Canadian Arrow Completes Drop Test

hpulley writes "The Canadian press is reporting that X-Prize entrant the Canadian Arrow made its first successful crew compartment drop test on Saturday. It is essentially a modern version of the German V2 rocket. This test was just a drop of the crew compartment to test the parachutes. Next comes a launch abort test to see if the crew can be safely sent away from the vehicle. No word yet on when they might launch the consecutive flights in two-week turnaround for the prize. Fellow Canadian entrant the da Vinci Project will try to launch October 2nd. In the fall, venerable model company Estes Rockets will have a new model of the Canadian Arrow along with models of other entrants like the Rubicon." Oddly enough, I saw the crew compartment being driven around in Toronto on Saturday morning (towed behind a white pickup truck), but I didn't know what they were up to.

Comments

Any of these guys German?

[aelbric]

It is essentially a modern version of the German V2 rocket.

Looks like London may not be safe yet. Someone call Tony Blair!

By the way, I have German ancestry (first generation American). Don't get all riled up.

O.o;

[Eudial]

A manned cruise missile.

Well, there ought to be a first time for everything.

Re:It's named after the legendary Avro Arrow

[stendec]

Lies, lies, all lies! The Avro Arrow was rightly the advanced technomiracle it is popularly known to have been. Here's a brief -- brief -- list of some of its features:

First production aeroplane to sustain Mach 3 without afterburners.

Could fly in space.

Had a Hoser Flight Operator Detector to ensure it was not being flown by the enemy.

Could compose iambic verse in flight.

Was used by the University of Toronto's physics department to empirically test both Einstein's Special and General Theories of Relativity.

Could ratiocinate its own funding to the body politic.