Customer Reviews

Avro Arrow: The Story of the Avro Arrow From Its Evolution To Its Extinction

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3 star:		(1)
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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"!

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.

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.

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.

If you like avation history you know the story of the Avro Arrow and the BAC TSR.2. Both aircraft laid to rest at the point of serial production.

This book is a little dry and doesn't cover the subject in any political way, it's very much a book about the Arrow. So if you want a realy 'histroy' of the plane then this is the book for you.

I personally enjoyed it and feel I have a decent grasp of the project and the possibilities that this machine offered.

The cold war had a lot of victims. One of them was the Canadian aircraft industry, specifically, A.V. Roe Aircraft,which built airplanes under the name"AVRO". AVRO had been building aircraft since WWI, and had made significant contributions to the art of aircraft design. Following WW I, they developed a well respected fighter jet, the AVRO CF 100. It was a straightforward design, resembling the Lockheed F 80 Shooting Star. With the onset of the Cold War, essentially a stare-down between the US and the USSR, Canada got sucked into the intrigues taking place between the two superpowers. One of the casualties of those intrigues was the CF 105, the "Arrow". The Arrow was a twin engine, shoulder wing delta wing aircraft carrying a crew of two, in tandem. It might have been considered as a merging of the Convair F-106 and the McDonnell F4H-1, later to be re-designated the F-4. Now, take that merger and feed it steroids. The result would look a lot like the Arrow.

But the Arrow had a fatal problem, a strategic problem, not a design problem. the design was decades ahead of its time, so much so that if it were to be built today it could hold its own against almost anything flying, except perhaps a Sukoi Su-25, or a variant. But then, Russian aircraft design and engineering has always been a world leader in air craft development. The flaw was that the threat it was being designed for, a threat derived from the strategic threat faced by the US, was constantly being redefined by the US. The threat initially was defined as heavy bombers approaching from across the north pole; Canada was to be the first line of active defense. Cnada was given the task to shoot'm down. For this the Arrow would have been superb. However, jus as the Arrow was about to enter flight test, in which it preformed spectacularly, the US changed the threat, from winged bombers to ICBMs. Against this threat the Arrow was useless. The laughable SAGE system and the ill fated BO
MARC are pat of the story, too.

So AVRO executives tried to sell the Arrow to other countries that might need a highly advanced fighter. Given that both the US and the USSR were selling aircraft to their confederates, this shoud have bee a snap. Unfortunately, these sales somehow were getting blocked by the US, and a whispering campaign against the Arrow. The problem was the U-2, and it's reconnaissance role. The Arrow was the only aircraft of its time that had the performance capability to go up and get a U-2, and the US didn't want that.

At the time, the Arrow was carrying a price tag of around 3 to 4 million dollars US. Were the Arrow in the Canadian inventory today, it wold be considered a first line fighter by anyone, and could probably hold its own against any aircraft current, including the soon to be produced the F-35, which is closely resembles. Soon Canadq will be paying 138 million dollars for the privilege of co-producing and purchasing f-35s, had they not killed the Arrow back the days of the Cold War, Canada cold be flying current, now non-existent developments of the Arrow. A sham and a tragedy. This book explains all of the twists and turns in the life and agonizing death fo a great airplane

A fabulous record of what could have been a world leading fighter aircraft - a project ruined by idiotic politicians with no foresight !

Bought this for my husband's birthday and he loves it. Enjoyed the technical part and feels the story line is pretty close to the facts. Pictures are great.

I am now a believer in Avro. Wish things had gone different for this part of human history.

Jim Pendleton

Good Book