Ma Deuce goes to see the Avro Arrow (56k alert)
Posted: 2006-10-12 04:48pm
Well, sort of. They've recently finished a full-scale static replica at the Toronto Aerospace Museum, and the display was first open to the public on October 8-9, and admission for those days was PWYC (pay what you can) donation. I went on the 9th (Canadian thanksgiving monday).
One of the things most people who haven't seen this aircraft personally don't appreciate is just how large it was, especially for a fighter. It's comprable in size and weight to a WWII heavy bomber (in most measurements except wingspan, but then, it's delta wing gives it similer wing area). Although that's roughly the same size as a modern heavy fighter like the Su-27, for the 1950s it was very large indeed. Anyway, on to the pictures:
The front of the museum, which occupies part of the old de Havilland factory near Downsview Airport, the oldest surviving aircraft factory in Canada.
A side view of the Arrow replica in front of the hangar doors.
A view from the front
A look at the large tailpipes, indicating the Arrow's massive engines, the reason for both it's high performance and it's short range.
The cockpit: It isn't hard to see how visability from the inside was considered poor.
A few closeups of the undercarriage.
I also checked out some of the other items at the museum:
A couple pics of Avro Lancaster FM104, formerly on display on a pedistal at the CNE grounds near the waterfront. It had deteriorated badly over the years thanks to vandalism and constant exposure to the elements, so it was dismantled and moved here for restoration.
A view of the museum's main floor from the mezzanine above the lobby
A replica of the Canadarm. The mezzanine is dedicated to space-related displays, but there isn't much more of interest there yet.
A former RCAF CT-133 Silver Star (Canadian version of T-33 Shooting Star) jet trainer.
A de Havilland DHC.2 Beaver floatplane
the vertical fin from the RAF Nimrod MR.2 that crashed at the CNE Airshow in 1995, killing all aboard.
And now, some aircraft engines!
Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior
P&W R-1380 Twin Wasp: This engine is fitted to an electric motor and has several sections cut away, allowing visitors to view the engine's components in motion.
Orenda 11 turbojet, the engine that powered the Avro CF-100, the only Canadian-developed fighter to be mass produced.
Rolls-Royce Derwent (unsure of specific version) turbojet, the powerplant of the Glostor Meteor.
There's quite a bit more at the museum, but my camera's battery power was limited, and these were the items of greatest interest to me.
One of the things most people who haven't seen this aircraft personally don't appreciate is just how large it was, especially for a fighter. It's comprable in size and weight to a WWII heavy bomber (in most measurements except wingspan, but then, it's delta wing gives it similer wing area). Although that's roughly the same size as a modern heavy fighter like the Su-27, for the 1950s it was very large indeed. Anyway, on to the pictures:
The front of the museum, which occupies part of the old de Havilland factory near Downsview Airport, the oldest surviving aircraft factory in Canada.
A side view of the Arrow replica in front of the hangar doors.
A view from the front
A look at the large tailpipes, indicating the Arrow's massive engines, the reason for both it's high performance and it's short range.
The cockpit: It isn't hard to see how visability from the inside was considered poor.
A few closeups of the undercarriage.
I also checked out some of the other items at the museum:
A couple pics of Avro Lancaster FM104, formerly on display on a pedistal at the CNE grounds near the waterfront. It had deteriorated badly over the years thanks to vandalism and constant exposure to the elements, so it was dismantled and moved here for restoration.
A view of the museum's main floor from the mezzanine above the lobby
A replica of the Canadarm. The mezzanine is dedicated to space-related displays, but there isn't much more of interest there yet.
A former RCAF CT-133 Silver Star (Canadian version of T-33 Shooting Star) jet trainer.
A de Havilland DHC.2 Beaver floatplane
the vertical fin from the RAF Nimrod MR.2 that crashed at the CNE Airshow in 1995, killing all aboard.
And now, some aircraft engines!
Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior
P&W R-1380 Twin Wasp: This engine is fitted to an electric motor and has several sections cut away, allowing visitors to view the engine's components in motion.
Orenda 11 turbojet, the engine that powered the Avro CF-100, the only Canadian-developed fighter to be mass produced.
Rolls-Royce Derwent (unsure of specific version) turbojet, the powerplant of the Glostor Meteor.
There's quite a bit more at the museum, but my camera's battery power was limited, and these were the items of greatest interest to me.