From Supersonic to Atomic: Tribute to Roy Nakagawa
Roy Nakagawa was born in 1928 in the secluded coastal town of Ocean Falls, B.C. He was a young teenager on December 7, 1941, when Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. Roy and his family were removed from Ocean Falls and placed in Slocan City, an internment camp located in the interior of British Columbia.
There were labour shortages across Canada, and businesses needed workers to contribute to the war effort. After their second year in Slocan City, the family moved to Saskatchewan, where Roy’s dad got a job retreading tires in Regina. After high school, Roy pursued an engineering degree from the University of Manitoba, graduating in the top 10 of his class. In 1951, he was hired as an engineer-in-training by A.V. Roe Canada’s gas turbine division, later Orenda Engines.
Roy Nakagawa was present for the Avro Arrow project from beginning to end.
He worked on engine designs for the CF-100 Canuck, Canada’s first jet fighter, and helped design an Orenda engine for the Canadair CL-13 Sabre, a first-generation fighter that broke speed records. On May 18, 1953, this engine helped make history when Jacqueline Cochran, flying the CL-13 Sabre Mk. 3, became the first woman to break the sound barrier.
In 1953, when A.V. Roe Canada was in the drawing stages of the CF-105 Arrow, Roy was on a team of engineers designing the Orenda PS-13 Iroquois engine.
After the shutdown, Roy worked for Atomic Energy of Canada for 25 years, designing nuclear power reactors and containment systems for handling nuclear waste.
In August 2019, Roy received an award from the president of the Japanese Cultural Centre in Toronto for his volunteer work. The same month, Roy met Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado of Japan when she attended events celebrating the 90th anniversary of Canada-japan diplomatic relations.
When I asked him if he was proud of his accomplishments for Canada, Roy Nakagawa replied, “Not bad for a boy from Ocean Falls.”
it to Britain, only to receive a stern call from Canadian Heritage, which informed him he had been required to file an application for the export. They let him o with a warning, however, impressed by the acquisition.
The Reynolds-alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alta., has a full-scale replica of the Arrow. This one was the initiative of enthusiast Allan Jackson, who started construction in 1989, building the nose section in his garage. Allan’s Arrow was about 80 per cent complete when he was approached by CBC, which had been developing a miniseries about the aircraft, with an oer to help finish the replica. In return, it was used for the production, and in 1997, The Arrow, starring Dan Aykroyd and Christopher Plummer, aired on CBC television.
Thanks to those working to preserve the memory of A.V. Roe Canada and its groundbreaking Avro Arrow, the aircraft is a part of aviation history that will stay in the hearts of Canadians for generations to come.