William Kuzyk and the CF-105 Arrow

This article was originally written and submitted as part of a Canada 150 Project, the Innovation Storybook, to crowdsource stories of Canadian innovation with partners across Canada. The content has since been migrated to Ingenium’s Channel, a digital hub featuring curated content related to science, technology and innovation.

Dec 18, 2015

Categories

Aviation

Sciences

Media

Article

By: Library and Archives Canada

A drawing of a CF-105 Arrow. Source: Library and Archives Canada/a111546

In 1949, Alberta native William Kuzyk graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in aeronautical engineering. Upon graduation, he was hired full-time by A.V. Roe Canada Ltd., and he spent the next 10 years working for the cutting-edge aeronautical company. While at A.V. Roe, Kuzyk held a number of positions including Flight Test Engineer, Senior Aerodynamics Engineer and Project Research Engineer. In 1956, he was assigned to work on the CF-105 Arrow (or Avro Arrow).

First designed in 1955, this supersonic fighter aircraft was a pioneering masterpiece, and for a few years was thought to be Canada’s answer to military might in the skies. Kuzyk’s work on the Arrow was largely focused on improving the Arrow’s flight performance, which included work on integrated data systems for processing in-flight instrument readings, the application of ramjets to the airframe that would help increase the aircraft’s speed to at least Mach 2, and developing revolutionary vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology. Unfortunately on February 20, 1959, the CF-105 Arrow program was terminated, and all of the manufactured Arrows and relating documentation and equipment were to be destroyed. Approximately 14,000 jobs were lost, and many company personnel—including William Kuzyk—left Canada to work in the United States. For many observers, the end of the Arrow was seen as a devastating blow to not only to A.V. Roe, but also to Canada’s aircraft industry.

Drawing no. 7-0400-01, Issue 1 of CF-105 Avro Arrow, 1955. Source: Library and Archives Canada/e011161348

Rocket Geometry Zero Length Launch CF-105 Arrow, 1958. Source: Library and Archives Canada/e011161341

A sketch of the Avro Arrow, 1958. Source: Library and Archives Canada/e011161340

CF-105 Arrow Launching Position for Zero Length Launch, 1958. Source: Library and Archives Canada/e011161347

“Worth Defending” – A brief look at the 1954 advertising campaign of a major Canadian aircraft manufacturing firm, Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, part 4

The advertisement “La liberté d’expression,” in English “Freedom of Speech,” published by Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, as part of its 1954 Worth Defending advertising campaign. Anon, “Canadair Limited.” La Presse, 13 April 1954, 25.

“Worth Defending” – A brief look at the 1954 advertising campaign of a major Canadian aircraft manufacturing firm, Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, part 3

“Freedom of Worship,” one of the advertisements issued by Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, as part of its 1954 Worth Defending advertising campaign. Anon., “Canadair Limited.” The Vancouver Province, 5 January 1954, 5.

“Worth Defending” – A brief look at the 1954 advertising campaign of a major Canadian aircraft manufacturing firm, Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, part 2

One of the advertisements issued by Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, as part of its 1954 Worth Defending advertising campaign. Anon., “Canadair Limited.” Toronto Daily Star, 6 October 1954, 4.

“Worth Defending” – A brief look at the 1954 advertising campaign of a major Canadian aircraft manufacturing firm, Canadair Limited of Montréal, Québec, part 1

A block of photographs showing some of the people involved in the bombing of beluga whales in the estuary and gulf of the St. Lawrence River. Anon., “La chasse aux marsouins [sic]. » Le Devoir, 15 August 1929, 6.

“The bomb that will kill the porpoise” – A shocking use of air power in interwar Québec: The bombing of the beluga whales of the St. Lawrence River, part 4

A typical pod of beluga whales, Hudson Bay, near Churchill, Manitoba, July 1999. Ansgar Walk, via Wikipedia.

“The bomb that will kill the porpoise” – A shocking use of air power in interwar Québec: The bombing of the beluga whales of the St. Lawrence River, part 3

The Franco Canadian physician / pilot Louis Cuisinier and one of the 45 or so kilogram (100 or so pounds) handmade aerial bombs with which he hoped to kill beluga whales. Anon., “La bombe qui tuera le marsouin.” La Presse, 5 August 1929, 11.

“The bomb that will kill the porpoise” – A shocking use of air power in interwar Québec: The bombing of the beluga whales of the St. Lawrence River, part 1

Several exhibition display cases, panels, and screens in a large, brightly-lit air hangar-style room with a high ceiling and tall, exposed metal walls.

Diane Pitre and Steven P. Deschamps’ LGBT Purge Stories Told at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum

An Institute for Aerospace Research staff member conducting an inspection on a Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, or Canadarm, around 2000. National Research Council Canada.

“It is only with the DAIS that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye” – A respectful look at a great Canadian aerospace invention, the Diffracto DAIS non destructive testing equipment, and a bit more, part 2

$A technician conducting the first corrosion detection trial, on a Boeing Model 727 test airframe, using a Diffracto DAIS-500 non destructive testing equipment, 1992. National Research Council Canada.$

“It is only with the DAIS that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye” – A respectful look at a great Canadian aerospace invention, the Diffracto DAIS non destructive testing equipment, and a bit more, part 1

Louis Damblanc, French pioneer of rocketry, and the device he designed to launch short-range postal rockets, circa 1937. Alexandre Ananoff, “L’histoire des fusées.” La Nature, 15 May 1939, 312.

“I preferred to be a cutting edge engineer” The most important rocketry pioneer you have never heard of, the French engineer and inventor Louis Damblanc, part 1

The Myasishchev M-50 supersonic strategic bomber at the July 1961 air show, near Túshinskiy, USSR. Seymour Topping, “Thousands See New Planes – Russ Flex Air Might in Aviation Day Show.” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, 10 July 1961, 8.

“Fakes that pay off:” A brief glance at the totally fictitious nuclear-powered Soviet super bomber ‘revealed’ in December 1958 by the American magazine Aviation Week, Part 3

Langue

William Kuzyk and the CF-105 Arrow

Channel

Visit

Ingenium

For Media