CF-105 Avro Arrow

The CF-105 Arrow was a supersonic interceptor developed in the 1950s. I love this beautiful plane and I felt a need to model it, despite having no idea how to model such complex shapes.

Please read on to learn some history and to learn about my modelling approach and what I learned sculpting in Fusion360 for the first time ever.

Some history:

The Avro Arrow was designed as a follow-on project to the CF-100 Canuck as a supersonic, all-weather interceptor by the Avro Canada company.

Designed to fly at Mach 2+ speeds at 50,000 feet, this plane was meant to operate in the Canadian north to intercept bombers flying over the north pole. The RCAF would have operated the Arrow, but the project was cancelled before the plane entered service.

The rollout of the Arrow happened to be on the same day the USSR put Sputnik in space in 1957 and the CF-105 first flew in March of 1958.

Due to political reasons, the entire program was cancelled on February 20th 1959. This date, known as Black Friday, put nearly 30,000 people out of work, leading to a brain drain from the Canadian Aviation industry, bolstering the American efforts in the Space Race. Sadly only 5 Arrows ever flew.

When the Arrow program was cancelled by the government, all documentation, drawings, and hardware were ordered destroyed, including all 5 of the flying examples and all partially completed airframes.

(Lovingly Paraphrased from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow)

P.S. – I know the paint scheme in the renders is incorrect! I was limited by the surfaces that Fusion 360 would let me select :P I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!

P.P.S. – I don’t have a multi-colour/material printer so a multi-material model is not an issue for me, but if there is enough demand for one I might consider making a multi-material model!

P.P.P.S. - Please note that I rendered the images of the CF-105 model prior to adjusting the top of the engine inlet ducts where they blend into the boundary layer ramp near the cockpit. The final STLs provided have a more accurate gusset-ing in this location.