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Toronto Aerospace Museum Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Avro Arrow First Flight

March 18, 2008, Toronto – The Toronto Aerospace Museum is celebrating the first flight of Canada‚s first supersonic aircraft in 1958 with a special the 50th anniversary exhibit titled the "Avro Arrow – A Dream Denied"
 
On March 25, 1958, the first Avro CF-105 Arrow made its maiden flight at Malton Airport (today‚s Lester B. Pearson International Airport) at 9:52 a.m. with Avro test pilot Janusz Zurakowski at the controls.
 
The twin-engine Arrow was one of the most advanced military aircraft of its era. It was developed in the Toronto area in late 1950s to defend North American cities from attack by Soviet nuclear bombers entering Canadian airspace by flying over the North Pole. The Arrow was developed at a cost more than $200 million and employed more than 15,000 people at Avro Aircraft and Orenda Engines in Malton, plus thousands mor at sub-contractors.
 
The "Avro Arrow – A Dream Denied" exhibit chronicles the saga of Canada's aviation marvel the Avro Arrow from its genesis to cancellation in February 1959, an event which still evokes strong emotions and lively public debate.
 
The exhibit tells the Arrow story in six sections: people; places; the Avro Arrow design; the Iroquois engine design; Black Friday (program cancellation); and "Myths and Mysteries" which explores the stories and speculation still surrounding the project. The exhibit includes an original test pilot's suit & artifacts salvaged as the jets were scrapped. The exhibit runs until September 30, 2008.
 
Visitors to the Toronto Aerospace Museum will also see a full-scale museum quality model of Arrow built by 170 museum volunteers over an eight-year period and publicly on the 49th anniversary of the original rollout in 2006. This stunning model is 26.1 m (85 ft 6 in) long and has a 15.2 m (50 ft) wing span, just like the original aircraft.
 
Golden Arrow 50 Anniversary of the First Flight Dinner – March 29, 2008

On Saturday, March 29, 2008 Arrow fans and former employees of Avro Canada will gather at the Toronto Aerospace Museum for a special 50th anniversary dinner to celebrate the first flight of the Arrow. (tickets and info: www.avroarrowfirstflight.com
 
The evening will features speeches, movies and presentations by Arrow program pioneers, music by the Dixieland jazz band The Red Peppers and special guests, including Ontario Lt. Governor David Onley (a long-time museum supporter and Avro Arrow fan) and James Floyd, Avro‚s Vice President of Engineering during the Arrow era.  The Master of Ceremonies will be Actor/Director/Producer Art Hindle who played the part of Col. Fairchild in the CBC Mini TV series "The Arrow".
 
About the Toronto Aerospace Museum

The Toronto Aerospace Museum is an exciting educational, heritage and tourist attraction in north central Toronto.
 
The Museum is housed in a building at Downsview Park that isn‚t just full of aviation history, but it‚s part of that history from the days of linen and wire DH 60 Moth biplanes of the 1920s to the dawning of the space age in the early 1960s.
 
The museum is located in the former factory of The de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. established at Downsview in 1929. It‚s the oldest aviation heritage building in the greater Toronto area, the oldest intact aircraft factory in Canada, and the birthplace for many famous aircraft and Canada's first satellite.
 
In this historic building, aircraft and artefacts related to Toronto‚s role as an important aviation centre are on display, including a Second World War de Havilland DH 82C Tiger Moth biplane trainer built at Downsview in 1942 and a rare four-engine Avro Lancaster Mk. X bomber built at Malton and now under restoration by museum volunteers.
 
Founded in 1997, the Museum is located at Downsview Park, 65 Carl Hall Rd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3K 2E1. For further information regarding events, tickets, membership, volunteer opportunities, directions and museum hours, call 416-638-6078, e-mail: tam@bellnet.ca    or visit the museum web site: www.torontoaerospacemuseum.com .