When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An archival photo of the Avro Arrow during flight testing. | Credit: Ingenium CanadaSix decades after the supersonic Avro Arrow suddenly stopped flying, Canada is working hard to preserve what few pieces of it are left.The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow (known as the Arrow among its fans) was one of the most advanced supersonic jets of its era in the 1950s. It even has a link with NASA across the border, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. But the Arrow program’s funding was nixed in 1959 in a still-controversial decision by the Canadian government of the day, led by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.There was a silver lining for NASA, as a few of Avro’s employees eventually were hired by the agency and participated in the early U.S. space program, according to Ingenium. Some even worked on the Apollo moon landings. The Arrow’s legacy was recently celebrated at a Canadian museum trying to keep safe the few parts that remain from the program, as the airplanes, plans and most other artifacts were destroyed in the aftermath of the cancellation decision.[embedded content]Luckily, there’s an Arrow nose section on display in Ottawa that represents the largest surviving piece of any of the airplanes; it’s in the Cold War section of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum (CASM). Ingenium, which is the organization made up of CASM and two other Ottawa museums, recently took a look at the nose piece to see how it was doing.Related: In photos: Chuck Yeager: 1st person to break the sound barrierAfter museum officials noticed flaking paint, they called in representatives from the government’s Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), as the institute works with government heritage collections. At CASM, the institute told the public on Sept. 5 how they feel the artifact is holding up after decades in storage or on display.To be clear, there are other pieces of the Arrow still preserved, but only a few; most of the airplane pieces were cut up for scrap while “blueprints, models, designs and machines used to make the planes were destroyed,” the Canadian Encyclopedia wrote. This situation makes the nose cone all the more precious, as there are scarce remnants of the Arrow’s existence still with us six decades on. underneath view of an airplane with delta-shaped wings, in mid-air. it is black and white due to its ageCCI representatives did non-invasive examinations with techni …
