Face forward - even if not moving forward

Hello Everyone,

Although I enjoy art in the paintbrush sense, there is also art in the mechanical sense. Two particular machines that are visually appealing for me are Honda’s mid-70s CB400F (because I owned one for a time) and the Avro Arrow (because Canada had them for a time – more another day).

The first time I laid eyes on the Honda motorcycle was in an old motorcycle magazine when in my teens. It was visually beautiful then and still is. Since selling my 1976 model years ago, I have learned it is one of the most sought-after collector Japanese bikes of the era. Good taste, bad timing. The picture above gives a pretty good perspective of how small it was – and how big I was. Six-foot tall riders tended to get cramped knees after a time. The look of the exhaust system was what caught my eye – sensuous, chromed curves that had an exhaust sound just as beautiful. Wring it out to the 10,000 rpm redline and it had plenty of hustle for its day.

The Avro Arrow had slim lines when viewed from the side, but a hulking view of the delta wing design when viewed from above. In the mid-50s it was designed to achieve an air speed of mach 3 and climb to altitudes of 70,000 feet. It could have with the Iroquois engine. The entire program was cancelled just months before it had a chance to prove its full capability. In the end, many of the Arrow design team went on to give the world the Concorde, the Gemini lunar modules and the Space Shuttle. The story is filled with intrigue and romance. The aircraft is as visually appealing as it was the jewel of Canadian technological advancement of the time – and in some respects, still is today.

Henry