Old Sweat said:
I've known Lew for more than 40 years (we met on Combat Team Commanders Course 7201) and today was the first time he did not make sense. He was interviewed on the morning show on CFRA and said things like:
the AVRO engineers all took plans home with them and still have them;
the Arrow doesn't need stealth technology as it flies at 90,000 feet;
what we are talking about is the Arrow Mk III and IV. The ones scrapped in the 1950s were earlier models; and
there is no such thing as precision bombing [I guess he never heard of smart munitions].
I'll leave it at that other than to suggest he was fed some really bad talking poits.
yeah, well... I had family member that worked at Avro so I am pretty opinionated. However, lets get our facts right! The MK 2 would have done 78K ft at best (which is still pretty remarkable). There were design study that were being considered that would have greatly increased the service ceiling. Nevertheless, they were design studies like the PS-2 anti ICBM Arrow. However, they never got further than paper!
I once asked Jim Floyd what his thought were on the Arrow being a ground attack/low level attack aircraft; He said that if the Arrow were employed in a nape of the earth concept, the pilot and WO would have had a punishing ride! The Arrow was meant to intercept and destroy incoming aircraft with extreme prejudice. The concept back then was to loiter above the unsuspecting invading aircraft and swoop down killing everything it saw! All this crap about intercepting an enemy aircraft and preforming a break Judy on them came much later.
There was no Mk 4 on paper. Beyond the Mk 3 there was only design studies... PS 1, PS 2, PS 3 etc.
Some cool things that I was privy to (and saw the documentation) was Avro was well aware how much the BOMARC was a lemon. I saw Jim Floyd personal notes on the documentation on how there was potential of the enemy jamming, and turning the missiles around and flying them back at us. Further, the Astra guidance system was shaping up to be freakishly remarkable!
Can the Arrow be brought back? I don't know... If someone was to build it today would it REALLY be an Avro Arrow? The company died in 1962! There are several professional engineers out there that like to point out that the drawings and blueprints are based on 1950's tooling's, metallurgy, manufacturing methods and materials. If you were to embark on manufacturing an aircraft using those drawings as a benchmark you would have to use the methods of the 1950's! Current methods would require complete recalculation!
I am a fan of the Arrow, however I choose to remember it for what it was, a remarkable aircraft for it's day. Would it still be around today? Damn right! We would have flown that bad boy into the ground! Just look at all the other kit the CF has.
Oddly enough, the Arrow had such a specific combat role tailored to Canada's needs that it would still be relevant today!