The Arrow returns? A whiffer gold mine!

[The Rat]

Probably never happen, but we can dream and build:

Feds reject bid to revive Avro Arrow

OTTAWA -- The Harper Conservatives quietly dismissed a Canadian company's plan for an alternative to the plagued F-35 program -- a revival of a national legend that one of the country's most celebrated infantry commanders says is far superior to the planned American purchase.

The alternative aircraft can fly 20,000 feet higher than the F-35, soar twice as fast and will cost less, the project's organizers wrote in documents obtained by the Global News program The West Block.

The jet in question is the storied CF-105 Avro Arrow -- the project designed, produced and tested more than half a century ago, before the government suddenly cancelled the program and ordered all data destroyed, sparking an enduring political debate.

Will legendary Avro Arrow make Lazarus-like return?

The federal government is being urged to reach back in history for a made-in-Canada solution to its fighter jet woes by resurrecting the legendary but aborted Avro Arrow interceptor to serve as this country's next war plane.

It may seem a far-fetched idea but backers – including retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie – insist that a revised version of the 1950s jet, with an upgraded engine, would outperform Ottawa's preferred choice on several important counts.

[Go4fun]

Ditto!

[Alvis 3.14159]

The Arrow could fly at 54,000 MPH, with a range of 1,200,000 miles, and cost as much as a Volkswagen Beetle! It could carry 500 battle ready troops, and land on snow, ice, water or beer. But only Canadian Beer, it would sink if landed in American "beer".

And I can let you have them at such a deal, just let me get your chequebooks out. By the way, no refunds.

Ok, sarcasm aside, I love the Arrow, but c'mon, this is silly. And I KNOW silly! 

Here's a better idea: Start with a fresh sheet and design in what is needed, instead of shoehorning modern requirements onto a plane designed for a single operation: Intercepting bombers. Want to bet it winds up looking nothing like an Arrow? Sure, we should be making our own fighters, but we aren't. It's an expensive game to get into, and look at how many companies have folded tent over the last 20 years. Even the US is down to what...3? I lost track of who is amalgamated with whom, but between Boeing, Lockmart and Northrop Grumman, there isn't anyone else down there. By the time you assemble a full up engineering team to design the plane, then design the manufacturing process, and the rest of it, we'd be looking at what, 15, 20 years before we got a plane out of it? Insanity, utter insanity.

Gosh, I can't imagine a high ranking Army commander getting involved in a project that's going to potentially take a lot of money away from his section. No, cannot poosibly imagine what his motive would be to muddy the waters with an ultra nostalgic/patriotic throwback, nooo, not at all!

Oops, sarcasm was at full strength there!

Anyhow, I did a bunch of Arrows years ago, here's the Stealth one I did using the 1/48 Testors Soviet Stealth and the Hobbycrap CF-105...
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Fea1/201-300/Fea265_Arrow_Petrie/dark_arrow.jpg

Alvis Pi

[kerick]

If all the design data was destroyed how can it be revived?
Good whifing however. I have always wanted to do an updated F-106 to modern standards.

[rickshaw]

Why am I reminded of Thatcher's effort to revive the TSR2. 

[Go4fun]

If all the design data was destroyed how can it be revived?

"What is the work of genius the first time soon becomes a job of a compitent machinist". Ghosn
With photo, computer and CAD/CAM technologies aqvailable today one can reverse engineer darned near anything them improve on it due to improved technologies.

[Alvis 3.14159]

What's to suss out? Even this new company says they're going to use modern engines and avionics, as for any structural issues with the airframe, there was nothing secretive about how it was built, it used common for the day technology and techniques. If you want to build something that looks like the Arrow on the surface, that would be pretty easy.

The question is why would you want to do that. If you're making a plane to do that exact same job, intercepting Russian bombers, then sure, that shape is ok. But if you're looking at replacing the F-18, a multi-role aircraft, then that shape isn't your best option. Who else makes a plane similar to the Arrow anymore? The closest is the MiG-31, and last time I checked, the Russians aren't using them for ground attack at all. Certain airframe shapes go with certain roles, and the Arrow shape is well suited to screaming along at 50,000 feet, but not so much for dropping ordnance. Which, by the by, the whole wing is poorly suited for, as there's a dearth of places to hang anything under it. The landing gear eats up most of the available space.

So basically, if you were to re-design the Arrow to be useable in the world today, it would wind up looking not much like the Arrow in the end. So why bother when starting with a clean sheet of paper makes so much more sense?

What has amused me about the whole F-35 "debate" is that many of the "reasons" given for disliking the plane are pretty much the same ones given as justification for cancelling the Arrow. Now we've come full circle, I guess. Life is weird like that sometimes.

Alvis Pi

[The Wooksta!]

Why am I reminded of Thatcher's effort to revive the TSR2. 

Which had nowt to do with that particular harridan.  It was a campaign by some lunatic retired colonel somewhere in Daily Mail-shire.

[jcf]

Next up on the golden-oldies dead projects re-mix is a remodeled B-70 carrying an F-108 derived sub-orbital global attack aircraft.

 

[Spey_Phantom]

i would like Belgium to concider bringing the Hawker Hunter or F-104G out of retirement 

or cheaper sollution: Bring back the spitfire, that way everybody's happy 

[scooter]

i would like Belgium to concider bringing the Hawker Hunter or F-104G out of retirement 

or cheaper sollution: Bring back the spitfire, that way everybody's happy 

Perish the thought Nils.  I want my P-47s, P-61s, and Skyraiders.

[kerick]

Remember the Piper Enforcer? A revival of the P-51 for COIN duties.