Originally posted by fffreeze220
None of the prototypes survived ?
There are rumours that one escaped. Although the Arrow has almost attained mythological status up here.
"The CF-105 Avro Arrow was:
1) First a/c designed with digital computers being used for both aerodynamic analysis and designing the structural matrix (and a whole lot more).
2) First a/c design to have major components machined by CNC (computer numeric control); i.e., from electronic data which controlled the machine.
3) First a/c to be developed using an early form of "computational fluid dynamics" with an integrated "lifting body" type of theory rather than the typical (and obsolete) "blade element" theory.
4) First a/c to have marginal stability designed into the pitch axis for better maneuverability, speed and altitude performance.
5) First a/c to have negative stability designed into the yaw axis to save weight and cut drag, also boosting performance.
6) First a/c to fly on an electronic signal from the stick and pedals. i.e., first fly-by-wire a/c.
7) First a/c to fly with fly by wire AND artificial feedback (feel). Not even the first F-16's had this.
8) First a/c designed to be data-link flyable from the ground.
9) First a/c designed with integrated navigation, weapons release, automatic search and track radar, datalink inputs, home-on-jamming, infrared detection, electronic countermeasures and counter-countermeasures operating through a DIGITAL brain.
10) First high wing jet fighter that made the entire upper surface a lifting body. The F-15, F-22, Su-27 etc., MiG-29, MiG 25 and others certainly used that idea.
11) First sophisticated bleed-bypass system for both intake AND engine/exhaust. Everybody uses that now.
12) First by-pass engine design. (all current fighters have by-pass engines).
13) First combination of the last two points with an "ejector" nozzle that used the bypass air to create thrust at the exhaust nozzle while also improving intake flow. The F-106 didn't even have a nozzle, just a pipe.
14) Use of Titanium for significant portions of the aircraft structure and engine.
15) Use of composites (not the first, but they made thoughtful use of them and were researching and engineering new ones).
16) Use of a drooped leading edge and aerodynamic "twist" on the wing.
17) Use of engines at the rear to allow both a lighter structure and significant payload at the centre of gravity. Everybody copied that.
18) Use of a LONG internal weapons bay to allow carriage of specialized, long-range standoff and cruise missiles. (not copied yet really)
19) Integration of ground-mapping radar and the radar altimeter plus flight control system to allow a seriousstrike/reconnaissance role. The first to propose an aircraft be equally adept at those roles while being THE air-superiority fighter at the same time. (Few have even tried to copy that, although the F-15E is an interesting exception.)
20) First missile armed a/c to have a combat weight thrust to weight ratio approaching 1 to 1. Few have been able to copy that.
21) First flying 4,000 psi hydraulic system to allow lighter and smaller components.
22) First oxygen-injection re-light system.
23) First engine to have only two main bearing assemblies on a two-shaft design.
24) First to use a variable stator on a two-shaft engine.
25) First use of a trans-sonic first compressor stage on a turbojet engine.
26) First "hot-streak" type of afterburner ignition.
27) First engine to use only 10 compressor sections in a two-shaft design. (The competition was using 17!!)"
http://www.avroarrow.org/arrowfirsts.asp"Before giving the green light to Avro, the RCAF sent a top level evaluation team to assess all the countries in the Western alliance to find out if anyone was working on a craft that met their requirements. No one was. The Arrow was to be a twin-engined aircraft with a crew of two, a supersonic interceptor to destroy any enemy threat in the next decade or beyond, and was expected to fulfill a grueling performance specification issued by the RCAF in 1953.
It was a spec that Jim Floyd, Vice President of Engineering at Avro Canada's Malton headquarters and the man responsible for the development of the Arrow, described as "overkill". It called for a manoeuvre capability of at least 2 G at Mach 1.5 at 50,000 feet at full weight with all combat missiles aboard. This daunting list of requirements, which can scarcely be exceeded by combat aircraft today, was the reason the Arrow was to be powered by enormous engines especially designed for it, and had to stow all missiles inside for maximum drag reduction.
The Arrow was designed as a delta winged craft without a tail plane, an "inevitable compromise between aerodynamic, structural and aerolastic efficiency," as Floyd put it. The range of the new craft was specified at 200 nautical miles, which included five minutes of combat.at Mach 1.5. Avro, however, considered this too little, and designed the aircraft for ranges of up to a 650 n.m. radius. A subsequent reconnaissance version of the Arrow was planned which would have a range of 2000 n.m.
While Avro's Gas Turbine Division (later to become Orenda Engines) was working on the powerful Iroquois engine that was to be used on the Mark 2 series, test flights went underway using an interim engine, the Pratt and Whitney J75 engine. When test flights began, the craft easily met all guarantees, according to Jack Woodman, the RCAF evaluation pilot assigned to the project. By the third test flight it broke the speed of sound, eventually reaching speeds as high as Mach 1.98.
With the new Iroquois engine, which delivered considerably more power, the Arrow was expected to break world speed records. Indeed, projected versions of the plane were to go as fast as Mach 3. But on the 20th of February, 1959, days before the new Mark 2 series bearing the Iroquois engine was about to be tested, the bad news broke -- the Arrow was to be cancelled."
http://exn.ca/FlightDeck/Aircraft/Milestones/avroarrow.cfm"Perhaps not ahead of this baby though.... TSR2 Fighter/Attack/Bomber"
My apologies Nexx, I'm unfamiliar with that aircraft. I'll check it out.
