For $12k Shipped, A 60% Scale Model of Canada’s Legendary Interceptor is Up for Grabs.
The legend of the Avro CF-105 Arrow advanced interceptor, its fascinating development and bizarre cancellation, is well known in aviation circles. But one more fascinating fact about the Avro Arrow is that the aircraft was the star in a 2010 theater musical production written by Canadian playwright Doug Warwick. And now, the 60% sized scale model that played the on-stage role of the real-life fighter is up for sale for $12,000 (currency unspecified), including shipping according to the listing. It could make the ultimate lawn ornament for the aviation collector who has everything.
The stage prop, originally built for “The Flying Avro Arrow – A Musical”, measures 46-feet, 7&1/2-inches long (about 14.21 meters). That is more than half the original size of the actual Avro Arrow. The CF-105 Arrow was a very large interceptor, measuring 77-feet, 9-inches long or about ten feet longer than the operational U.S. Air Force Republic F-105 Thunderchief and about ten-feet shorter than the proposed but cancelled North American XF-108 Rapier long range interceptor at a massive 89-feet, 2-inches.
According to the Facebook Marketplace listing for the CF-108 stage prop, “This 60% scale model is very strongly built with wood and steel, mounted of a steel structure, hydraulically assisted to allow the aircraft pitch up, down, Yaw RT & LT simulating that it is flying on stage. Clouds were created with dry ice.”
The social media sale listing goes on to say, “It has been in our Family Museum for years and now it is time [to] move to the next caretaker. We have several photos of its construction and also newspaper clips from various plays that it was used in across Canada. It needs a little repaint work but still looks great. You can own this piece of History for $12,500.00. Will ship worldwide.”
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The listing is posted by David J. Carlaw and is shown as being located in Campbellford, Trent Hills, Ontario, Canada. The Aviationist.com sent a message to Mr. Carlaw asking for more details and quotes about the sale of the scale model, but has not received a response. From the looks of Mr. Carlaw’s marketplace photos of the Avro Arrow model, the family apparently has quite a collection as a Lockheed T-33 appears in the background along with a number of other interesting aviation relics.
The story of the Avro Arrow is steeped in lore about its sudden cancellation and the subsequent destruction of its prototypes that resulted in a near-collapse of the Canadian defense-aerospace industry. The prototypes and tooling were scraped allegedly for security reasons. This narrative gained traction when a Russian intelligence operative named Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin revealed details about KGB surveillance of the project that ran from late 1957 through 1959. Several attempts at export of the Avro Arrow were made but never advanced. When the Canadian military adopted a version of the secretly nuclear-capable Boeing CIM-10 BOMARC supersonic surface-to-air defense missile system between 1955 and 1968, the Avro Arrow became redundant, another factor that lead to its ultimate demise. A number of scale models of the Avro Arrow were flight tested over the Great Lakes between Canada and Michigan, with crashes of the flying mock-ups adding to the lore of the Avro CF-108.
But while the actual Avro CF-108 Arrow may have been a failed project, the aircraft has provided a great deal of historical entertainment value and this unique theatre prop sale is one more act in the real-life story of this fascinating aircraft.
