Think about the feeling when a very special plan gets cancelled. Maybe having a dream get crushed can have a positive outcome. The Avro Arrow (CF-105) was a state of the art jet that was built in 1949 to help defend North America in case of attacks during the Cold War. The aircraft gave millions hope for a brighter future, but in the end let many down because of the Cold War and its nuclear warfare. Chris Gainor states in his novel that, “ the legions of Canadians who saw the Arrow as a symbol of Canadian excellence, Black Friday marked the end of an era that began in World War II.” The real question is whether or not Prime Minister John Diefenbaker formed the appropriate decision. It is the intent of this paper to prove that the cancellation
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Initially, cancelling the Avro Arrow led to a brain drain which affected Canada’s scientific standing negatively. After the CF-105 was cancelled many scientists, engineers, and specialists left Canada to go to America because there was nothing for them to work on now that the Avro Arrow was destroyed. There was a massive migration of Canadian engineers and specialists to the U.S. which resulted in Canada having to rely more on the U.S when it came to defense. All the potential the scientists could have had in Canada was gone because they moved themselves and their ideas to the USA. Subsequently, after dashing the dreams of the Arrow the economy was negatively affected. The termination caused over fourteen thousand people that were aerospace industry workers to become unemployed. As a final point, all kinds of new technology was lost. The Avro Arrow was very advanced technology and after it was terminated the Canadian Government destroyed everything. Destroying the models and blueprints resulted in a negative effect because the Avro Arrow was remarkably advanced it could have made a significant impact on Canada. But because the dreams were dashed this led to the revolutionary technology having no impact on Canada and the spirit of a nation had died. As a result, historians can argue that cancelling the Avro Arrow was not …show more content…
For a start, the dream to keep the Avro Arrow alive continued to increase in cost. The complex jet would have cost 7.2 million dollars per aircraft and eventually it would grow to 12 million dollars. On January 1, 1959, Lester B. Pearson asked Canadian Cabinet minister C. D. Howe for his opinion on the Avro Arrow. He said, “There is no doubt in my mind that the CF-105 should be terminated-costs are completely out of hand.” Howe understood the increasing cost of the Avro Arrow was just too much for Canada and it would negatively impact Canada’s economy in the future. Additionally, to keep the cost down the Canadian Government was required to find foreign markets for the aircraft, but none of the foreign markets wanted to buy the aircraft. “The aircraft was designed for Canadian needs which limited its attraction to foreign buyers.” This meant that anticipated foreign sales were not being realized. Furthermore, the British Government was not interested in buying the Avro Arrow and neither were members of NATO. The USA did not buy the aircraft considering they were determined to make nuclear warheads available for the bomarcs. If none wanted to buy the Arrow then the Canadian Government would lose lots of money. As a final point, the cancellation of CF-105 was a justified by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker because the cost to keep producing the aircraft was increasing with no way to
Initially, cancelling the Avro Arrow led to a brain drain which affected Canada’s scientific standing negatively. After the CF-105 was cancelled many scientists, engineers, and specialists left Canada to go to America because there was nothing for them to work on now that the Avro Arrow was destroyed. There was a massive migration of Canadian engineers and specialists to the U.S. which resulted in Canada having to rely more on the U.S when it came to defense. All the potential the scientists could have had in Canada was gone because they moved themselves and their ideas to the USA. Subsequently, after dashing the dreams of the Arrow the economy was negatively affected. The termination caused over fourteen thousand people that were aerospace industry workers to become unemployed. As a final point, all kinds of new technology was lost. The Avro Arrow was very advanced technology and after it was terminated the Canadian Government destroyed everything. Destroying the models and blueprints resulted in a negative effect because the Avro Arrow was remarkably advanced it could have made a significant impact on Canada. But because the dreams were dashed this led to the revolutionary technology having no impact on Canada and the spirit of a nation had died. As a result, historians can argue that cancelling the Avro Arrow was not …show more content…
For a start, the dream to keep the Avro Arrow alive continued to increase in cost. The complex jet would have cost 7.2 million dollars per aircraft and eventually it would grow to 12 million dollars. On January 1, 1959, Lester B. Pearson asked Canadian Cabinet minister C. D. Howe for his opinion on the Avro Arrow. He said, “There is no doubt in my mind that the CF-105 should be terminated-costs are completely out of hand.” Howe understood the increasing cost of the Avro Arrow was just too much for Canada and it would negatively impact Canada’s economy in the future. Additionally, to keep the cost down the Canadian Government was required to find foreign markets for the aircraft, but none of the foreign markets wanted to buy the aircraft. “The aircraft was designed for Canadian needs which limited its attraction to foreign buyers.” This meant that anticipated foreign sales were not being realized. Furthermore, the British Government was not interested in buying the Avro Arrow and neither were members of NATO. The USA did not buy the aircraft considering they were determined to make nuclear warheads available for the bomarcs. If none wanted to buy the Arrow then the Canadian Government would lose lots of money. As a final point, the cancellation of CF-105 was a justified by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker because the cost to keep producing the aircraft was increasing with no way to