The RCM on May 4 released a 1-ounce $20 coin plus a 5-ounce $50 coin, both celebrating the storied Avro Arrow airplane.
A made-in-Canada marvel that has been ahead of its time, the Avro CF-105 Arrow was designed to fly higher and faster than any other aircraft in the 1950s.
Production began at the company’s facilities in the town of Malton, Ontario, and on Oct. 4, 1957, the first Arrow, RL-201, was unveiled to great fanfare. After a successful first flight on March 25, 1958, four prototypes were finished, and one Arrow Mk. 2.
The twin-engine, delta-winged Arrow was hailed as a technological victory; it had been the first production aircraft to adopt a fly-by-wire flight control system, although the recently developed Iroquois PS-13 turbojet engine could have allowed it to fly at a speed exceeding Mach two — twice the rate of sound.
But on Feb. 20, 1959, the government canceled the project because of mounting costs and the arrival of the missile era. All of CF-105 Arrow prototypes, models, plans and equipment were to be destroyed, though some surviving artifacts can be found in Canadian museums.
Designing a legend
Designed by Stephen Quick, the opposite of the 20 coin is motivated by technical drawings of the Avro CF-105 Arrow.
It features a mixture of cross-sectional program and three-view drawings, while the rendering of the Arrow in view shows the beauty of the aircraft’s layout. To complete the blueprint appearance, laser-engraved grid lines fill the area on both the reverse and obverse
The 5-ounce coin’s reverse, by Neil Hamelin, depicts the supersonic fighter jet into the heavens, while on the ground, its maple-leaf-shaped”shadow” signifies”people who took Canada’s spirit of innovation to new heights,” according to the RCM.
The obverses of both coins has got the Susanna Blunt effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.
The $20 coin includes a mintage limit of 10,000 bits and retails for $119.95 Canadian.
The 50 coin has a mintage of 1,000 bits and retailed for $569.95 Canadian but is sold out.
