Peel Heritage Complex Artifact Travels to Design Exchange

Staff from the PHC stand beside a blade assembly from the ARVO Arrow on loan to the Design Exchange

Staff from the Peel Heritage Complex recently visited the Design Exchange in Toronto, where a piece from the Region of Peel Museum’s artifact collection is on loan as a part of the By Design exhibition.

Last year, museums across the country were asked by the Design Exchange to choose an item from their collection that embodied Canadian excellence and innovation in design. Registrar of the Peel Heritage Complex Museum, Diane Allengame- Kuster immediately thought of the rotor disk and blades from an Iroquois jet engine, created in Malton for the AVRO Arrow project.

A curatorial statement, written by
Diane Allengame-Kuster, is mounted beside the artifact in the Design Exchange gallery. It reads:

“In 1946 my father was hired to work in the development blade shop of A.V. Roe in Malton, later known as Orenda Engines Ltd. By 1953 the blade shop was deeply involved in the production of titanium alloy rotors for a new engine designed to lift the AVRO Arrow air frame to mach 1.5 at 50,000 feet in 60 seconds from a cold start. Known initially as Project Study13, it was later given the poetic and apt name “Iroquois” – a reference to the powerful and warlike Iroquois Confederacy.

The development of this engine pushed the known boundaries of aerodynamics, thermo-dynamics and mechanical design. Perfecting the titanium alloy used throughout the engine was in itself a scientific breakthrough.

The cancellation of the AVRO Arrow project in 1959 and the resulting layoffs were devastating to southern Ontario. In Peel County, it was estimated that weekly wages of nearly half a million dollars dried up overnight. While Canadians continue to mourn the Arrow, many feel the end of the Iroquois engine program was the greater technological loss for the Canadian aviation industry.”

In addition to being prominently placed in the Design Exchange gallery, the blade assembly is also mentioned in the promotional for the By Design exhibit:

“Curators from museums and galleries across Canada have loaned significant Canadian-designed objects from their collections to this exhibition. From a remarkable pair of Innu Kamiks (boots) to a turbine rotor of the late-lamented AVRO Arrow jet plane, BY DESIGN represents Canadian achievements in technology, agriculture, transportation, decorative objects and furniture design.”

Congratulations to the Peel Heritage Complex staff on their achievement!

To learn more about the Design Exchange, or the By Design exhibit, visit their Website.

The Peel Heritage Complex is made up of the Region of Peel Museum, the Art Gallery of Peel and the Region of Peel Archives. Together they collect, preserve and display a variety of materials related to Peel’s heritage.

The Peel Heritage Complex is operated by the Region of Peel and is located at 9 Wellington St. E. in Brampton. The Complex is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; weekends from noon to 4:30 p.m. and Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission fees are $2.50 for adults; $1.50 for seniors; $1 for students and $7 for families.