::: ORENDA IROQUOIS ::: Toronto ::: 1957

WELL, WHEN IT CAME TIME for testing the Canadian designed, and produced Orenda Iroquois PS-13 jet engine…Avro Canada needed a BIG airplane.

You know, for doing some actual flight testing.

Someone suggested creating another Jet Lancaster.

That idea was immediately shot down. A much bigger airplane, a more weighty one, was needed…unless you wanted to send a disintegrated Lancaster right into deep space!

"Well, the Lancaster…that's the biggest airplane the RCAF has!"

"…but, America has the Boeing B-47 Stratojet , it's H-U-G-E!"

Get one.

And so the RCAF, somehow, got one. RCAF and Avro Canada pilots had to be trained to fly one.

But before you know it, before you could say, "greatest jet engine in the world", Canadair of Montreal, mounted the PS-13 Orenda Iroquois in an engine pod on the starboard side of the gigantic American bomber (see picture, and the pod…within the two yellow oblong circles), and those pilots learned how to fly a Stratojet.

As a test-pilot at Avro Canada you just never knew what the future would bring. One day you're falling asleep at a table playing craps, or solitaire…asking yourself why you took this job; the next day someone drops an 800 page Stratojet Flight Manual on the very same table, tells up to snap to it…and again, you wonder why you took this job!

The RCAF B-47B Stratojet—in Toronto, in both pics above, is the only B-47 to have ever served outside of the USAF. The Stratojet was America's frontline bomber in SAC (Strategic Air Command). These were the Cold War years, folks. The USAF had 600 of their 2,000 Stratojets on standby at bases everywhere…to take to the air with a nuclear payload at a moments notice. The Americans didn't take it lightly…loaning the world's first swept-wing bomber to a bunch of Canadian yahoos who were no longer just a bunch of brawling hockey goons… but had become, somehow, also, world-class aeronautical engineers! The B-47 would later evolve into the B-52, as we all know—

A 50 hour benchmark engine test had to be completed on the B-47 before anyone would start to take the Iroquois engine seriously.

At the 150 hour benchmark, the engine becomes viable, and can be sold worldwide.

Iroquois Jet Engine 1003 was so powerful that it could propel the massive bomber all on its own…with all six B-47 engines turned off!

Kidding? No, not kidding!

That PS-13 Orenda Iroquois jet engine turbine rotor blade (lower pic) is from Engine 1003, the Iroquois used to complete the 50 hour benchmark test. It belonged to E.K Brownbridge, Orenda Engines's Executive Vice-President and General Manager, during the time when Avro Canada was seriously marketing the engine…come one, come all.

And, yes, it is now owned by moi, me.

PS-13 Orenda Iroquois Jet Engine 1003 has a permanent home in Hamilton, Ontario at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

I gonna' tell you TWO SECRETS that you likely never knew before.

One, for sure.

What ever happened to the Orenda Engines Limited, which was once a subsidiary of Avro Aircraft of Canada Ltd? I mean, we know that Avro Canada, the manufacturing facilities that once churned out Lancasters by the hundreds, 700 CF-100s, and 37 Arrows in various stages of completion, were wrecked by GTAA lunatics, and bulldozed to the ground a few years back.

But what became of Orenda?

It makes me sick, BUT I'll tell you. It became, ARE YOU READY, Toronto's International Centre! Once a building that produced world-class jet engines, and flying saucers…has been reduced to a revolving warehouse clearance centre, and consumer and trade show emporium!

Oh…my ticker…

(self-talk…calm…calm…relax…,…, …)

T h a t ' s … b e t t e r …

And that final secret?

Everyone in Canada…and a handful of Americans know, how big the Arrow could have been.

Few know…the Orenda Iroquois jet engine could have easily surpassed the cutting-edge success of the Arrow interceptor. Certainly, commercially. The Iroquois was the superstar waiting in the wings… to save the day. Singularly capable of returning all of that Government of Canada, peoples of Canada' monetary investment, in both the Arrow and Iroquois programmes. A technological bumper crop. The PS-13 was an engine that WOULD HAVE been sold worldwide. It was simply…hands down…the best engine design available, at the time.

CURTIS-WRIGHT, in 1957, had ALREADY signed a deal with Orenda, to produce the Iroquois under license. The American engine maker believed that 12,000 Iroquois engines could be sold over the life of the engine. The deal was worth billions of dollars! All that Curtis-Wright needed from Orenda was for the company to complete the 150 hour benchmark test, successfully.

The IROQUOIS had sailed, SAILED, through the 50 hour benchmark test.

But before completing the 150 hour benchmark test, the gloomy Luddite Prime Minister of Canada, John G. Diefenbaker, on February 20th, 1959, cancelled both the production of the Avro Arrow, and any further testing on the PS-13 Orenda Iroquois.

America has ITS' Benedict Arnold…Canada HAS John G. Diefenbaker!

'nuff, said—


Get, Iroquois Rollout, by Peter Zuuring, for a good pictorial of the development of the Orenda Iroquois, right up to and past, the cancellation of the Iroquois programme.

The Way We Were ::: 1953 ::: CANADA

That's CRAWFORD GORDON (President, A.V. Roe) and FRED SMYE (Vice President, A.V. Roe) shaking hands with the men who were rolling THE FIRST CF-100 Mark IV Canuck off the line, in 1953. On time, and right on schedule.

What a difference two years made with Crawford at the helm.

The earlier CF-100s were delivered to the RCAF in 1951, two years late by that point, and structurally unsound.

Shortly thereafter Crawford turned the whole lackluster enterprise around, commandeering Avro to become the 3rd largest company in Canada by 1955!

So when the tale of Canada is told…the story of Avro CANADA (A. V. Roe Canada) must be told, as well.

To Canadians.

Forget Louis Riel, who was only an insignificant dreamer. But, whom, my history teachers were absolutely mesmerized with back in the soulless high school years of the late 70s.

The esprit de corps at Avro Canada, and the aeronautical achievements at Avro and Orenda for Canadians, and by Canadians, in the 17 short years of her aviation related existence, were absolutely breathtaking for the outsider to behold. Employees were enthusiastic. And unquestionably devoted. As a collective they had that strong regard for the honour of their company. And their country.

Avro was the only place to be, in Canada, in the 50s.

But, let's not pretend. It'll will never happen again.

The little country that could.

Did. However briefly. And that's where it ends.

We will never again repeat the scope and diversity of those aviation technological achievements from such a united and singular industrial base.

Marvels, really—

In technology, and industrial amalgamation.

Avro Canada funded initially and exclusively by the Government of Canada…but moving toward a more public and commercial model of self-sufficiency, only to be ruined in the end.

The Jetliner, the CF-100, the Avrocar, the Orenda Iroquois, and the Arrow. And all that stuff on the drawing boards. Only far flung memories now.

So Avro Canada must always be remembered for lofty dreams, detailed planning and brilliant execution…but only, only—by those Canadians that matter.

"NEVER WAS" does acknowledge the commercial and technological success of Bombardier Aerospace Canada…but I've always been partial to military stuff.

Hey, I gave my heart to Avro.

I own the copyright to this post production rework of the original Avro photo. All rights reserved.

© Paul Cardin
© 2009 SPIR

BLACK FRIDAY and Secret Toronto: Briarcrest

Black Friday + Two Weeks.

Well, I was truly surprised when I discovered the inside of Briarcrest virtually untouched since the Avro days.

Avro STILL in our midst.

AVRO CANADA Inc. purchased this 11 acre English-style tudor estate from Avro President and General Manager Walter N. Deisher who had used it as a personal residence. Walter was let go by Avro to make way for Crawford Gordon Jr., one of Canada’s famous dollar a year boys, once called forth by CD Howe to run the country’s industrial war effort during World War II.

“Crawford, go in there and fix Avro, and fix that damn CF-100!”

Howe’s sentiments, if perhaps, not his exact words.

Gordon Crawford had been Howe’s “Boy Wonder” during the war years and received the coveted OSC award, which was given to only a very few of this elite.

Remember, when Crawford arrived, Avro Canada was in utter disarray. Completely demoralized as an organization. The CF-100 which had been proudly delivered to the RCAF, with so much fanfare only shortly before, months maybe, and had now just been returned to the company by the very same RCAF!

It was quite bad.

The wonky CF-100 examples that were returned had warped wings! Rivets were popping out everywhere.

Stress problems. Only a few short years previous, Sir Roy Dobson had publicly stated that the Lancasters built by Avro Canada (then the crown corporation Victory Aircraft) under license, were better made than the English produced ones!

But we won’t go into it here. That’s another story all in itself.

So here is the living, and meeting room at Briarcrest. Like I said, much like it was back when Crawford Gordon lived here during the final (last gasp) days of Avro.

Lived here?

Crawford, somewhat of a womanizer, had left his wife and needed a place to stay. So he came here, to the solitude, and quiet and refinement of Briarcrest.

Previous to Crawford’s stay, Briarcrest was the Avro executive get-away cottage. Complete with pool, tennis courts, a games room, and hand carved totem poles. Four authentic totem poles. All INSIDE the house, by the way, and located downstairs in the game room!

Inside the tudor style abode is a serious, yet cozy atmosphere. Intricately hand carved woodwork, ancient handmade metallic light switch plates, exotically tiled rooms…oh, I could go on and on.

Not important here.

And yeah, that’s the secret passageway to the right in this picture. It leads up to the meeting room, directly from the games room downstairs! By way of a large block stone hewn corridor!

The Diefenbaker government was to declare the results of their review about the ongoing viability of all Avro Canada related projects on March 31 of 1959. That was the declaration and promise of the Canadian government to Avro Canada. However, Diefenbaker, not listening to reason at all, whether voiced by the Opposition, the GTA community, or Avro management prematurely cancelled the projects in a spiteful move on February 20, 1959 at 11 am in the morning. This caught the company by surprise and was well before the agreed upon review date. It became known as Black Friday. Forever.

And where was Crawford when the Company received the bad news from Ottawa?

By fax I might add.

Home in bed.

Crawford had been a bit out of sorts of late, and had given express orders NOT to be disturbed unless an emergency arose at the office. Well, this was such an emergency.

Fred Smye, Assistant General Manager of Avro Canada Limited, went to Briarcrest and told a drowsy Crawford personally the bad news. News, which was already circulating like wildfire throughout his plant of 14, 000 workers. This was an utter shock to the Avro executive who had been reassuring Avro employees that all was indeed well, and that the Arrow and the Iroquois would go into full production as expected. On that assurance Avro people were buying cars, and buying homes, and having kids…with no hint of the dark days immediately before them.

Crawford Gordon now enraged, rose to the occasion. Bull. China. Shop.

He immediately called the remaining Avro executive to Briarcrest. And it was here, right in this very room, the famous Avro employee dismissal notice was crafted by those very Avro executive, and later that day delivered over the company PA system at 2 pm by J.L. Plant.

That termination notice would make headlines, splashed across Canadian newspapers, in the late evening addition, shocking Canadians everywhere.

Oh, and did ya’ notice?

SOMEBODY BESIDES me, in this GTA city of eight million, knows about Briarcrest’s Avro related days.

I didn’t hang that print, folks!

And so, in honour of that historical connection, a framed print of the CF-105 Avro Arrow being escorted by it’s aeronautical precedent, the CF-100 Canuck, proudly hangs above the Briarcrest fireplace 50 years later, put there by the present owner!

Small wonders never cease—

Oh, and Crawford, well he was let go a few months later. Yes, by the very company he had spawned and nurtured into an national empire and which had quietly became the third largest company in the Dominion of Canada by 1959. Crawford, now disillusioned, quietly moved on, to Montreal.

It has been said that once Crawford was done with a place, he never looked back. Or went back.

But Crawford we had to come here. Even fifty years hence.

We had to return to Briarcrest, if only for a moment, to once again get caught up in that aura of our past Canadian aviation excellence. Avro, the Arrow, and all that could have been…that once was the glorious Avro Canada—

And the anguished story that just won't go away.

© Paul Cardin
© Special Projects In Research

SOME PEOPLE…you can see right through…

…and others…well…they’ll always be a little bit of a mystery…

Fortunately, you can see right through…OR right into…this Canadair SABRE.

Remember long before the SNOWBIRDS…there were the GOLDEN HAWKS!

Formed in 1959, the Golden Hawks were created to celebrate the 50th Year of powered flight in Canada.

They were disbanded in 1964 after 317 airshow demonstrations.

The GOLDEN HAWKS pioneered the “starburst” maneuver and the use of two solo pilots working together as part of the overall team demonstration. Pretty much all aerial demonstration teams have adapted this setup since–

The GOLDEN HAWKS were famous for wrapping up their demonstration by doing a low level flyby, with canopies open, and waving at the adoring crowds.

This Canadair Sabre was made in Montreal (under license from North American Aircraft) and the Orenda engine was made in Toronto. How’s that for an all-Canadian effort!

“CANADAIR SABRES were dominant in the two major conflicts in which they were employed: the Korean War where F-86 Sabres racked up an impressive 11-1 kill record and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In January 1966, Germany sold 90 of its Canadian Mk 6 Sabres to Iran. These aircraft were quickly transferred to Pakistan and became the main day fighter of the Pakistan Air Force.

In 1952, Jacqueline Cochran, then aged 47, decided to challenge the world speed record for women, then held by Jacqueline Auriol. She tried to borrow an F-86 from the USAF, but was refused. She was introduced to an RCAF Air Vice-Marshal who, with the permission of the Canadian Minister of Defence, arranged for her to borrow 19200, the sole Sabre 3.

CANADAIR sent a 16-man support team to California for the attempt. On 18 May 1953, Ms. Cochran set a new 100 km speed record of 1050.15 km/h (652.5 mph). Later on 3 June, she set a new 15 km closed circuit record of 1078 km/h (670 mph). While she was in California, she exceeded 1270 km/h in a dive, and thus became the first woman to exceed the speed of sound.” (Wikipedia)

The Way We Were ::: 1958 ::: CANADA

COURSE, THAT NEVER happened…(see quote within photo)

Had the AVRO ARROW, Number 106, flown with the newly completed and newly fitted “MIGHTY” IROQUOIS Orenda engines, the world speed record would have been shattered! Not just broken.

Unofficially, the Arrow had already broken the record with only the American Pratt and Whitney jet engines.

And Orenda’s “Mighty Iroquois” were just that, with a tested (at the Nobel, Ontario Orenda facility) and confirmed 27 % more engine thrust…than the Arrow’s then currently used Pratt and Whitneys.

The Federal Government of the day, led by Canada’s most inept Prime Minister of all-time, John G. Diefenbaker, that obtuse, small-town prairie lawyer, who gave the word to the RCAF that 106 was not to fly…

It was not, must not, be allowed to break the world speed record with those new Canadian engines.

If the record was smashed, the rationale went, how could “Dief” explain to the Canadian public, that in spite of that notable accomplishment, he was cancelling the Arrow and Iroquois Projects, and he would also be destroying all existing Arrow aircraft and Iroquois engines…blueprints, tooling, jigs etc., until not a trace was left.

Well, he couldn’t.

But despite John G.'s megalomaniac order, and decree of absolute destruction, some of Canada’s aviation love story did survive!

The nose, wings, and front undercarriage of Arrow 106 remain intact today. And are on display in Ottawa, at the Canadian Aviation Museum.

The Arrow presently gets hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

So a nation that was supposed to forget…didn't.

Arrow 106 was a Mark II, meaning it came with Orenda Iroquois engines.

But how, HOW did these parts escape……when all the others didn’t?

Because someone in the RCAF, at great personal risk (criminal prosecution) had these top secret project artifacts hidden away…until such a time when “cooler heads would prevail.”

Course…that never happened either. Canada as a nation never did get over the debacle.

So, when it was safe to do so…when "Dief" was out of office, the remaining Arrow treasure was “discovered” at some RCAF Station and transported to the Canadian Aviation Museum in the early 60s.

And remember, if my party was in charge, under our “Right Those Wrongs” Policy we would commission an Arrow II Project that would aim to be all the present F-22 is and more…and its design would be based on an evolved Arrow.

The AVRO Newsmagazine featured on an all-Canadian quilt, was an in-house Avro Canada production produced twice monthly for Avro personnel. It had the latest company news, featured entertainment reviews by legendary Canadian Elwy Yost!…and even had a classifieds section.

This edition, only three months away from infamous Black Friday (February 20th) noted that the Arrow pre-production projects would be cancelled in February of '59…because the federal Government had concluded fighter interceptors were obsolete! AVRO Canada was openly optimistic that line of reasoning could be countered noting various USAF commitments to similar US jet interceptor programmes that were contracted through to the mid 70s. If unmanned Bomarc missiles were the answer…why was the USAF so committed to these non-missile, fully manned, aircraft programmes?

ALSO IN THIS EDITION, in response to media requests, the general public was informed that the Mark II Arrow fitted with Iroquois engines would be able to set a new world speed record “anytime we wanted to” but such an achievement would be a secondary byproduct of aircraft testing and not a goal, in, and of itself–

(That's Avro test pilot, "Spud" Potocki, in that Mark I Arrow. Spud was the test pilot who flew one of the Arrows "unofficially" to Mach 2.1)

:: The MIGHTY Iroquois ::..

CANADIANS look at the handiwork of your Federal Government in the 50s!

Although Dassault Mirage had already ordered 300 of these SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE Orenda Iroquois Engines (pictured above) your imperious government ordered the cancellation of this incredible order!

An additional, malicious, governmental directive was given to the RCAF to destroy all engines, manufacturing molds, existing parts and blueprints for the Iroquois!!

If you look closely, you’ll see where two blowtorch holes were cut into this side of the engine, to render it useless forever.

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, where this engine now resides, has faithfully restored the Iroquois to its former glory and Plexiglas has been placed over the cutter’s holes to preserve this dark moment in Canada’s aviation history.

This engine was to be scrapped at the time…but someone secretly it shipped off to Hamilton Airport in 1959 when it was still RCAF Station: Mount Hope. And somehow, through the years, it remained hidden until the early 80s when someone decided to see what was in those “damn” containers over by the fence.

To everyone’s horror…it turned out to be two MIGHTY IROQUOIS!

The other Iroquois was acquired by the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

Technology acquired from the Orenda Iroquois helped advance jet engine development for all time, and was made in right in Toronto, at Orenda, which is now Magellan Aerospace on Derry Rd.