Arrow (Total: 37, Canadian: 7, Group 0)

Avro Canada Arrow

(Avro Photo via Richard David Van Roi)
Avro CF-105 Arrow Mk. I (Serial No. 25201), coded RL.

The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft designed and built by Avro Canada. The CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 feet (15,000 m) and was intended to serve as the RCAF's primary interceptor into the 1960s and beyond. The Arrow was the culmination of a series of design studies begun in 1953 that examined improved versions of the Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck. After considerable study, the RCAF selected a dramatically more powerful design, and serious development began in March 1955. The aircraft was intended to be built directly from the production line, skipping the traditional hand-built prototype phase. The first Arrow Mk. I, RL-201, was rolled out for public viewing on 4 October 1957, the same day as the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik I satellite.

Flight testing began with RL-201 on 25 March 1958, and the design quickly demonstrated excellent handling and overall performance, reaching Mach 1.9 in level flight. Powered by the Pratt & Whitney J75, another four Mk. Is were completed, RL-202 through -205. The lighter and more powerful Orenda Iroquois engine was soon ready for testing, and the first Mk. II with the Iroquois, RL-206, was ready for taxi testing in preparation for flight and acceptance tests by RCAF pilots by early 1959.

On 20 February 1959, the development of the Arrow (and its Iroquois engines) was abruptly halted before a planned project review had taken place. Canada tried to sell the Arrow to the US and Britain, but no agreements were concluded. Two months later, the assembly line, tooling, plans and existing airframes and engines were ordered to be destroyed. The cancellation was the topic of considerable political controversy at the time, and the subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production remains a contentious topic. Wikipedia


General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Wikipedia Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow

YouTube Avro Arrow

General Edenvale Heritage Foundation

General Google Link to Arrow

Arrow 25201, Mk. 1

s/n 25201

Avro Canada

25201

Pratt & Whitney J75

Damaged on landing at Malton on 6 November 1958. Left main gear was not fully down and locked, partially collapsed during landing roill, and aircraft left pavement at moderate speed.
last update: 2024-December-25
   1958-February-26 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
   1959-July-22 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07
📙 JA Griffin (2005: Smith, Castle): 1968 477

Arrow 25202, Mk. 1

s/n 25202

Avro Canada

25202

Pratt & Whitney J75

In a second incident with Arrow 202 on 11 November 1958, the flight control system commanded elevons full down at landing; the resulting reduction in weight on the gears reduced the effective tire friction, ultimately resulting in brake lockup and subsequent gear collapse. A photograph taken of the incident proved that inadvertent flight control activation had caused the accident.
last update: 2024-December-25
   1958-June-09 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
   1959-July-22 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07
📙 JA Griffin (2005: Smith, Castle): 1968 477

Arrow 25203, Mk. 1

s/n 25203

Avro Canada

25203

Pratt & Whitney J75

Arrow marked 25203, previously part of the collection at Canadian Air & Space Museum in Downsview is a full size replica, built for production of a TV show.
It is now owned by the Edenvale Heritage Foundation in Stayner Ontario.
Two outer panels of the original RL-203's wings were saved and are on display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, alongside an Iroquois engine.
last update: 2024-December-25
   1958-July-29 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
   1959-July-22 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07
📙 JA Griffin (2005: Smith, Castle): 1968 477

Arrow 25204, Mk. 1

s/n 25204

Avro Canada

25204

Pratt & Whitney J75


last update: 2025-March-10
   1958-October-06 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
   1959-July-22 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07
📙 JA Griffin (2005: Smith, Castle): 1968 477

Arrow 25205, Mk. 1

s/n 25205

Avro Canada

25205

Pratt & Whitney J75


last update: 2025-March-10
   1959-January-12 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
   1959-July-22 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07
📙 JA Griffin (2005: Smith, Castle): 1968 477

Arrow 25206, Mk. II

s/n 25206

Avro Canada

25206

Orenda Iroquois

RL-206, was never completed.
Photographed on assembly line at Malton with code "RL*206" already applied. Nose section used at DCIEM for testing, now on display at CASM YRO
last update: 2024-December-25
   1957-October Order Placed Ordered for trials. 2019-08-20
   1959-February Cancelled, never built Project cancelled, scrapped before completion. 2019-08-20

Arrow 25207, Mk. II

s/n 25207

Avro Canada

25207

Orenda Iroquois

RL-207 was never completed.
last update: 2024-December-25
   1957-October Order Placed Ordered for trials. 2019-08-20
   1959-February Cancelled, never built Project cancelled, scrapped before completion. 2019-08-20