Reaction to accusations that Ottawa axed Avro Arrow revival

A proposal by retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie to revive the Avro Arrow CF-105 airplane has CBC Community members talking.

MacKenzie told CBC News he brought his plan to the government's attention about a year ago, but says the government wrote off his proposal too quickly.

Many commenters focused on the difficulties of reviving the Arrow.

• "The Arrow's appeal is nostalgic fantasy. That's great that it was cutting edge technology 53 years ago and was cancelled for dubious reasons (which only serve to fuel the fantasy). But this plane was designed before computers were even invented. To say that tweaking the design and it will be competitive with the latest and greatest computer-assisted aircraft designs is beyond ridiculous. The Avro Arrow is a historical curiosity, not a modern combat aircraft," said SecondOpinion.

• "Coming soon for 2012, the 1959 Edsel!" said shaftturner.

• "Sure it was a good-looking design for its day but it's 50 years old! Why not just supply our air force with Sopwith Camels? Good planes and they worked for Snoopy," said KevinHamilton.

• "I think most armchair quarterbacks totally miss the point of what is happening here. All NATO countries are trying to get on the same page with weapons and ammunition. This way in a NATO 'action' we don't need to depend on our own supply lines as we can go to any of the other NATO countries for parts. This has been happening for a couple of decades now, and it only makes sense. We run out of ammo for our rifles, the American supply chain can take care of us. In the long run, it probably saves us money, otherwise we have to replace all the Hercs and get two to three times more, hire more troops, etc.," said waynefranklin.
  

Other commenters focused on the Made in Canada aspect of reviving the project:

• "I am certainly no hawk, but if we are going to buy planes why not create the jobs on our own soil at least. It's a no brainer," said MapleLeef.

• "I want a government that believes in 'Made in Canada.' Create jobs here, keep profits here, create a product suitable for the job. Shame the present government does not believe in Made in Canada," said Lighthouselil.

• "I want a government who selects equipment based on what best serves the people who will have to use it, not some misguided sense of nostalgia.As well, I want the RCAF to have an airplane that will actually be of some use in the roles we will ask them to carry out, not an airplane that can do nothing other than serve some nostalgic civilian's sense of national pride," said Cdn2525 in response.
  

Others were in support of reviving some part of the Arrow project.

• "Obviously it would be a highly modified version of the original but the idea of keeping the name and some of the design elements is cool. As far as requirements go, why not make it a requirement that the airframe, engine and 50 per cent of the avionics be designed and manufactured in Canada by Canadian citizens, " said Julius No, Ph.D.
  

• "We need an aircraft that will work in Canada under our weather conditions. From what I've read in the past, the F-35 won't do the job. The Avro Arrow is an alternative idea considering that it had been testing at the time of its demise. It did work in our climate. And after the project was canceled, most of the engineers left for the U.S.A. and used the same ideas they had redesigning the Arrow to build the space shuttle and work on the supersonic jets for British Airways & Air France. So the technology does work.If the Arrow is viable, then do it. It should be researched. The F-35s won't be delivered for almost a decade. They are still in testing phase themselves," said Tartan_Gargoyle.
  

Some simply wanted more discussion of Mackenzie's proposal.

• "It would be nice to know who looked at this, and how much time they spent on it, " said angysdad, referring to a quote from a statement issued by the then Associate Defence Minister Julian Fantino, which said, "Analysts looked at the proposal and determined that this is not a realistic option."

• "I wasn't aware that we have the capacity to build such planes. If it's possible at the very least we should look into it. I'm hoping that this isn't being done for the sentimental aspects," said HOMARE.

Thanks, as always, for your feedback. Feel free to continue the debate and discussion in the comments section below.