Avro Aircraft secretarial staff, eyes to the sky, anxiously watching Avro CF-105 Arrow RL201's first flight.

Avro Aircraft President Fred Smye wrote about the first flight in his book, Canadian Aviation and the Avro Arrow:

“A first flight is a traumatic event to experience. One must be part of the organization to realize the magnitude of the drama and emotion. . . The success of this flight and the advanced technology which it demonstrated was the reflection of an accumulation of fifteen years of experience and knowledge.”