Fall of an Arrow

On February 20, 1959, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker announced to the House of Commons the cancellation of the CF-105 Arrow. Its development costs to that time were $340 million. The Arrow was to be the world’s unsurpassed interceptor aircraft. Yet within two months of the Prime Minister’s announcement, six completed aircraft were dismantled and all papers and documents associated with the project were destroyed.

Here is the history and development of the Arrow - the plane that would make Canada the leader in supersonic flight technology. The Arrow was designed to fly at twice the speed of sound and carry the most advanced missile weapons system.

Here are the stories of the men and women who were in the vanguard of the new technology - who had come from England, Poland, and the United States to make aviation history.

Murray Peden was the first Chairman of the Manitoba Securities Commission. A bestselling author, his articles have appeared in aviation magazines and newspapers in Canada, England, and the United States. He was a bomber pilot in World War II, and his autobiography has been hailed as one of the finest war memoirs ever written. In 2017, Peden was awarded France’s Legion of Honour, as a member of the aircrew who flew supplies to the French Forces of the Resistance.