Shutting Down the National Dream: A. V. Roe and the Tragedy of the Avro Arrow

356 Pages·1988·43.698 MB·English

by  Greig Stewart

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It could be called a love story, a love story between men and engines
and aircraft. It becomes noticeable first in the quiet way they
remember, and then in the way their eyes occasionally mist up when
they recall a special moment, as if haunted by a past they didn't have
a chance to finish. Tragedy is clearly the difference between what
really is and what might have been, and it's the "might have beens"
that seem to hurt so much and touch with such profound sadness
virtually every person who was there. Not only is it painful for them
to recall what was obviously the time of their lives, it is even more
painful living with the unfulfillable desire to get another crack at it,
and this time to get it right. A chance, regrettably, lost to time.
"Governments and torches can destroy an aircraft, but they
cannot destroy hope, and aspiration, and the majesty of the
questing spirit. In the hearts of the people, the dream lives on."
-Jan Zurakowski, legendary Avro Arrow test pilot
"The best written story to date about A.V. Roe and the Avro
Arrow. Greig Stewart uses a first-rate mix of writing style and
extremely thorough research to tell a story painfully close to the
Canadian heart, and makes it read like a novel."
-Peter Ward, Ottawa Citizen
"First rate!"
-Michael Davie, Hamilton Spectator
"Stewart's contribution to A.V. Roe Canada lore deserves a place
on any Canadian aviation bookshelf worthy of the name."
-R.G. Halford, Canadian Aviation Operator
"Extremely well researched. An in-depth look at the life and
death of the Avro Arrow."
-Saint John Telegraph-Journal
"In depth, thorough ... A hard book to put down."
-Canadian Aviation
"Excellent! A first-class job of bringing the players to life."
-D. Warren, Airforce
"The complete story of A.V. Roe Canada, born 1945,
murdered 1959."
-Mike Filey, Toronto Sun
All. ROE AND THE TRAGEDY OF THE
GREIG STEWART
McGRAW-HILL RYERSON LIMITED
Toronto Montreal
SHUTTING DOWN
THE NATIONAL
DREAM
Copyright 1988 by Greig Stewart
©
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
This edition published in 1991 by
McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited
300 Water Street
Whitby, Ontario LlN 9B6
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of any copyright material contained in
this text. The publishers welcome any information that will enable them to rectify,
in subsequent editions, any incorrect or omitted reference or credit.
12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0D 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 32 1
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Stewart, Greig
Shutting down the national dream
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-07-549675-5 (bound) ISBN 0-07-551119-3
1. Avro Arrow (Turbojet fighter plane). 2. A. V. Roe Canada Limited. 3. Aircraft
industry - Canada. 4. Canada - Politics and government - 1957-1963.* I. Title.
TL685.3.S84 1988 338.4'76237464 C88-094383-l
"High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., is quoted from The New Treasury of War
Poetry: Poems of the Second World War, edited by George Herbert Clarke (New York:
Literary Classics Incorporated, 1943.)
Book design: Kirk Stephens
Printed and bound in Canada by JohnD eyell Company
This one is for
Margaret Jeannie McGregor,
Robert G. Stewart,
the 14,528 employees
of A. V. Roe Canada who lost more
than just their jobs
that cold Friday afternoon in 1959,
and Marlene

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Foreword xi
Prologue 1
1. The Business of War 6
2. Battleships of the Air 14
3. Takeover 31
4. A Gather of Aeronautical Men 46
5. Getting off the Ground 56
6. Jets in Their Eyes 74
7. Storm Clouds Gathering 88
8. Stealing the Thunder 102
9. The Quick and the Dead 121
10. Rebirth: The Coming of Crawford Gordon 138
11. High Flight 158
12. Gods of the Air 175
13. Coming of Age 191
14. Vision of the North 208
15. The Icarus Factor 232
16. Overtaken by Events 252
17. Scattered to the Wind 268
Epilogue 281
Appendix 283
Notes 293
Bibliography 307
Index 3Il