The NetLetter
For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)
January 8, 2014 - Issue 1288
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First Issue published in October 1995!
(over 5,400 subscribers)
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NetLetter Past Issues
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Donation Information
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Send cheques payable to "ACFamily Network" to:
ACFamily Network
#800 - 15355 24th Ave, Suite 523
Surrey, BC V4A 2H9
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Welcome to the NetLetter!
We welcome you to allow the NetLetter to be your platform, and opportunity, to relive your history while working for either TCA, AC, CPAir, CAIL, PWA, AirBC, Wardair, etal and share your experiences with us! 
Terry Baker and the NetLetter Team
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| Reader Submitted Photos - Compiled by Terry Baker |
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 Reader Submitted Photos - The photos and information below have been submitted to us by our faithful readers.
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Here we have a few more photos from the 9th Annual FoFS (Friends of Front St.) Reunion Luncheon that took place on the 30th of November, 2013, at Hooter's in the YYZ Airport Strip area. Photos were sent in by Shirlee Schacter following those we had in NetLetter nr 1287
All from the left:
 Annie Matusiak, Frank Marando |
 Gary Johnson, Munro Smith |
 Lynda Campbell, Rose Bankley
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 Kay Thacker, Roman Klein
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 George Trussell, Ted Zubek
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 Brian Speed, Charlie Lennox
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 Evangeline (Joyce) Kubin, Bruce Castator
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 Bob Newson, Jean-Georges Major
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 Russ Martin, Carol Reid
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 Lynda Campbell, Dale Meyer
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| TCA/Air Canada People Gallery - Compiled by Terry Baker |
 Below we have musings from the "Between Ourselves" and "Horizons" magazine, Air Canada publications from years gone by, as well as various in-house publications. The NetLetter has been fortunate enough to have our readers donate vintage Trans-Canada Air Lines and Air Canada publications from as far back as 1941 to share with you. These have been scanned and are being prepared for presenting in a special area of the ACFamily Network for archival and genealogy research.
Company History
1948 - July 1st - the company and the Canadian Post Office teamed up to create a new air mail service. It was a Canadian first which became a model for other countries. On that occasion, 66 years ago, Canadians received the first 'all up" air mail service in the Western Hemisphere and the most extensive air delivery system in the world.
1949 - Oct 1st - Introduction of Family Fare Plan for travel on TCA routes. The purchase of full fare by one parent allows the other parent and children under 21 years, each, at 50% of the fare.
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Issue dated - October 1949
Some items gleaned from the "Between Ourselves" magazines.
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TCA amateur radio enthusiasts at Moncton suggest a weekly get-together on a selected frequency.
As a result of a Canada/USA air agreement, TCA inaugurated a traffic stop at Stephenville, Newfoundland on September 1st.
 In September 1947, a TCA North Star first made their appearance at Shannon, Eire. Here are the staff from those days. |
In May 1948, the Winnipeg Airline Rod and Gun Club was formed. The lodge at White Lake in the Whiteshell Forest Reserve was officially opened in September 1949.
 A summer time shot of six lucky stewardesses posing on the horizontal stabilizer of a North Star Skyliner. Jean Thompson, Olga Zawaski, Vickie Stewart, Thelma Moore, Mona Gaugh and Marguerite Renoud.
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 First one of its kind, was a "trans-continental" golf tournament, staged by the Flight Operations Department. Twelve winners of 72-hole tourneys at major bases across the system, met in Winnipeg to match shots and wits for 36 holes to decide, for a year at least, the identity of the best golfer in the department.
On hand when the trophies and mugs were presented to winners were: Front Row, left to right: Captain F. Wright, Toronto, winner of Central Region low gross; H. W. McDermid, Vancouver Crew Routing, Western Region low net; P. W. Rumer, Administrative Assistant, Flight Operations Headquarters, winner of the Edward cup for system low net; H. W. Seagrim, Director of Flight Operations; Captain A. S. Ander, Vancouver, who took the Seagrim Cup for system low gross and won the Western Region low gross; W. F. English, Vice-President, Operations; Captain E. E. Jokinen, Moncton, runner-up for system low gross.
Back Row from left to right: First Officer A. D. Mills, Toronto; J. T. Roy, Flight Operations Headquarters and tournament secretary; Captain J. P. Laskoski, Montreal; Captain W. H. Fogarty, Moncton, system consolation winner, high gross; Captain C. S. Tinsley, Calgary; Captain L. S. Anderson, Calgary; First Officer C. G. McCready, Montreal; Captain R. D. Ward, Winnipeg, Central Region low net winner.
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 Some of the Stores personnel at Vancouver in 1949.
In our photo from left to right: Ken Morley, Issuer; John Wood, Stockeeper; Barry Burton, Shipper; Bob Miller, Issuer; Christine Workman, Stenographer; Bill Leskiw, Stockeeper; Wally Sinkwich, Stockeeper; Jimmy Clark, Issuer; Ray Hall, Clerk; Ken Flack, Issuer. (Photo by Larry McEwan)
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| Alan's Space - by Alan Rust |
The Quebec City Soaring Club holds a wave camp every year in Baie-Saint-Paul. This year, they have produced an excellent video demonstrating all the grace of a glider flight in the beautiful Charlevoix Region setting.
"We hope to get our leisure discovered by the largest audience possible and to stimulate the interest of new members".
Pierre Bouchard,
President, Club de vol à voile de Québec See: www.cvvq.net for more information. (use Google Chrome to translate to English if required)
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| The breath of the Grande Duke - gliding Quebec |
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Canadi>n/CP Air/PWA, Wardair, etc. People & Events
- Compiled by Terry Baker
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 News and articles from days gone by gleaned from various publications from C.A.I.L. and its "ancestry" of contributing airlines. |
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Issue dated - November 1982
Items from the "CPAir NEWS" magazine -
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The headline was - It's so much fun with an airline, why not get married in the sky? - they did!
Flight 671 on September 11th 1982 was routine in all aspects until departure from Fort Nelson. B.C. bound for Watson Lake, Yukon.
Crew members and passengers watched in amazement as the aircraft was boarded by a bride and groom, their wedding party, and approximately 20 guests. Friends of the bride and groom decorated the inside archway with daisies and carnations and placed bouquets in the overhead bins. The bride and groom - Jennifer and Grant Trask, wanted to exchange their vows in the clouds because Jennifer, being a CP agent in Fort Nelson, has had "many happy occasions through work and travel and I'd like this one above all to be shared with my friends at CP Air."
As the ceremony was to be performed by a Yukon Justice, it was necessary to have the ceremony take place in Yukon air space, and so Capt. Ray Gamlin and First Officer Larry Humphreys made a slight alteration in the flight path to allow the extra time required.
The flower girl, maid of honour and bride escorted by her father made their procession up the aisle accompanied by the bridal chorus which Flight Engineer Geoff Brewster piped over the aircraft PA system. The ceremony was performed by Justice Mary McCulloch.
On arrival in Watson Lake, a special reception was arranged by Vic Cheropita and Brian Goodmanson, CP Air managers in Watson Lake and Fort Nelson, along with spirited members of the chamber of commerce. Ground stairs were covered with streamers and balloons and were placed at the aircraft entrance. Members of the reception party, dressed in Klondike costumes, welcomed the bride and groom with a special sign over the terminal door and invited everyone to a toast of Yukon Punch. The wedding-in-the-sky concluded on the return flight to Fort Nelson with crew members Brigit Seppke, Irma Zwan and Mariko Osawa serving picnic lunches and a special cake compliments of the Edmonton catering and Fort Nelson staff.
 Jennifer and Grant Trask's arrival in Watson Lake, greeted by Brian Goodmanson (left) and Vic Cheropita. |
 "It'll never get off the ground!"
Very true. But an acquired B-737 Cockpit Procedures Trainer (C.P.T.) will help new B-737 pilots get off the ground by giving them "hands" on experience at operating the various airplane systems. Capt. Charlie Ayers, Vancouver; and First Officer Gord Kent, Toronto, are the first crew to use the new C.P.T.
Instructor Ray Wright simulates malfunctions on the computer terminal, which in turn appears on the C.P.T. cockpit instruments and must be solved by the trainees.
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| Reader's Feedback - Compiled by Terry Baker |
Every week we ask our readers for their stories or feedback on what they have read here in previous issues. Below is the feedback we have received recently. Gerry Malone, Carol Bell (Folkes), Ron Carradine - ex YXU, and Doug Moberg all spotted an error in the airport codes in NetLetter nr 1286 which we copied from the YVR newsletter - YXE is Saskatoon Airport, Saskatoon, SK not YXU which is Metropolitan Airport, London, ONT. Heather Johannson remembers being told that the Canadian airport codes were originally based on those used by CN and CP Railways which started with a "y". I don't (know) who told me but it was during my Wardair training in 1967. Heather Johannson Peachland, BC Norman Hogwood in New Zealand was browsing the history of Air NZ in Wikipedia this morning and found it had the item below under major incidents. Cary and I were pax on this flight as were fellow Air NZers Ian Winchester and his wife, and Derek Wilby and his wife. On approach to LAX we did a go-around and I thought it was probably the usual cause, i.e. some airline tardy in leaving the runway but after a while the skipper, Des Lines, told us what it was all about. On landing they found marks on the rear fuselage where the flap struck. Good job it didn't hit the horizontal stabilizer! The flap was found in the Manukau Harbour and Guy, who was working in the Air NZ Safety Dept at the time, and a colleague were sent up in a chopper to see if there were any more bits in the water. There were none. This was the only little bit of excitement I ever had while flying. The official report was - "On 30 August 2002, Air New Zealand Flight 2, a Boeing 747-400-operated flight from Auckland to London Heathrow via Los Angeles, lost a two-metre section of its right inboard trailing-edge flap just after take-off. Dismissing the bumps as wake turbulence, the crew only realized the flap was missing 12 hours later on the approach to Los Angeles. The aircraft landed safely with no injuries. The separation was caused by a fatigue fracture of one of the links attaching the flap to the wing." Cheers, Norm Peter Baldry sends this comment regarding the article in NetLetter nr 1284 - I am positive that the date when LHR employees totaled 78 should more likely be 1968 at the latest - I was the Acft Services Manager from 1976 and I had almost that then from memory!!! |
Odds and Ends.
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 Sometimes we receive articles and information that just doesn't fit in our other areas. This is where it goes!
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Airline check in - from a sand castle show at Harrison Hot Springs, B.C. summer 2008.
 
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Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker
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 Conclusion of the airport codes started in NetLetter nr 1286 - LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) - This is certainly the easiest code on the list to crack, but what's with mystery X? There was a time when airport codes were only two letters long, and based on the city designations given by the National Weather Service. When it became apparent that three-letter codes would be necessary to accommodate all the airports, an X was added to LA and other existing airports to make it compliant. Bonus fun fact: Portland (PDX) and Phoenix (PHX) airports also had X added to their two-letter codes, but for Phoenix it was far more convenient.
MCO- (Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida) - MCO airport is located in southeast of the central business district in Orlando, and despite being the 13th-busiest airport in the United States it isn't even the busiest airport in Florida (that would be Miami International Airport). The airport has its origins in the war when it first began operating as Pinecastle Army Airfield. In 1957, Colonel Michael Norman Wright McCoy died while performing a demonstration there and the base was renamed for him the following year. The airport code of MCO is taken from the McCoy name, and wasn't changed when the airport was renamed Orlando International Airport in 1976.
LOL- (Derby Field Airport, Nevada) - Derby Field can be reached from YVR by flying to RNO (Reno-Tahoe International Airport) and connecting to LOL. Derby Field Airport is a small airport located in the State of Nevada approximately 65 miles northeast of Reno. The acronym LOL of course now means almost universally "laugh out loud" in internet speak, but I don't think the letter combination had earned its dual meaning when the airport code was assigned. The airport code is actually earned by Derby Field's proximity to Lovelock, Nevada, formerly a popular spot for wagons to stop along the trail to California.
EAT- (Pangborn Memorial Airport in Wenatchee, Washington) - Connect to EAT thru SEA (Seatac Internatioal Airport)
Like many airports, Pangborn Memorial Airport is named after a noted aviator born in the area. Clyde "Upside-Down" Pangborn was a military pilot later in life, but was more known as a stunt pilot who, along with his partner Hugh Herndon, Jr., became the first to fly non-stop across the Pacific Ocean. The airport code, EAT, has nothing to do with Pangborn, and as far as I can tell, nothing to do with anything. Even the people at EAT couldn't tell me what, if anything, the code signified. The man I spoke to did note that it is located in East Wenatchee, but when it was opened in 1941 there wasn't really a delineation between East and West Wenatchee. So for now, let's assume the letters were randomly assigned, or the person assigning codes that day skipped breakfast. Some codes are harder to break than others. Does anybody know the origins of EAT?
Note: A tip via Twitter theorizes that EAT comes from the first three letters available in Wenatchee. W isn't used for airport codes and there are certain restrictions on the letter N, so wEnATchee becomes EAT. Thanks for the tip!
(source YVR newsletter)
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| Smileys - Compiled by Terry Baker |
As we surf the internet and back issues of airline magazines we regularly find airline related jokes and cartoons. Below is our latest discovery.
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 These cartoons, by D. Fallwell, who happened to work in Terrace, BC, are from the "CPAir News" magazine issued October and November 1978.
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The NetLetter is an email newsletter published (usually) once a week and contains a mixture of nostalgia, current news and travel tips. We encourage our readers to submit their stories, photos and/or comments from either days gone by or from present day experiences and trips. If we think that the rest of our readers will enjoy it, we will publish it here.
We also welcome your feedback in regard to anything we post here. Many readers have commented with additional information, names and personal memories from the photos and articles presented here.
The NetLetter, which is free, is open to anyone that wishes to subscribe but is targeted to retired employees from Air Canada, Canadian Airlines and all the other companies that were part of what Air Canada is today. Thanks for joining us!
We hope you have enjoyed this issue of the NetLetter, see you next week!
Sincerely,
Your NetLetter Team
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Disclaimer: Please note, that neither the NetLetter or the ACFamily Network necessarily endorse any of the airline related or other "deals" that we provide for our readers. We would be interested in any feedback (good or bad) when using these companies though and will report the results here. We do not (normally) receive any compensation from any companies that we post in our newsletters. If we do receive a donation or other compensation, it will be indicated as a sponsored article or link.
E&OE - (errors and omissions excepted) - The historical information as well as any other information provided here is subject to correction and may have changed over time. We do publish corrections when they are brought to our attention.
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First published in October, 1995
- Chief Pilot - Terry Baker, Nanaimo, B.C.
- Co-pilot - Alan Rust, Surrey, B.C.
- Flight Engineer - Bill Rowsell, Londesboro, Ontario
- Stewardess - Lisa Ruck, Brooklin, Ontario
To contact us, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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