February 20th, 1959, also known as “Black Friday” was the day the short lived Avro Arrow project came to an end. The Avro Arrow was a supersonic interceptor fighter jet which was Canada’s deterrent to the Cold War threat from Russia attacking the North American continent. The cancellation of the Avro Arrow, 59 years later remains a controversial topic today, as the Canadian government had a short term view versus a long-term horizon. Even though, the aircraft was far superior to enemy countries, John Diefenbaker and the Canadian government expressed concern the program was too expensive and that the technology of conventional fighter planes was obsolete compared to ballistic missiles. “As a result, the Canadian government decided to cancel
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The total population of Brampton at this time was about 14,500 people. That means that around 3625 workers that lived in Brampton were left without a job. The cancellation triggered a technological blow to the Canadian aviation industry that is still felt today. As a result, Avro Canada, has never reopened since the cancellation on February 20th, 1959. The total cost of the Avro Arrow program was $347,669,537 including employee severance costs. These financial burdens during the 1950’s were the main reason the project was cancelled. It was cost prohibiting. The Canadian government used short term price as an excuse to terminate the Arrow rather than long term vision investing the money into something that would be record breaking. If the government did not take a short term view on this project the economy would have sustained the cost, the Avro Arrow would still have an influence on the aviation industry, as well, Avro Canada may be the Space X of today. “Perhaps the most difficult adjustment to be made by the unemployed aircraft workers involves the fact that they were living in what proved to be a false economy.” Hence, it was the wrong time and decision to cancel the Avro Arrow because of the impact it had on the economy as well as the loss of …show more content…
Many of our best scientists, 33 to be exact, left Canada and travelled to the United States to work for NASA. The cancellation stifled valuable Canadian intelligence that could have been a priceless resource for the country in the future. One of the scientists name was Jim Chamberlain. While Jim was the Chief of Design at NASA, he lead Canadians at the space task group. In addition, he was a key designer for the Mercury capsule that put John Glenn in space. If the Arrow was not cancelled Jim and his 33 colleagues may have not helped NASA put John Glenn in space because they would still be working for Avro Canada up here in Canada. The Canadian government did not see the future potential of the Avro Arrow. By the time the program was cancelled in 1959, only a few prototypes were constructed with engines yet to be tested.Furthermore, the Avro Arrow had only a total of 72 hours of test flights. The Arrow had many special features that put it above all other interceptors at the time. For example, the Arrow could operate in temperatures 100℉ above or below zero. The Arrow could also accelerate from an idle on the runway to an in-flight cruise speed of Mach 0.92 in just 90 seconds. Incredibly, the Avro Arrow was the first ever aircraft to break Mach 1.5 at over 50,000 ft. The cancellation of the Avro Arrow was truly a loss of intellectual property that the
The total population of Brampton at this time was about 14,500 people. That means that around 3625 workers that lived in Brampton were left without a job. The cancellation triggered a technological blow to the Canadian aviation industry that is still felt today. As a result, Avro Canada, has never reopened since the cancellation on February 20th, 1959. The total cost of the Avro Arrow program was $347,669,537 including employee severance costs. These financial burdens during the 1950’s were the main reason the project was cancelled. It was cost prohibiting. The Canadian government used short term price as an excuse to terminate the Arrow rather than long term vision investing the money into something that would be record breaking. If the government did not take a short term view on this project the economy would have sustained the cost, the Avro Arrow would still have an influence on the aviation industry, as well, Avro Canada may be the Space X of today. “Perhaps the most difficult adjustment to be made by the unemployed aircraft workers involves the fact that they were living in what proved to be a false economy.” Hence, it was the wrong time and decision to cancel the Avro Arrow because of the impact it had on the economy as well as the loss of …show more content…
Many of our best scientists, 33 to be exact, left Canada and travelled to the United States to work for NASA. The cancellation stifled valuable Canadian intelligence that could have been a priceless resource for the country in the future. One of the scientists name was Jim Chamberlain. While Jim was the Chief of Design at NASA, he lead Canadians at the space task group. In addition, he was a key designer for the Mercury capsule that put John Glenn in space. If the Arrow was not cancelled Jim and his 33 colleagues may have not helped NASA put John Glenn in space because they would still be working for Avro Canada up here in Canada. The Canadian government did not see the future potential of the Avro Arrow. By the time the program was cancelled in 1959, only a few prototypes were constructed with engines yet to be tested.Furthermore, the Avro Arrow had only a total of 72 hours of test flights. The Arrow had many special features that put it above all other interceptors at the time. For example, the Arrow could operate in temperatures 100℉ above or below zero. The Arrow could also accelerate from an idle on the runway to an in-flight cruise speed of Mach 0.92 in just 90 seconds. Incredibly, the Avro Arrow was the first ever aircraft to break Mach 1.5 at over 50,000 ft. The cancellation of the Avro Arrow was truly a loss of intellectual property that the