air Force supported by the senior military officer. Third, nobody in senior power ever stated that the Arrow project was costing too much money, most importantly the Finance Minister.
Chapter Four goes through detailed costing of the Arrow project awarded to Avro. He clarified that the Avro project did not include certain expensive elements that were to be added to the finished aircraft. These included fire control electronics (an expensive third-party contract given to a United Kingdom contractor), and a powerful enough engine (RCAF asked Avro to test several engines sourced in UK and USA). The fire control was ultimately sourced by the RCAF to a much better USA device that cost more money and required modification to the basic aircraft. A better engine, required to meet specified speed, was awarded by the RCAF to a a subsidiary of Avro. The funding of the engine was ultimately added to Avro making them responsible to manage the engine and redesign aspects of the aircraft. (The engine had never been finalized and smaller engines were used for early aircraft testing.) This all sounds like cost increases however these third-party budgets were never included in the Avro Arrow aircraft contract until quite late in the aircraft’s design. Some of these items became folded into the finished aircraft and some their costs were actually reduced.
Campagna adds some responsibility to USA intelligence and no Canadian verification. The Arrow was designed to function as a long-range fighter over the Canadian north as a defence against long range bomber aircraft, armed with nuclear weapons. When that specification was no longer of use, it was cancelled. This section of the book can annoy.
This is not a long book in the library of military history. Including 16 pages of photos, it requires 176 pages and 94 additional pages for very detailed Appendices and Notes. The book completes the controversial history of the Arrow and would be a good addition for anybody who has an interest in this subject including Canadian defence intelligence in that era. Four Stars.
Chapter Three clearly states several facts. First there was a National federal election shortly before the Arrow project was cancelled. The Liberals were unseated and replaced by the Progressive Conservatives. Louis St. Laurent was Prime Minister until 1957 but was replaced by John Diefenbaker during 1957. Second, both Prime Ministers and their Ministers of Defence strongly supported the Arrow cancellation as did their senior Chief of Air Force supported by the senior military officer. Third, nobody in senior power ever stated that the Arrow project was costing too much money, most importantly the Finance Minister.
Chapter Four goes through detailed costing of the Arrow project awarded to Avro. He clarified that the Avro project did not include certain expensive elements that were to be added to the finished aircraft. These included fire control electronics (an expensive third-party contract given to a United Kingdom contractor), and a powerful enough engine (RCAF asked Avro to test several engines sourced in UK and USA). The fire control was ultimately sourced by the RCAF to a much better USA device that cost more money and required modification to the basic aircraft. A better engine, required to meet specified speed, was awarded by the RCAF to a a subsidiary of Avro. The funding of the engine was ultimately added to Avro making them responsible to manage the engine and redesign aspects of the aircraft. (The engine had never been finalized and smaller engines were used for early aircraft testing.) This all sounds like cost increases however these third-party budgets were never included in the Avro Arrow aircraft contract until quite late in the aircraft’s design. Some of these items became folded into the finished aircraft and some their costs were actually reduced.
Campagna adds some responsibility to USA intelligence and no Canadian verification. The Arrow was designed to function as a long-range fighter over the Canadian north as a defence against long range bomber aircraft, armed with nuclear weapons. When that specification was no longer of use, it was cancelled. This section of the book can annoy.
This is not a long book in the library of military history. Including 16 pages of photos, it requires 176 pages and 94 additional pages for very detailed Appendices and Notes. The book completes the controversial history of the Arrow and would be a good addition for anybody who has an interest in this subject including Canadian defence intelligence in that era. Four Stars.
July 5, 2023
It appears previous reviewers were expecting different from this book than what they got.
Personally, I was looking for the politics and the decisions more than the technicals. I am very satisfied. I would recommend this book to anybody remotely interested to understand how things unfolded and why the Arrow got cancelled and what happened afterwards.
The only thing I would suggest is that it may not be a great first book to read on the topic. I actually found the earlier parts of the book overly technical and a bit difficult to understand if you're not into planes already. It doesn't take away from the book, it just would be helpful to be able to relate to the subject when the author is discussing requirements and innovations.
The quality of the research is phenomenal. I highly doubt there is another book on the subject matter that covers the cancellation as thoroughly
Personally, I was looking for the politics and the decisions more than the technicals. I am very satisfied. I would recommend this book to anybody remotely interested to understand how things unfolded and why the Arrow got cancelled and what happened afterwards.
The only thing I would suggest is that it may not be a great first book to read on the topic. I actually found the earlier parts of the book overly technical and a bit difficult to understand if you're not into planes already. It doesn't take away from the book, it just would be helpful to be able to relate to the subject when the author is discussing requirements and innovations.
The quality of the research is phenomenal. I highly doubt there is another book on the subject matter that covers the cancellation as thoroughly
February 28, 2021
4/10. I love planes so this was not really what I was looking for. More a discussion of the policies that led to the cancellation of the project which led to the destruction of the Canadian aerospace industry. I was more interested in a history of the plane’s development and eventual scrapping and any possible conspiracy theories, like why parts of these planes still are being found in museums across the UK. Regardless, still a decent overview of a shameful and embarrassing chapter in Canadian history where our government sold out its own citizens and a leading and major national industry to please the Americans, in the process handing some of our best minds to the Europeans for the Concorde project and to the Americans for their space program. Both major engineering achievements.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2021
Great historical review of one of the greatest aircraft to be developed in the 50s, then mysteriously scrapped and plans destroyed by the Cdn Government. Or so they thought. Rumour has it that a working plane is being finished as we speak. Many aeronautical breakthroughs at the time were way ahead of the other major aircraft firms and engineers. Good conspiracy content. My father had some knowledge of its development as an instrument maker in Ottawa, Canada.
March 24, 2021
The detail provided was extremely detailed and well researched. It did however jump around and repeat the same point and information on multiple occasions. Overall worth a read as it certainly provides a detailed account of what ultimately caused the cancellation of the Arrow project and what took place following it.
February 6, 2026
An excellent review of the cancellation of the Avro Arrow project. The author is continuing to research this topic through various archives so there might be a third edition at some point, but for now I think this is the most definitive account of what happened that we have.
May 27, 2023
It's okay as a story of the program but I was looking for a technical description of the system. Found two papers online that did the job instead.
February 15, 2026
Excellent review of the reasons the Arrow Program was cancelled.
I recommend Arrows to the Moon: Avro's Engineers and the Space Race for those interested in the Arrow engineers who went to NASA
I recommend Arrows to the Moon: Avro's Engineers and the Space Race for those interested in the Arrow engineers who went to NASA
March 17, 2025
Canada’s great Avro Arrow
I absolutely loved this book. As a Canadian, I had always been mystified by the fact that we had created the renowned Arvo Arrow, but it had been scuttled. I could never understand why. Now, here was the story. I bought and listened to the Audible audiobook as soon as I saw it. I found it to be an entirely engaging listen. This was such an amazing aviation accomplishment! I can’t say I’m totally satisfied in knowing what really transpired, but I do feel that this well researched account told me what was known, and all the various theories. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
I absolutely loved this book. As a Canadian, I had always been mystified by the fact that we had created the renowned Arvo Arrow, but it had been scuttled. I could never understand why. Now, here was the story. I bought and listened to the Audible audiobook as soon as I saw it. I found it to be an entirely engaging listen. This was such an amazing aviation accomplishment! I can’t say I’m totally satisfied in knowing what really transpired, but I do feel that this well researched account told me what was known, and all the various theories. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews