08/19/2026
It's ✈ Today we're taking the time to celebrate the CF 105 Avro Arrow, who had engine testing done right over in Nobel, Ontario.
During the Cold War, a testing facility for Orenda Engines’ Orenda Iroquois turbot jet was established. This engine was supposed to power the Avro Arrow. The Avro Arrow was to be a revolutionary, world class interceptor to engage and destroy Russian bombers in the Cold War. The Arrow interceptors were developed, built, and tested throughout the 1950s, and just when the end was in sight, the Diefenbaker government cut all funding to the program and ordered all interceptors and equipment destroyed. Some pieces, however, were smuggled out and are housed in museums across Canada.
Here are some of our favourite photos
📷1️⃣ A. V. Roe. Canada Ltd. L-R: Axel? Kieland, George Thomas, John Hill (Jack), Donald Gordon, Peter Stevens, Paul Nielsen, George Best, Gordon Jennings, Robert Reed, F.D.M (Shad) Williams, Jean Forth?, John Wilbur, Myrtle McGin____, John Otley, James Walters, Robert Warren, Arthur Sutton
📷2️⃣ Orenda Engines open house at Nobel taken in 1951 (photo provided by John Armstrong)
📷3️⃣ Orenda Engines, Nobel; Sector Altitude Combustion Rig
📷4️⃣ Orenda Engines, Nobel; A/B Control Room (Afterburner Rig)
📷5️⃣ Orenda Engines, Nobel; "Moore-Worthington Control Panel"
📷6️⃣ The Avro CF-100 engine
📷7️⃣ Orenda Engines, Nobel; "Ingersol Rand Compressor"
📷8️⃣ The Avro Arrow plane
