On this day in 1957 a Canadian engineering marvel was rolled out for Canadians to view for the very first time.I speak, of course, of the famed Avro Arrow, a plane meant for the Royal Canadian Air Force that eventually would take on mythological status.  The cutting-edge jet was designed to reach speeds in the range of Mach 2 and operate at altitudes higher than most fighter-jets of the day. Its Iroquois engine was said to have been the most advanced of its time.For me, as a young reporter working for the Pembroke Observer in 1994, it was a great thrill to be able to interview test pilot Janusz Żurakowski who lived in nearby Barry’s Bay.  It was the 35^th anniversary of the cancellation of the Avro Arrow by the Diefenbaker government and I will forever recall the pilot’s anger at what had happened to his beloved jet and project.Because the projected was ended, almost 30,000 high-tech workers in Canada lost their jobs.  Many ended up at NASA, working on America’s space program.  Ever since, Canada has purchased foreign-built fighters for the RCAF, a sad state of affairs that continues.[caption id="attachment_585860" align="alignleft" width="300"] Avro Arrow, at her 1957 rollout[/caption]Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist.  He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy.  A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.