Akask
Blood and Snow
A True(ish) History of Kanada
On 4 October 1957 the first Avro Arrow, RL-201, was rolled out to the public. Canadians were astounded by this aircraft, which looked like nothing else at that time. On 25 March 1958 RL-201 took its’ first flight. “…the design quickly demonstrated excellent handling and overall performance, reaching Mach 1.9 in level flight.” (Wikipedia)
RL-201 was joined by four more Mk 1 Arrows, all powered by Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojet engines. Once the Orenda PS-13 Iroquois engines became available, they were installed in RL-206, the first in the Mk 2 series. In February 1959 RL-206 took to the air, quickly surpassing all performance expectations.
There had been rumours of an impending project cancellation. However, the failure on the launch pad of Sputnik 1 ensured that the Arrow project would proceed. P.M. Lester Pearson, who had narrowly defeated George Drew in the 1957 election, proclaimed that “This Arrow will lead the way to ensure ‘that the 21st century shall be the century of Canada and Canadian development’”.
A purchase commitment by the RAF of 144 Mk 2 Arrows guaranteed the production volume that would justify the enormous (at that time) development costs. An attempted sale to the USAF fell through. There were rumours that the government of the USA tried to force cancellation of the Arrow in favour of the Bomarc missile system. Pearson told the Americans that “Canadians do not need to be protected”. President Eisenhower stated that “Only strength can cooperate. Weakness can only beg. We will cooperate.”
The Mk 2 Arrows were so successful in repulsing occasional Soviet air incursions, that the Trudeau government in 1975 authorised the development of Arrow Mk 3. The Mark 3 Arrows were a development of the previous generation, using more titanium and upgraded avionics. This was followed by the Mulroney government in 1993 authorising the development or Arrow Mk 4. The Mark 4 Arrows incorporated much more automation, and a slightly smaller airframe made almost entirely of titanium with some carbon composites.
The Mk 5 Arrow, commissioned in 2005 by the Martin government, was the first ground-up redesign. Following the same outer lines, it incorporated VTOL and rocket assist capabilities. This allowed it to operate as a suborbital vehicle with world-wide reach.
The Mk 6 Arrow was commissioned in 2032 by the Duncan government. Recent work on controlled pulse fusion led to the radical decision to incorporate FRaP-jet (Fusion Rocket and Pulse-jet) engines. These engines, operating in air-breathing atmospheric mode, or in vacuum mode with liquid reaction mass stored in the wings, gave the Mk 6 Arrows essentially unlimited range. They operated equally well both in atmosphere and as far as geosynchronous orbit. The RCAF and NATO thus became the de facto guarantors of world peace.
During the development of the Mk 6 Arrow P.M. Duncan asked if a larger, transport-oriented version could be built. This led to the development of the Akask vehicle. The Mk 6 Arrow was split longitudinally to support a 3 x 15 m cargo hold. Two small pulse fusion generators support internal systems and the capability to provide on-site power in terrestrial or space environments.
The Akask Mk 1 has solidified Canada’s leading role in aerospace development. It is already making the support and servicing of the Canadian Orbital Territory (COT) cheaper and faster. Over the next few years it will support the establishment of Canada’s first Lunar settlement, based on the concepts pioneered in the Inunnguat cities in Canada’s Far North. So truly, “…the 21st century is the century of Canada…”
So what, you may ask, is the premise? It is that the Avro Arrow programme was not cancelled. This is the seventh generation vehicle, expanded with fusion rocket propulsion to enable surface-to-orbit freight transport. The result might have been a very different, and arguably more positive, world.
A Build Log may be found at https://fabrikisto.com/akask/
Solar System Project 1
Recently I was accepted as a Journeyman Member of the IAAA – International Association of Astronomical Artists. During various “get to know you” email conversations I was inspired to start a new tactile sculpture. The intent of SSP1 is to make available to all people, sighted or not, the sense of wonder of our Solar System’s scale and distances.
The upper and lower thirds illustrate the physical sizes of our planets, from Mercury to Neptune, and including Pluto and Charon. The outline of our Sun is on the left side as a size reference.
The middle portion illustrates the distances between the planets. Again, the sun is the reference. Here sizes are only approximate, but relative distances are to scale.
Principal moons of all planets are also shown to size scale, not distance.
The bottom right has a locator map of our approximate location within the Milky Way Galaxy.
The big green button activates a Sonification. The sound of a grand piano represents the planets. The bigger the planet, the lower the pitch. The principal moons are represented by a String Synth. The background drone is a tenor sax, dropped an octave. This sound is generated from a brightness cross-section of our Sun.
The base of the sculpture is MDF, backed with plywood. The frame is Spalted Maple. The corner joints were created with software by Tailmaker – Gert Burkhardt. All machining was done on a CanCam D23M CNC router. The finish is multiple coats of EcoPoxy FloCast epoxy, with the final flood coats done with UVPoxy.
The sonification was inspired and created with code by Matt Russo of SYSTEM Sounds. Images are from NASA.
