Hobbycraft 1/48 Avro CF-105 Arrow
The origins of the Arrow can be traced back In the post-Second World War period, when Canada, like many other western countries, seeked their long range interceptor to counteract the Soviet long range nuclear bomber threat. Upon realizing that the delays in developing of the CF-100 Canuck (which was Avro Canada's first attempt to fulfill the above requirement) might consequently affect its envisaged supersonic successor, the RCAF wasted no time and submitted a requirements report to Avro Canada as early as March 1952, half a year earlier than the Canuck entered service, calling for an advanced, all-weather, supersonic, missile armed long range interceptor.
The aggressive requirements and tight time frame brought intensive discussions between Avro and the RCAF, finally resulting in Specification AIR 7-3 which called for a twin-engine, two-crew supersonic aircraft with a range of 300 and 200 nm for low and high speed missions respectively, attaining a Mach 1.5 cruising speed at 70,000 ft and sustaining 2g turns with no loss of speed or altitude at Mach 1.5 and 50,000 ft.
To meet the strict time frame set by the RCAF, Avro took a high-risk approach by skipping the traditional hand-built prototype phase and building the plane directly from the production line. This risk was further augmented by the fact that leading edge (and, to a degree, unproven) technology would vastly be utilized at all basic aspects of the design.
The big plane would feature a shoulder mounted delta wing, with a basic fly-by-wire system employed to assist the pilot tackling the charismatic but idiosyncratic delta wing. Power would be supplied by two Orenda Iroquois engines, which were then in development stage.
RL-201, the first Arrow (Mk.1), was rolled out to the public on 4 October 1957, which was the same day Sputnik I was launched. The plane started flight tests on 25 March 1958 and the fact that the radical design quickly demonstrated excellent handling and overall performance, reaching, among others, Mach 1.9 in level flight with surprisingly few and not difficult to tackle bugs, can be credited to Avro engineers.
Another four Mk.1s were completed, RL-202, RL-203, RL-204 and RL-205. When the lighter and more powerful Orenda Iroquois engine became available, RL-206, the first Iroquois powered Arrow (Mk.2), was by early 1959 ready for taxi tests in preparation for flight and acceptance tests by RCAF pilots.
All the same, on 20 February 1959, Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker halted the development of both the Arrow and its Iroquois engines, even before the scheduled project review to evaluate the program could be held. Two months later the assembly line, tooling, plans, existing airframes and engines were ordered to be destroyed. This cancellation effectively put Avro out of business, with its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered.
The cancellation of the Arrow not only raised considerable political controversy at the time, but also still remains a topic for debate among historians and industry pundits. On the one hand, the plane was supremely designed for its intended purpose and the preproduction machines performed miraculously for such an advanced design. By all means, the Arrow would have been a magnificent aircraft if produced.
As for the conspiracy theories surrounding the immediate destruction of all planes, tools and plans, a more modest approach might lead to a plausible conclusion that it was a move to ensure that the leading edge technology embodied in the Arrow program would not fall into enemy hands. Legend has it that an intact Arrow has been flown and stored “somewhere”.
Hoobycraft surprised the modeling world when it came with a 1/48 Avro Arrow as “early” as in 1987. Though a “modern” tooling and reasonably accurate in external details, the kit suffered from oversimplifications at key areas, such as the cockpit, landing gear, intakes and exhausts. Hobbycraft retooled the kit in 2003, addressing to a degree a number of the above discrepancies.
The specific kit is the initial 1987 release. It was discovered at around 2005 in a small toy shop in Thessaloniki Greek city, together with the company's 1/48 Avro CF-100 Canuck, offered at really low prices (presumably the shop owner did not know that, even by then, those models had become collectors' items. Needless to say I bought them both (and skipped buying the other 1/48 Canuck and 1/72 Arrow that the shop had, a lifetime regret…). Should you wish to read the full build review, you may do so by visiting my beloved site Modelingmadness:
https://modelingmadness.com/review/viet/can/pen105.htm
Happy Modelling!
Wow, this is a great build Spiros @fiveten! It is also a very attractive looking build. This is something we don't get to see much in 1/48. 👍
Thanks a lot, my friend @v1pro!
Good build of not an easy kit. The older release is a tougher build than the newer one but the newer release isn't much better. All the extras I have are still sitting in the box.
Thanks so much, my friend @dbdlee! Not an easy build indeed.
A friend of mine built this kit a little over a year ago. This is only the second one I've seen. Excellent work on a rare find indeed.
Thank you kindly, my friend @coondog!
That’s awesome, Spiros. It’s an impressive model of an impressive plane.
Thanks a lot, my friend @j-healy!
It looks good, Spiros, it must be quite a sizable model in 1/48 scale.
Thank you very much, my friend @chinesegeorge! Yes, it is quite sizeable, especially lengthwise.
Very cool Spiros. Beautiful finish and decal application.
Thanks a lot, my friend @russjurco!
Great work, Spiros (@fiveten). This is one of those great "might have beens" in history, and also one of those really cool looking airplanes that looks fast just sitting in the chocks. I have never seen one of these built, much less in 1/48. Well done.
Thanks so much, my friend @gblair!
Very impressive all the way around, Spiros@fiveten.
Thanks so much, my friend @eb801!
Looks great @fiveten. All white finishes are a challenge and you have done a good job with this basic kit.
Thank you very much, my friend @vacrat!
Beautiful model - a great account of the prototype's history as well. It's a spectacular looking machine.