The Last Flight of the Arrow

In 1940, Hitler had conquered continental Europe with little resistance, and the predictions were that Britain would be next. Under the command of Squadron Leader Stanley Croft, pilot Officer Bogdan Kapolski leads the Red Section across the skies of England. He becomes an Ace flier when he takes down his fifth plane. Indeed, a wizard in the air, Kapolski becomes one of the best fighter pilots in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He brings those skills to the table again in the Korean War, and then during the Cold War when his government calls him to action to pilot the last flight of the Arrow. In 1945 in the Mariana Islands, a guest reporter Ben Spencer, Canadian war correspondent for the Vancouver Daily News, accompanies a mission to drop bombs on Tokyo. Hits to the plane's port wing and leaking fuel force the crew and reporter to bail out and send a distress call for air-sea rescue. The crew and reporter float in the water and wait for a sub to find them. Spencer's daring to accompany dangerous missions creates a solid reputation for him, later giving him free reign, in his column printed in the Toronto Tribune, to boldly attack policies and politicians that don't, in his view, fulfill Canada's best interests, including the end of the Arrow program. His own investigations in the Arrow will fuel controversy and help bring about the public end of the aircraft.With the advent of the missile age, heralded by the Russian Sputnik, manned interceptors become obsolete. On February 20, 1959 the Canadian prime minister announces to the House of Commons the end of the CF-105 Avro Arrow supersonic fighter-interceptor program. Three hundred million dollars had already been invested in an aircraft, and its draining the economy. Further, Russia claims that the Arrow is a threat to world peace, and promises to disband her own buildup of planes in return for the end of the Arrow project. They do not fulfill their promise. Meanwhile, Canadian and American intelligence learns of their plans, and the Canadians pretend to end the Arrow program, staging an end to the Arrow program while they actually move bases to the far north. As politics, the media, and espionage converge, it will be up to Kapolski to pilot the mission that prevents the advent of World War III. Espionage and intrigue abound in Daniel Wyatt's THE LAST FLIGHT OF THE ARROW. This is a fictional tale based on the myth that some of the Arrows escaped destruction and were used to preserve the free world. Originally published by Random House, where it sold 20,000 copies, the novel has been revised to include more intrigue. Indeed, the cloak and dagger games of the CIA, Canadians and Russians lend the novel amazing conviction. As international tension builds, Wyatt's plot moves at a fast clip, skillfully maintaining the pace and the reader's attention. Credible characterizations bring the plot to life, interwoven with the technical jargon and avionic facts that keep the novel firmly grounded in history. Yet