newyorklily
01-03-2013, 10:05 PM
I came across this interesting article today about the Avro Arrow models that were lost in Lake Ontario. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1309774--avro-arrow-lost-models-draw-arrowheads-to-search-lake-relentlessly
Avro Arrow: Lost models draw Arrowheads to search lake relentlessly
Published on Thursday January 03, 2013
A crowd surrounds the Avro CF-105 Arrow in a photo taken before the Canadian government abruptly ended the project and ordered the built planes destroyed.
1 of 2
Tim Alamenciak
Staff Reporter
Andrew Hibbert knows they’re down there somewhere. At the bottom of Lake Ontario, with decades worth of zebra mussels clinging to their hulls, sit nine models of the Avro Arrow.
The models were part of a program to test the hull design of the legendary Canadian plane, cancelled before it could truly soar. Strapped to high-powered booster rockets, the 10-foot models weighed nearly 500 pounds and flew over Lake Ontario at supersonic speeds. Their onboard sensors — revolutionary for the 1950s — relayed information back to the launch site at Point Petre, in Prince Edward County.
The models represent a key part of the development of the scrapped plane project.
The Avro Arrow made its first flight in 1958. The interceptor was widely regarded as ahead of its time in terms of aerospace technology. Its Malton plant employed nearly 15,000 people.
But development was cancelled abruptly in 1959, after five Arrows had flown. All were ordered destroyed, along with any documentation and related equipment.
The models, however, were safe from the scrubbing, protected by 30 metres of water.
Why destroy the planes and the documentation? Wouldn't an aircraft manufacturer use the documentation, plans and schematics to improve on the aircraft and eliminate any flaws in the design? Why were these different?
Avro Arrow: Lost models draw Arrowheads to search lake relentlessly
Published on Thursday January 03, 2013
A crowd surrounds the Avro CF-105 Arrow in a photo taken before the Canadian government abruptly ended the project and ordered the built planes destroyed.
1 of 2
Tim Alamenciak
Staff Reporter
Andrew Hibbert knows they’re down there somewhere. At the bottom of Lake Ontario, with decades worth of zebra mussels clinging to their hulls, sit nine models of the Avro Arrow.
The models were part of a program to test the hull design of the legendary Canadian plane, cancelled before it could truly soar. Strapped to high-powered booster rockets, the 10-foot models weighed nearly 500 pounds and flew over Lake Ontario at supersonic speeds. Their onboard sensors — revolutionary for the 1950s — relayed information back to the launch site at Point Petre, in Prince Edward County.
The models represent a key part of the development of the scrapped plane project.
The Avro Arrow made its first flight in 1958. The interceptor was widely regarded as ahead of its time in terms of aerospace technology. Its Malton plant employed nearly 15,000 people.
But development was cancelled abruptly in 1959, after five Arrows had flown. All were ordered destroyed, along with any documentation and related equipment.
The models, however, were safe from the scrubbing, protected by 30 metres of water.
Why destroy the planes and the documentation? Wouldn't an aircraft manufacturer use the documentation, plans and schematics to improve on the aircraft and eliminate any flaws in the design? Why were these different?