Have you ever heard of the Avro Canada company? Most Canadians are probably familiar with this plant. The company was founded in 1945 as an aircraft manufacturing plant. In 13 years, Avro Canada achieved great results. The plant became the third-largest company in Canada and one of the 100 largest companies in the world. Avro Canada was established near Toronto, in the province of Ontario. Today, we decided to talk more about this powerful company. Read more on the toronto1.one website.
Background of Avro Canada’s Creation
Before Avro Canada was founded, the Victory Aircraft plant was established in 1938. This enterprise was created by the National Steel Car Corporation in the province of Ontario. The Second World War began. As is known, Canada began to produce military equipment and ammunition. Consequently, the Victory Aircraft plant also participated in military production. The plant manufactured licensed British military aircraft: Avro Anson, Handley Page Hampden, and Hawker Hurricane. In November 1942, the plant was nationalized by the Canadian government to produce Avro Lancaster heavy bombers.
After the end of the Second World War, the British corporation Hawker Siddeley acquired the Victory Aircraft plant. The new owners decided to establish a subsidiary on its basis, “A.V. Roe Canada Ltd”. The newly formed company began its operations with the repair and maintenance of Second World War military aircraft, but quickly moved on to developing innovative projects using jet propulsion.
Thus, Avro Canada began operations on the site of the former Victory Aircraft plant.
Avro Canada’s Projects
The company’s first major project was developed in 1949. This was the large-scale C-102 Jetliner project, a medium-haul passenger aircraft. By the way, it was one of the first jet airliners in the world. However, the project was discontinued due to technical problems.
But the most famous Avro Canada project was the CF-105 Arrow, a supersonic interceptor. Development of this aircraft began in 1954. The first flight took place three years later. In 1959, this project was also cancelled. The reason: financial and political aspects.
The VZ-9-AV Avrocar was another interesting project by Avro Canada. This “flying saucer” prototype was developed as part of a U.S. program to create a helicopter with horizontal flight capability.
Closure of the Company
It is worth noting that by 1958, the company was, without exaggeration, an industrial giant. The enterprise employed over 50,000 workers, and Avro Canada consisted of 44 companies. The enterprises were involved in coal mining, steel production, railway rolling stock, aircraft, and aircraft engines. By the way, in 1958, the annual sales revenue was approximately 450 million US dollars.
In 1959, the CF-105 Arrow supersonic interceptor project was cancelled. This decision was made by the Government of Canada. The authorities believed that the development of missile technology made manned aircraft less relevant. This decision led to the loss of jobs for over 14,000 company employees and another approximately 11,000 employees of supplier companies. It should be noted that the CF-105 Arrow project was very expensive and required significant financial investment. After its cancellation, the company lost its main source of funding, which made further operations financially impossible.
In 1962, the company was closed, and its assets were restructured. Part of the historic building and exhibits were transferred to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, where replicas of some of the company’s projects are displayed, including a full-scale replica of the CF-105 Arrow2.