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Irulan's Arrowhead |
After quieting my dog Jake who is going into canine ballistic mode at the sight and smell of something feline I had another look at this minor intrusion into my normal (yeah, right) life. Try picturing this: an upright humanoid-formed cat-like being with dilute tortoiseshell fur, a head of bright ginger hair and huge green eyes, coming up to my rib cage in height and proportioned like a 12-year-old girl, which in effect she turned out to be. She was wearing a peaked cap with an embroidered Darwin fish, a Labush Skywear(free plug here) T-shirt with with a couple of Arrows on it, black bicycle shorts with wide pink racing stripes, pink slouch socks and hi-top Converse sneakers. First thing out of her mouth is "Excuse me, but are you the lady who does those comic books?". Now how does she expect me to give a coherent answer when my jaw is still banging against the floor?
It turns out that this Irulan (Her parents were fans of Frank Herbert's Dune) is one of a race of humanoid felines with the ability to travel through multiple space/time continuua. That is, they can travel sidewise in time and space; they're still working on backward and forward. She and her uncle Cosgrove are military aviation freaks and hang out (disguised) at every major air show and place-to-be one could imagine. Their driving ambition is to find a way to travel backward in time and rescue an intact Arrow (or maybe in the future they succeed and that's where we're getting all the wild rumours from. Go figure). Anyway, how could I not like folks who actually count Lazarus Long, the Lensmen and Astro Boy as friends?
Irulan has now taken over the task of collecting stories, rumours and info to help with her family's efforts to save an Arrow from destruction. Now how could you refuse a request like that, especially when it comes from a ky00t cat grrrl who looks at you with her huge puddy-tat eyes. Won't you help her by contributing what YOU know? YOU just might be holding the final piece of the puzzle that could preserve a whole aircraft for the posterity of sapient beings everywhere. IT AIN'T OVER YET!
James Town (jtps@interlog.com)
was working on the CBC movie of the week starring Dan Ackroyd. You
promised to send me some pikturz, right?!?!
R. Kyle Schmidt (rkschmid@novice.uwaterloo.ca)
"You sound TOO cool!"
Steven Kobernick (s_kober@alcor.concordia.ca)
"You may have heard this already, but since I'm new here here it
goes. I remember that there still are some pieces of the Arrow around,
I think at least the cockpit section and the Iroquois engine. I have seen
the engine many years ago at the Aviation museum in Ottawa (although I
didn't know what it was way back then) I think the cockpit is in the same
place. Also I have an issue of Fine Scale Modeler that shows a model of
the CF-105 made up as a late production model."
Does it have a staple on its belly?:-)
john (pyramid@interlog.com)
Great Arrowpage.As an Arrowphile,I was both impressed and amused!!
Keep your Arrow up!!
maritek computer (maritek@dlcwest.com)
WELL, I GUESS I CANNOT SAY MUCH THAT HASN'T BEEN SAID BEFORE, AND
SEEING AS HOW I WAS BORN IN 57 THAT MEANS I WASN'T REALLY THERE EITHER
FOR THE CRUSIFICTION (PARDON THE SPELLING) OF THE ARROW. BUT IN 1974 I
JOINED THE CANADIAN FORCES (AIRFORCE TO ME) TO WORK ON FIGHTERS AS A RADAR
TECHNICIAN. MY FIRST POSTING WAS TO CHATHAM N.B. TO WORK ON THE CF101 VOODOO
AND THEN OFF TO GERMANY TO DO SAME TO THE LOCKHEED LAWN DART. I HAVE ALWAYS
HAD AN AFFLICTION TOWARD WAR BIRDS AND AT THE TIME THEY WERE OUR FINEST
AND MOST POWERFULL BIRDS, BUT I ALSO HAD THE PRIVLIDGE OF WORKING WITH
A FEW MEN WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN THE HONOR OF WORKING ON THE FINEST WAR BIRD
EVER WHILST IN IT'S INFANCY. THE STORIES THAT WERE TOLD OF PERFORMANCE
AND WOE WERE WONDERFULL TO LISTEN TO AND I WOULD LISTEN FOR HOURS AS THESE
MEN RECALLED THEIR TIME ON THE ARROW. I AM NOW RETIRED FROM THE AIRFORCE
BUT STILL LONG TO SEE AND HEAR THAT BIRD REACH OUT AND TOUCH THE SURLEY
FACE OF GOD AS IT IS NO DOUBT WITH HIM. MY 4 CHILDREN STILL AS ABOUT THE
ARROW AS I WILL NEVER LET IT DIE, AND IT IS GOOD TO SEE SO MANY WITH THE
SAME INTEREST IN IT. YES I WANT TO HELP PEOPLE REMEMBER.
LONG LIVE THE ARROW
JOHN TRETHEWEY
MARITEK COMPUTER PRODUCTS
MOOSE JAW, SASK.
Follow-up by same contributor:
Back in the mid 80's I had an onsite computer repair business in
Barrie Ont., and while out on a call to a business in a town north of Barrie,
I was having a conversation with the owner. Somehow the talk got shifted
to the Arrow and I expressed my beliefs in how our government ducked US
pressure and sold us out to the Americans. Well that didn't set very well
with this gentleman, as it seemed his father was in the federal govt at
the time of the Arrow cancellation. He told me, you have no idea what really
was happening at that time, the US was very upset that we had an aircraft
that was so technically advanced to anything they had or even had on the
drawing board. Being that the US considered themselves to be the world
authority on military aircraft design they wanted it stopped. Through various
channels they tried to have it canned to no avail.( Makes old Dief. like
a good guy Huh) When the US got no cooperation from the Canucks the decided
on a different plan of attack (literialy). According to this gentleman
on that fateful day in feb 1959 the federal govt was put in a very bad
position when they were informed that there was a brigade of America's
finest just south of the border, and if the project was not terminated
post haste it would be terminated for them. If this were true, given our
govt policy and the strength of our military, I don't think their would
have been many options here. Well that is another version of what happened
in 1959, take it for what it's worth, my opinion has always been that Deif.
sold us out for his own career one way or another, but this is one man's
opinion of what happened, I have never heard this from anyone else in all
the years I have heard tales of the Arrow.
John Trethewey
Keith Daniel (ensign@infobahnos.com)
Finally! A support group I actually need!
Great work, thanks. I'll start saving up pennies for your comics.
In the rumours department, these items come second and third hand, but...
A privileged visitor to the Aviation Museum in Ottawa was given a tour of the off limits restoration area (aka Area 51A :-), and reports that there are a number of identifiable pieces of an Arrow there, including what he believed to be a leading edge.
An older third hand rumour has a nearly complete Arrow in St. Louis, Missouri, in the hands of a large American aviation company, as late as the 1970's. Could this be the missing Arrow? (Residents have noticed an abnormally high rate of UFO sightings in the area... :-)
Some people claim to have seen scrapped circuit boards from the flight computer. These I would find fascinating, as the technology of the day was primitive.
End rumours.
Thank you! I'll be dropping by regularly, and if I get a '404 URL
Not Found', I'll *know* it was a Tory conspiracy. Very best wishes. kwd...
Also from Keith Daniel: Just doing some teary eyed reminiscing at your site... again... Another rumour I'll pass along is that the Arrow was canned because of U.S. pressure. Seems it was the only aircraft capable of catching up to the U2 at the time. Some have said that security at the Malton plant was very lax, and that this was teeing off the yankees royally. Thanks again, best wishes. kwd...
dave cory (dcory@flexnet.com)
I have TOTALLY UNproven evidence that McDonellel/Douglas(Well I
heard it)
All good things come to an end, but not just yet for this one! --
Fleming (mike@sparky.inasec.ca)
My father was a soldier stationed in a small army camp near Hagersville,
Ont.. My school was located on the base. I can remember a few occasions
during recess(grade 6 or 7) when the sound of a jet or a boom would intrude
on our play. We would all stop and look up at the sky, and there it would
be! Then one day it was gone. Like your father I have never forgiven Dief.
Whenever I take my son to the National Air Museum we always stop at the
ARROW display, and I repeat the sad tale. I think that he is able to recite
it now. Nice web-site. Keep it up.
Mike
Andrew Wilson (ahwilson@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca)
Hello.
I don't have any special Arrow stories to share, but I just came back from vacation down east and...yes, I touched THE NOSE SECTION!! In one way I found it disgraceful how what little remains of the greatest technological achievement in Canadian history is relegated to a dingy little corner of an old hangar that no one deems important enough to visit. The poor lass looked like a stuffed moose head or something. On the other hand, I thought that it was a perfect memorial to the unforgivable act of treason perpetrated upon this nation by one John Diefenbaker. The "man" was a butcher, and I'm glad that there remains one mangle metal corpse to prove it. By the way, I hadn't cried since I was in grade school, but I wept when I touched that metallic skin.
On a happier note, I was shocked to find out today that the fellow who built the mockup for the CBC miniseries lives just down the road from me in Camrose, Alta., and that he built it from some surviving original blueprints. I thought they had all been destroyed. I've got to buy the dude lunch sometime.
A pleasure to meet your acquaintance.
Andrew Wilson
Edmonton, Alberta
Anonymous sender: My father worked on the engines for the arrow and on the day of cancellation as evryone was laid off and told to get out he put a copy of the design specs and drawings of the engine in his briefcase and walked out. I have the only known copy of those documents labeled SECRET known to exists.
From a cybercafe in Vancouver, BC
Hi Monique -
Great Arrow site! I'd love to read your comic books too. As I don't have e-mail (I'm at a coffee shop), I'll write to you.
Have you thought of putting your Arrow logo (the one with the Maple Leaf and frowny face) on a t-shirt? That would be great!
By the way, a friend I knew several years ago had another friend whose father worked at the Arrow site while the planes were being scrapped. He managed to scoop a couple of buckets of shards of shredded Arrows. I've got a couple of bolts and shards which, allegedly, were once part of an Arrow. Unfortunately, they're now buried somewhere in my storage room. I never thought they'd be worth anything, but I'm certainly glad the Arrow is back in the news!!
Long live the Arrow!
Doug Clark (dougc@nucleus.com)
I just watched the Arrow miniseries and I must say that it brought
me too tears. I am 32 years old and I grew up in a country without a space
program believing that we were second best. I never knew that we built
such a machine. I had heard stories all my life from my father but until
now they didn't have an effect on me but seeing how we as Canadians once
led the world makes so terribly sad. I can't express what knowing the truth
has done to me. I am going to learn all that I can about the Arrow and
I will not be in the dark any longer. Please any information that you could
provide me with would be appreciated. I noticed that Jim Floyd still resides
here in Canada and the credits said he still works to preserve the memory
of the Arrow any information that you might have as far as contascting
him would be apprecited.
Sincerely Doug Clark
Sprocket (sprocket@nbnet.nb.ca)
...Let's cut the CRAP about this issue and just say that in the
late 1950s, we Canadians had the world by the arse on a downhill grade.
We had the biggest, bst and most capable piece of kit there was. We were,
to quote Marg Delahunty and a cast member of the miniseries "farting through
silk." So, where did it go and what happened to it??? Well, as frequently
happens in this land, it disappeared, the victim of political paranoia
and military poor advice. I verily believe the miniseries' conclusion that
"Dief the Chief" was shit-scared of this machine and had 'em all cut up.
What a bozo......thought it all my life and still do...
John Houghton (houghton@georgian.net)
...Like you, I'm doing something about the Arrow. Looks like you're
having fun with it. Building a Radio Controlled Model kit to sell to other
fanatics. Getting lots of hits since the Movie by CBC. Anyway check me
out if you care. I'd appreciate going on your hit list if you feel so inclined...
Sure, man...hey everybody, let's donate him some $$$ so he can do all six of them and divebomb Diefy's grave sometime :) :) :)
Grace Manney(tmanney@niagara.com) I am glad to know there is someone like you out there. I have been interested in the Arrow for some time, but until the CBC miniseries, I hadn't thought about surfing the internet to find Arrow pages. Thanks for an excellent page.
Johon Stuart (pronounced John no jokes allowed)
(molsondrinker@hotmail.com)
loved the page found it quite amusing thought i would tell you that
i met the gentlman who started building the movie mock up actually he was
quite the ornery old fart but what the hell he had a passion for great
things granted i talked to him for all of 5 minutes but he was very intriguing.
on another note i have also been to the museum in Ottawa and i have seen
the nose of 206 (so they say anyway) 2 engines (i think) as well as right
and left outboard wing sections. shoulda seen me the people i was with
said i looked like my dad had just given me my first pellet gun i found
it glorios and intensly saddening at the same time.
i believe that the idea of the arrow and the emotions it brings forth are not actually about the arrow itself (per say ). i believe it strikes a more fundamental sense of 'Canadianism' in people when they see that we as a nation can build something that, like the arrow was, is supposed to be imposible and nobody else would even attempt it. it tells people that Canadians will tackle dificult projects and succeed, in some casesbeynd their wildest dreams. these projects, granted, are usually accomplished in an unorthodox manner ,sometimes dangerous, and the are completed close ,if not on time and budget yaddayaddayadda. i have seen examples of this 'phenomenon' in the military.
to me the Arrow was not about ........ technology or aviation or what have you it was about being Canadian and not sitting down in the face of adversity. picture a guy who has been told to do something impossible a Canadian would say "you want me to do what!!!!......... ok lets give er a whirl" and then he would proceed to do that task.
i don't mean to detract from the Arrow it was a phenomenal piece of engineering and ideas and i feel that if it had been allowed to develope as other aircraft do it would be in service still.......... imagine a CF-105 mk 12 ................... gawd it is nice to dream isn't it ?????
well gotta go keep up the good work