Avro Canafda was originally Canadian Steel car. They produced the Lancaster bomber during the war. They also designed and produced the Lancasterian airliner after the war converting Lancaster bombers into civilian aircraft. Jon is wrong about the airlines losing interest for his various reasons. Very few aircraft are produced exactly like a prototype. The aircraft could have been fine tuned and even reengined to different specifications. The death knell was definatively the ban on producing the aircraft. Any further effort into the project was killed from that point on. Howard Hughes was ready to go to great lengths to buy this aircraft for Hughes Airwest. The aircraft would have gone into production had the government not declared that all of Canada's manufacturing was to be dediicated to producing the Arrow and the CF-100. So considering the aircraft was not allowed to be produced in Canada or outside of Canada any further discussion of details what killed the design are pure speculation. Then later the government voted Canada would make no more weapons of war and the owner of Avro shut the whole company down in disgust with no regard to the fate of his employees.
Francois Juneau, e-mail, 23.03.2015 17:10
Herb Schneider, 13.10.2010 Ref your comment above:
"According to a Letter to the Editor by Allen Lambert of Grove City, PA which appeared in the Wall Street Journal on October 13, 2010, When Canada Almost Ruled the Civil Skies: "Politics in the U.S. led to the cancellation of potential sales to U.S. airlines, and the Jetliner never flew commercially." Would you have a copy of this article? I have been looking in the WSJ archives & can't find it or maybe a contact to get in touch with Mr Allen Lambert could be useful. Thanks
Lynn, e-mail, 14.06.2014 18:14
The Korean War is a major factor in killing it. All resources were ordered to go towards the CF-100 and Arrow. As the government had a stake in the projects they could not refuse. Rolls Royce would not sell them the engines they wanted. TransCanada wanted the range profile to be constructed differently. All aircraft even today are required to fly to destination, fly an approach, go around, climb, fly to an alternate and have 45 minutes of reserve. transCanada wanted it to have 1 hour 45 minutes reserve starting all of the rumors that it wouldn't make it's range. Howard Hughes wanted to buy it and manufacture it in Culver City if it could not be manufactured in Canada. The government said it was a Canadian aircraft and it could only be manufactured in Canada but as they already said it couldn't be manufactured in Canada this was really the death blow. Dixon Spees the right hand man of CR Smith at American Airlines believed so strongly in this aircraft he took a leave from American Airlines to help with the project. It would have been the first jet transport prototype to fly except that when Dehaviland in England heard that the Jetliner was done with it's testing and ready to take it's first flight they took the Comet out without finishing ground testing, taxied to the end of the runway, gave it full power, lifted all of the wheels off, chopped the power and landed on the runway remaining in front of them. So the Jetliner was really robbed of that honor. The first time the Jetliner flew they took it on a real flight. Politics and logistics destroyed the jetliner. Not the merits of the aircraft. It was an incredible aircraft for 1949. It coined the phrase Jetliner which is still in use today. This was the first of many blows that destroyed AVRO Canada. This company generated much aviation technology. Due to politics and mismanagement at the top AVRO shut down on one days notice. Families were broken apart. There were suicides when men could not find jobs and could not feed their families. So many AVRO engineers came to the United States to work you can see a design shift in American Airliners that has a strong Canadian stamp. This is more than an aircraft. This is a tragedy.
John, e-mail, 24.09.2012 05:22
Actually, there were several factors which led to its demise. Firstly, it appeared during the Cold War and the Liberal govt of the day did not want Avro Canada building anything but CF-100's. Next, Rolls-Royce cancelled their RB102 jet engine and Avro was forced to adopt less powerful alternatives. This reduced range, speed and payload which is why the airlines lost interest. As an aside, the Orenda PS-13 Iroquois designed for the CF-105 Arrow Mk II came to be because Rolls-Royce cancelled the RB-106 engine before production.
marry, e-mail, 18.06.2011 06:26
We are doing a science project on the Avro Jetliner, and we were wondering if you could give us the permission to use the photos you have on the site. Thanks.
Ray takeuchi, e-mail, 06.03.2011 22:13
Worked on layout of fin and tailplane and was doing layout for ribs for a fowler type flap system before it was cancelled. Also fuselage formers based on Tudor I think. Witnessed the undercarriage-up landing by James Orrell with Don Rogers and Bill Baker Also witnessed the first flight of the Jetliner and C100 which no one was supposed to be watching. The chief of the stress office and I sneaked out onto the fire escape to see it go by with u/c down.
Reagh Sherwood, e-mail, 07.11.2010 18:30
Believe it was the first aircraft from Avro Canada. Parent company in the UK had a long history of building aircraft (pre-WWI?). Victory Aircraft in Canada built Lancasters during WWII. After the war the industry was re-organized and Victory became AVRO Canada. Look up the AVRO Tutor 8 which later bacame the AVRO Ashton. Basically a prop tail dragger that was converted to a 4 jet config very similar to the Jetliner (it was the world's first 4-engined jet airliner, but was not very successful). This flew in the UK prior to the Jetliner and the test pilot involved in the Ashton (Jimmy Orrell) was sent to Canada to fly the Jetliner due to his experience with the Ashton.
Chum, e-mail, 28.10.2010 23:51
I thought that the Lancaster was the first plane from AVRO?
Herb Schneider, e-mail, 13.10.2010 17:26
According to a Letter to the Editor by Allen Lambert of Grove City, PA which appeared in the Wall Street Journal on October 13, 2010, When Canada Almost Ruled the Civil Skies: "Politics in the U.S. led to the cancellation of potential sales to U.S. airlines, and the Jetliner never flew commercially."
Bob, e-mail, 12.10.2010 14:20
I believe that the Canadian Government did not support this industry leader and destroyed it, as they did the Arrow in 1959.
Mac McKay, e-mail, 22.09.2010 22:59
I tried to E mail Earnie Mitchell regarding the CL-102, I have several thousands of questions to ask him regarding the Jetliner, would you please contact me at maymck@nb.sympatico.ca
Earnie Mitchell, e-mail, 17.09.2010 22:17
I worked in the Engineering Office as a weight analyst and I weighed her before her flights.
Ben, e-mail, 05.03.2010 20:58
We are doing a science project on the Avro Jetliner, and we were wondering if you could give us the permission to use the photos you have on the site. Thanks.
Mike Green, 22.07.2009 07:32
I have always imagined this aircraft in "Trans Canada Airlines" colors. It would easily have been another wonderful Canadian design like the 'Beaver', 'CF 100' and 'AVRO Arrow'. (Did you know the variable pitch propeller was a Canadian invention?)
