‘Secret’ Avro Arrow test model found in Lake Ontario

A somewhat beaten-up test model used in the development of Canada’s much-vaunted but secretive Avro Arrow fighter jet has been found covered in zebra mussels upside down on the bottom of Lake Ontario, expedition leaders announced Friday.

The tantalizing discovery of the three-metre-long model, between 30 and 60 metres underwater, is the first such find since the federal government killed the Arrow program in 1959.

The action sparked a bitter debate about the demise of what was once considered one of the most advanced combat jets in the world.

“It wasn’t just about finding something lost: For generations, the Arrow story has fascinated many of us and has become something dear to many Canadians,” said John Burzynski, CEO of Osisko Mining and expedition leader.

“It lingers in the Canadian psyche as to what this could have been.”

The find is especially significant because the aircraft themselves, along with almost everything as- sociated in producing them, were ordered destroyed when the program was scrapped, throwing thousands of people out of work.

In addition, everything about the jet and its development was classified.

Explorers with the OEX Recovery Group spent two weeks spread out of the last several months searching for the free-flight mod- els used as part of final design testing of the Arrow off Point Petre, south of Belleville, between 1955 and 1957.

Using a remote operated vehicle and sonar imagery, they found booster rockets used to launch the models, enabling them to narrow the search area.