Page 4 - August 2019

The original Avro Arrow was powered by turbojet
The Avro Museum has been investigating the
availability of suitable engines for the Arrow II and
the preferred engines were the Pratt & Whitney
JT15D–4 Turbofans or the General Electric CJ610-6
Turbojets. These would fit both the physical
constraints of the 60% replica and the power
requirements. The former were/are used in the
Cessna Citation and the latter in the Learjet 24. Not
requiring new engines (which would be prohibitively
expensive) the alternative was for used engines from
one of these aircraft. Acquisition of engines was to be
a major delaying factor in the construction of the
Arrow II.
After careful review of available used aircraft for sale
in North America it became apparent that the most
likely source for such aircraft would be in the USA. We
located an aircraft in Helena, Montana, a Learjet 24,
with engines having a remaining working life that
would suit our requirements and arranged the
purchase of it. The GE engines with an extended
working life of 5,000 hours as compared to the Pratt &
Whitney with 3,500 hours and then operated “on
condition” with periodic inspections should serve the
Arrow II well for many years to come. The ability to
install turbojets as opposed to turbofans is a plus for
the Avro Museum.
engines. The GE engines will provide the right
combination of power (each 600 lbs thrust greater than
the Pratt & Whitney engines), noise level and thrust for
the Arrow II, but with a minor reduction in range as an
offset to those positives.
Avro Museum representatives went to check out the
aircraft – reviewed maintenance logs, external
inspection of the aircraft, interviewed the maintenance
crew who looked after the aircraft for the past 20 years,
bore-scoped and performed a test run of the engines
with short taxi under power – on June 10. The aircraft
was delivered to our hangar at Springbank Airport on 26
June, 2019.
Having suitable engines at our disposal provides the Avro
Museum and the Arrow II project a significant move
forward – our work planning may now be focused on the
tasks required to finishing the replica ready for taxi trials
and flight testing within four years.
Quick facts
A Boeing 747 is made up of six million parts.
More than 80% of the population is afraid of flying.
Each engine on a Boeing 747 weighs almost 9,500
pounds
The world’s smallest jet is the BD-5 Micro. Its wingspan is
14–21 feet and weighs just 358 pounds.
The tires of a Boeing KC-135 jet tanker’s landing gear
consist of 8 main gear wheels and two nose wheels. This
is enough material to make 100 automobile tires.