Macattack wrote:
The Avro Arrow is out of date now. The main thing about it is that it signifies Canada giving up their air tech superiority, something they're just starting to regain now.
So's the B-52 but with avionics updates and the like if it had entered into service it'd still be around. There was even talk at one time of the USA adopting it. I've often toyed with getting the Hobbycraft model kit. There's something about those 1950-60s delta wings that just says “speed” and “jet”
And Canada slips under Not Made Here thing all the time. Stryker and LAV are both Canadian designs.
The F-104 had such a sharp wing leading edge it required a rubber boot while on the ground. Just another remove before flight thing. It didn't do well in US service with some silly design ideas (ejection seat GO down!) and a poor tail design. But it served European nations (and Canada) safelyfor decades . It just needed some bugs worked out that the US wasn't willing to wait for it. And besides the USA loved the big F-4 Phantom not the nimble F-104. However NASA loved the F-104 as it was a great plane to “push the envelope”
The USA was in Vietnam and the F-104 didn't fit in with the dynamic of the Vietnamese air war as it it was originally a clean interceptor, not a dirty big framed bomber. Also the USAF had chosen the Falcon missile for its interceptors and that worked best with the Delta Duo (Dagger and Dart F-102 and F-106) The later F-104G and F-104S were great fighter/bombers but by then the USA was thoroughly invested in the Phantom and eschewed smaller nimble fighters until the F-16.
Bombs and gotta carry a lot of them!