Editing Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow (section)

===Rollout and flight testing===

[[File:Unveiling of CF-105 Dévoilement de l’aéronef CF-105 (49553834541).jpg|thumb|right|Unveiling of CF-105 on October 4, 1957. Pilots Ron Hodge (left), Ed Wright (right).]]
Go-ahead on the production was given in 1955. The rollout of the first CF-105, marked as RL-201, took place on 4 October 1957. The company had planned to capitalize on the event, inviting more than {{nowrap|13,000}} guests to the occasion.<ref>Gainor 2001, p.&nbsp;15.</ref> Unfortunately for Avro, the media and public attention for the Arrow rollout was dwarfed by the launch of [[Sputnik]] the same day.<ref name= "Gunston p. 18"/><ref>{{cite magazine |archive-date=17 May 2014 |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201472.html |title=The Arrow Unveiled |magazine=[[Flight International]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517120058/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201472.html |date=11 October 1957 |pages=562–563 |access-date=24 May 2023}}</ref>

The J75 engine was slightly heavier than the [[Orenda Iroquois|PS-13]], and therefore required ballast to be placed in the nose to return the [[centre of gravity]] to the correct position. In addition, the Astra fire-control system was not ready, and it too, was replaced by ballast. The otherwise unused weapons bay was loaded with test equipment.<ref>Page et al. 2004, p.&nbsp;161.</ref>

{{quote box|align=left|width=25%|quote=The aircraft, at supersonic speeds, was pleasant and easy to fly. During approach and landing, the handling characteristics were considered good&nbsp;... On my second flight&nbsp;... the general handling characteristics of the Arrow Mark 1 were much improved&nbsp;... On my sixth and last flight&nbsp;... the erratic control in the rolling plane, encountered on the last flight, [was] no longer there&nbsp;... Excellent progress was being made in the development&nbsp;... from where I sat the Arrow was performing as predicted and was meeting all guarantees.|source= —Jack Woodman, the only RCAF pilot to fly the Arrow<ref name = 'campagna86-87'>Campagna 1998, pp.&nbsp;86–87.</ref>}}

RL-201 first flew on 25 March 1958 with Chief Development Test Pilot S/L [[Janusz Żurakowski]] at the controls.<ref name = 'pigott57'>Pigott 1997, p.&nbsp;57.</ref> Four more J75-powered Mk 1s were delivered in the next 18 months. The test flights, limited to "proof-of-concept" and assessing flight characteristics, revealed no serious design faults.<ref name = 'campagna84'>Campagna 1998, p.&nbsp;84.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=MQTGAAAAIAAJ "Air & Space Smithsonian, Volume 13"]. Smithsonian Institution. 1998, p.&nbsp;37.</ref> The CF-105 demonstrated excellent handling throughout the flight envelope, in large part due to the natural qualities of the delta-wing, but responsibility can also be attributed to the Arrow's [[Stability Augmentation System]].<ref name = 'campagna85'/> The aircraft went supersonic on its third flight and,<ref name = 'pigott57'/> on the seventh, broke {{nowrap|1,000 mph (1,600 km/h)}} at {{nowrap|50,000 ft (15,000 m)}} while climbing. A top speed of Mach&nbsp;1.98 was achieved, and this was not at the limits of its performance.<ref name = 'campagna87'/> An Avro report made public in 2015 clarifies that during the highest speed flight, the Arrow reached Mach&nbsp;1.90 in steady level flight, and an indicated Mach number of 1.95 was recorded in a dive.<ref name = 'Waechter15'>Waechter 2015, pp. 113–18.</ref> Estimates up to Mach&nbsp;1.98 likely originated from an attempt to compensate for [[Pitot-static system#Lag errors|lag error]], which was expected in diving flight.<ref name = 'Waechter15a'>Waechter 2015, p. 73.</ref>

Although no major problems were encountered during the initial testing phase, some minor issues with the landing gear and flight control system had to be rectified. The former problem was partly due to the tandem main landing gear{{#tag:ref|The CF-105 used tandem main undercarriage units with two wheels and tires: one in front of and one behind the gear leg.|group=Note}} being very narrow, in order to fit into the wings; the leg shortened in length and rotated as it was stowed.<ref name = 'campagna70'>Campagna 1998, p.&nbsp;70.</ref> During one landing incident on 11 June 1958, the chain mechanism (used to shorten the gear) in the Mark 1 gear jammed, resulting in the Arrow 201 experiencing a [[runway excursion]] and gear collapse<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=P |title=Report on accident to AVRO Arrow I 25201 on 11 June 1958 at Malton |date=1958 |url=https://nrc-digital-repository.canada.ca/eng/view/ft/?id=f586fd5a-affc-4260-849b-dc94680af18f}}</ref>.<ref name = 'campagna87'/> In a second incident with Arrow 202 on 11 November 1958, the flight control system commanded [[elevon]]s full down at landing; the resulting reduction in weight on the gears reduced the effective tire friction, ultimately resulting in brake lockup and subsequent gear collapse.<ref name = 'campagna86'>Campagna 1998, p.&nbsp;86.</ref> A photograph taken of the incident proved that inadvertent flight control activation had caused the accident.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201035/http://www.avromuseum.ca/index.php?q=node%2F45 "Avro Museum"]. Avro Museum of Canada via ''web.archive.org''. Retrieved: 4 September 2010.</ref> The only occasion when a test flight was diverted occurred on 2 February 1959, when a [[Trans-Canada Airlines]] [[Vickers Viscount]] crash-landed in Toronto, necessitating a landing at RCAF Trenton.<ref>Page et al. 2004, p.&nbsp;115.</ref>

The stability augmentation system also required much fine-tuning.<ref name = 'campagna87'>Campagna 1998, p.&nbsp;87.</ref> Although the CF-105 was not the first aircraft to use such a system,{{#tag:ref| The CF-105 Arrow used the stability augmentation system for all three axes; other aircraft in the 1950s, were experimenting with these systems, but had only reached the stage of incorporating simple, one-axis or two-axes stability augmentation.<ref>Abzug and Larrabee, 2002, p.&nbsp;316.</ref>|group=Note}} it was one of the first of its kind, and was problematic. By February 1959, the five aircraft had completed the majority of the company test program and were progressing to the RCAF acceptance trials.<ref name="Page et al. 2004, p.&nbsp;117">Page et al. 2004, p.&nbsp;117.</ref>