Warbird Information Exchange

Saluting Avro's other superstar

Aviation legend Jim Floyd, 95, holds a model of Avro Jetliner that he worked on as chief designer six decades ago.

Canada's Jetliner dazzled the aviation world in 1950s, especially American tycoon airman Howard Hughes
Aug 10, 2009 04:30 AM
Nick Kyonka
Staff Reporter

She broke aviation records as the first jet flown over North America, and later became the coveted darling of aviation guru Howard Hughes.

But unlike her younger and sexier sister plane, the Arrow, the Avro C-102 Jetliner is a little-remembered footnote in Canadian history.

About 80 airplane engineers and enthusiasts showed up at the Canadian Air and Space Museum at Downsview Park yesterday for a luncheon commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Jetliner's maiden flight on Aug. 10, 1949.

Though that flight out of what is now Pearson Airport raised the bar for aviation standards around the world, the Jetliner never made it out of the prototype stages.

Developed in just three years with a small team of about 100 engineers, the 25-metre-long Jetliner could fly up to 750 km/h at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet – comparable to modern standards and 10 years ahead of the rest of the aviation world at the time.

A handful of those engineers were on hand yesterday, including its chief engineer Jim Floyd, 95, who declined interview requests so he could catch up with his old friends.

It was the smooth feel of the ride that grabbed the attention of the eccentric airman Hughes, who wanted to acquire 30 models to form a corps in his Trans World Airlines.

"(Hughes) fell in love with the Jetliner the first time he flew it," said former Avro test-flight engineer Bill Wildfong, who was with the team that took the plane to Houston to perform high-altitude tests for TWA in 1951.

"He said, 'From now on, I'll do all the flying on it' – which he did."

But as Cold War tensions escalated, the Canadian government – Avro's top client – told the company in 1951 to abandon development of the passenger plane in favour of the Arrow, a fighter jet.

Eight years later, a similar lack of government foresight led to the Arrow's cancellation.

Aviation insiders in attendance yesterday said the company could have found lots of other clients to buy or lease the Jetliners.

"It's just a tragedy that the Jetliner was not allowed to go into production," said American aerospace historian Bill Mellberg. "It would have sold like hotcakes."

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/678668