The NetLetter
For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)
March 5, 2014 - Issue 1294
|
|
| |
|
First Issue published in October 1995!
(over 5,400 subscribers)
|
|
NetLetter Past Issues
|
 |
|
Donation Information
|
Send cheques payable to "ACFamily Network" to:
ACFamily Network
#800 - 15355 24th Ave, Suite 523
Surrey, BC V4A 2H9
|
|
Sponsors
|
 |
|
|
|
Greetings!
|
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
|
| Reader Submitted Photos - Compiled by Terry Baker |
|
 Reader Submitted Photos - The photos and information below have been submitted to us by our faithful readers.
|
Robert Arnold has sent us these photos with the following comment -
This falls under the category of "What is it". The photos show three different views of an apparatus that looks to me like some sort of crudely made heating unit that was made here in Winnipeg for use on the Viscount. The photos are circa winter 1957. Note the old 7up and Nesbitt's Orange pop bottle crates along with an old sawhorse that was used to support the unit. In one photo, under a magnifying glass, I can see a temperature gauge in centigrade, three circuit breakers, one has been pulled out (or tripped), and a toggle switch in the up position. The temp gauge goes from 0 to 200 degrees C with the needle pointing to 10 degrees. If any of your readers would be able to confirm my suspicions, that would be great. Who knows, maybe one of your readers might have had something to do with the design and the building and testing of this unit. Kent Davis wrote me and he thinks it might be a Janitrol Heater System, but could not confirm it for sure. Any help in identifying this unit would be appreciated.
|
| 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.
|
|
|
| |
|
Issue dated - December 1958
Some items gleaned from the "Between Ourselves" magazines.
|
 TCA'S JET DISPLAY drew many interested onlookers at the Jet Transportation day luncheon sponsored by the Chicago Association and Commerce and Industry at Chicago during 1958. TCA staff are seen in the photo looking at the exhibit.
From the left: Sales Representatives Art Balfour. and Hugh Burgoyne, Reservations Manager Bill Rourke, City Traffic Manager R. Miies and Reservation Agent Art Thrun.
|
 "THE NEW LOOK" for airport staff at Calgary shows the men wearing ties to enhance their appearance as they service incoming and outgoing flights. Since September, cargo agents, ramp agents, station attendants, as well as maintenance personnel have been wearing the neck-pieces.
Lined up before Calgary's beautiful terminal from the left are: Larry Norley, Ken Ryan, John Mychaluk, Al Zaluski, Al Flynn, Louis Violini, Ven Gillis, Tom Bown, Dave Church, John Vigliette, Ray Gilchrist, Ron Lahey and Earl Watson.
|
 FEMALE CURIOSITY paid off for stewardesses Jeanine Bedard, left and Karin Foch, right, when the Viscount they were preparing for passengers was rammed on the tarmac at Idlewild Airport, New York, by another aircraft out of control. The girls who escaped without injury, received 15 letters of congratulations from 10th grade students at a French school in Montreal.
The letters were written as a homework assignment in English.
|
| Alan's Space - by Alan Rust |
Now this is really scary to watch...
(story below from the photographer)
Whilst erecting a seven story high structure to be used as a Christmas tree, the helicopters rotor struck a cable causing the aircraft to crash to the ground. The Pilot was helped from the crumpled wreckage with minor injuries. Both of my Panasonic P2HD camera's were recording at the same time, even though I go to reposition myself because I didn't like the look of the cable near the rotor, the camera I am carrying is still recording. My other static wide view camera caught me walking across the frame, you can see the guy tug on the cable just as I go past him. After the impact, and seeing that the wreck had not burst into flames, I'm the guy in the yellow hi-vis, white hat and blue jeans that hops in to the cab to help get the unconscious pilot out along with the guy who originally pulled on the cable. I have removed the "comments" option as some people have been posting ridiculous messages, this was all just an accident, and by the grace of God, no one was badly injured.
More information:
For full story of the crash click here. For New Zealand CAA Report click here.
 |
| Helicopter Crashes - Original HD footage |
|
Canadi>n/CP Air/PWA, Wardair, etc. People & Events
- Compiled by Terry Baker
|
 News and articles from days gone by gleaned from various publications from C.A.I.L. and its "ancestry" of contributing airlines. 1983 - July 3rd - Skyhopper, a duty free trolley boutique was introduced on most of CP Air's Polar, Atlantic, South America (Lima only), North Pacific and European charter flights. |
|
Issue dated - July 1983
Items from the "CPAir NEWS" magazine -
|
 B-737 Aircraft No. 734 (the tail number is named after the Vancouver Ops Centre Paint Shop designator) at its roll-out for the B.C. Lions Society for Crippled Children parade.
In the pilot's position, Marco Berera, Plastic and Woodwork Shop, who did much of the design. Co-pilot, Bill Foley of the Paint Shop, whose efforts earned recognition as the tail number. Passengers, Bob Murray (left) and Rolly Greczmiei, both of Avionics, who organized the CP Air entry in the event. Behind the scenes, personnel from Ground Support Equipment ensured the craft would have a faultless flight.
|
 Eight off-line European bases joined the Pegasus Reservations Network during early June 1983. Here we have photos of the staff from three of those bases.
Dusseldorf: from left, Margit deLachs, district sales rep; Angelika Schroder, passenger agent; Anne Wrossok, sales rep; and Helga Schreiber (seated), passenger agent . . . now on line Pegasus.
|
 Copenhagen: from left, Flemming Timmermann, sales manager, Scandinavia, Turid Blom, senior sales rep; Jens Risgaard, sales rep; Hanne Hardiman, passenger agent; and Eli Andersen, senior passenger agent . . . now on line Pegasus.
|
 Zurich: from left, Ernst Kaufmann, passenger agent; George Eberle, sales rep; Esther Baumann, senior passenger agent; and Bert Elrich, sales manager . . . now on line Pegasus.
|
| 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.
|
Ted Beaudon has sent us some additional information to complement the story about Prestwick which we serialized in recent NetLetters from 1290 through 1293.
The Prestwick entry in this NetLetter intrigued me a lot... about that alleged first ferry flight into Prestwick, as I quote below... in boldface italics - On September 29th, 1940, a lone Hudson bomber slipped down upon the lush grass runways of Prestwick, to herald the arrival of the first ferried aircraft from Canada from that time, until the cessation of hostilities, 40,000 aircraft were to follow, Liberators, Boston's, Mitchell's, Fortresses, Dakotas, Curtis Commandos, Canadian built Lancaster's and Mosquitoes, famous names in the annals of World War II.
My observation, based on nearly 19 years of research - No known first flight until Nov. 11, 1940.
It appears that the FIRST ever flight of what became, in 1941, the RAF FC, took place ONLY on November 11th, 1940, NOT Sept. 29th, as indicated in The Prestwick report, and as to 40,000 aircraft, I think I know where that number came from. A bit of background to that number, all known records indicate that what began as the Canadian Pacific Air Services Department morphed into Atlantic Ferry Organization (ATFERO) and its Return Ferry Service (RFS) which was taken over by the RAF and morphed a second time into the Royal Air Force - Ferry Command. Ferry Command was not its official name, ever, but the popularly known name . Its four official names are cited - with their crests - in my new manuscript dedicated to the civilians who set the whole thing up..."Earth Angels Rising", now nearing completion.
These records also indicate that the RAF FC was tasked with delivering 10,000 bombers to the RAF, 9,442 of which actually got delivered at a frightening cost of the loss of nearly 500 of the 1,500 aircrew component of the 3,500 or so civilians who made up the bulk of the operation un-armed non-uniformed aircrew flying un-armed bombers incurred a 30% mortality rate, despite a low accident rate where number of aircraft losses are concerned.
It is very likely that 40,000 aircraft did arrive through Prestwick because soon after the fateful year of 1941 when WW II went truly world-wide after the Dec. 7th treachery by Japan on Pearl Harbor, cross-ocean deliveries totaling nearly 250,000 aircraft of all sizes began being delivered over the world's seven seas between late 1941 and August 1945, not only by the RAF FC but ALSO - I stress the ALSO - by a number of other American military transport commands. These commands popped up all over the place once the burden of neutrality had been totally removed by Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor, and shortly after the American air force of the day saw how phenomenally successful had become the civilians who created what became the RAF FC. And in 1941, the American air force was known as the USAAF - United States Army Air Force, the USAF had not been created until AFTER the war was over.
At any rate, nothing can be done about this now and no real harm has been done by crediting a flight for which there are no official records anywhere pointing to it that early, via North Atlantic skies, BUT, who knows? it is highly possible that there could have been one which does not appear anywhere else in known historical records, not even in Carl Christie's famed Ocean Bridge Gander airport, after all, was built and Hudson bombers had already arrived there (autumn 1940) from St. Hubert in Québec ready to be flown over in November.
Ted
Ted Beaudon has been exchanging e-mails with Val Frost who tells us that Ted's new book will be telling my father's and mother's story. They both worked for the RAF Ferry Command as Civilian Volunteers. Dad was an aircraft mechanic for TCA in the 40's, when RAF FC took over Dorval Base with all of its thousands of bombers, and TCA volunteered the mechanics to the RAF FC to service, overhaul, re-fit and load each of the bombers for ferrying over to the UK and Europe and south and east and west - wherever they were needed. This book will be an amazing tribute to all of the civilian volunteers of the RAF FC all over the world, but in that my father, David Harry ARCHIBALD.
Val |
Odds and Ends.
|
|
 Sometimes we receive articles and information that just doesn't fit in our other areas. This is where it goes!
|
Two aerial photos of Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) found on the internet.
  |
 Early photos of Vancouver airport sent in by Doug Robinson - Sprott-Shaw Waco 10 and two Gypsy Moths at Vancouver Airport, (Lansdowne). c1920
Photo credit: Vancouver Public Library special collection credit to Harry Pride.
|
Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker
|
|
 Terry is currently away but has left some info for us to include in NetLetters until he returns.
|
|
Continuing the short history of London's Heathrow airport (LHR)
started in NetLetter nr 1290
80's
- 7th June 1982 - Ronald Reagan flies into Heathrow - the first US President to visit Britain on a State Visit since 1918.
- 1st April 1986 - Prince Charles and Princess Diana inaugurated Terminal 4 at Heathrow.
19 87 - British Airports Authority is privatized and renamed BAA PLC.
|
| 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.
|
|
Letter from an Australian Cattle Station Pilot
Good day mate,
I am writing to you because I need your help to get me bloody pilot's
licence back. You keep telling me you got all the right contacts. Well now's your chance to make something happen for me because, mate, I'm bloody desperate.
But first, I'd better tell you what happened during my last flight review
with the CASA Examiner.
On the phone, Ron (that's the CAA d*#"head), seemed a reasonable sort of a bloke. He politely reminded me of the need to do a flight review every two years. He even offered to drive out, have a look over my property and let me operate from my own strip. Naturally I agreed to that.
Anyway, Ron turned up last Wednesday. First up, he said he was a bit
surprised to see the plane on a small strip outside my homestead, because the "ALA"(Authorized Landing Area), is about a mile away. I explained that because this strip was so close to the homestead, it was more convenient than the "ALA," and despite the power lines crossing about midway down the strip, it's really not a problem to land and take-off, because at the halfway point down the strip you're usually still on the ground.
For some reason Ron, seemed nervous. So, although I had done the pre-flight inspection only four days earlier, I decided to do it all
over again.
Because he was watching me carefully, I walked around the plane three
times instead of my usual two.
My effort was rewarded because the colour finally returned to Ron's cheeks. In fact, they went a bright red. In view of Ron's obviously better mood, I told him I was going to combine the test flight with some farm work, as I had to deliver three "poddy calves" from the home paddock to the main herd.
After a bit of a chase I finally caught the calves and threw them into the
back of the ol' Cessna 172. We climbed aboard but Ron, started getting onto me about weight and balance calculations and all that crap. Of course I knew that sort of thing was a waste of time because calves, like to move around a bit particularly when they see themselves 500-feet off the ground! So, it's bloody pointless trying to secure them as you know.
However, I did tell Ron that he shouldn't worry as I always keep the trim
wheel set on neutral to ensure we remain pretty stable at all stages
throughout the flight. Anyway, I started the engine and cleverly minimized the warm-up time by tramping hard on the brakes and gunning her to 2,500 RPM. I then discovered that Ron has very acute hearing, even though he was wearing a bloody headset. Through all that noise he detected a metallic rattle and demanded I account for it. Actually it began about a month ago and was caused by a screwdriver that fell down a hole in the floor and lodged in the fuel selector mechanism. The selector can't be moved now, but it doesn't matter because it's jammed on "All tanks," so I suppose that's Okay.
However, as Ron was obviously a nit-picker, I blamed the noise on vibration from a stainless steel thermos flask which I keep in a beaut little possie between the windshield and the magnetic compass. My explanation seemed to relax Ron, because he slumped back in the seat and kept looking up at the cockpit roof. I released the brakes to taxi
out, but unfortunately the plane gave a leap and spun to the right. "Hell" I thought," not the starboard wheel chock again." The bump jolted Ron back to full alertness. He looked around just in time to see a rock thrown by the prop-wash disappear completely through the windscreen of his brand new Commodore. "Now I'm really in trouble," I thought..
While Ron was busy ranting about his car, I ignored his requirement that we taxi to the "ALA," and instead took off under the power lines.
Ron didn't say a word, at least not until the engine started coughing right at the lift off point, and then he bloody screamed his head off. "Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!"
"Now take it easy Ron," I told him firmly. "That often happens on take-off and there is a good reason for it." I explained patiently that I usually run the plane on standard MOGAS, but one day I accidentally
put in a gallon or two of kerosene. To compensate for the low octane of the kerosene, I siphoned in a few gallons of super MOGAS and shook the wings up and down a few times to mix it up. Since then, the engine has been coughing a bit but in general it works just fine, if you know how to coax it properly. Anyway, at this stage Ron seemed to lose all interest in my test flight. He pulled out some rosary beads, closed his eyes and became lost in prayer. (I didn't think anyone was a Catholic these days) I selected some nice music on the HF radio to help him relax.
Meanwhile, I climbed to my normal cruising altitude of 10,500-feet. I don't normally put in a flight plan or get the weather because, as you know getting FAX access out here is a friggin' joke and the weather is always "8/8 blue" anyway.
But since I had that near miss with a Saab 340, I might have to change me thinking on that. Anyhow, on levelling out, I noticed some wild camels heading into my improved pasture. I hate bloody camels, and always carry a loaded 303, clipped inside the door of the Cessna just in case I see any of the bastards.
We were too high to hit them, but as a matter of principle, I decided to
have a go through the open window. Mate, when I pulled the bloody rifle out, the effect on Ron, was friggin electric. As I fired the first shot his neck lengthened by about six inches and his eyes bulged like a rabbit with myxo. He really looked as if he had been jabbed with an electric cattle prod on full power. In fact, Ron's reaction was so distracting that I lost concentration for a second and the next shot went straight through the port tyre. Ron was a bit upset about the shooting (probably one of those pinko animal lovers I guess) so I decided not to tell him about our little problem with the tyre. Shortly afterwards I located the main herd and decided to do my fighter pilot trick. Ron had gone back to praying when, in one smooth sequence, I pulled on full flaps, cut the power and started a sideslip from 10,500-feet down to 500-feet at 130 knots indicated (the last time I looked anyway) and the little needle rushed up to the red area on me ASI. What a buzz, mate!
About half way through the descent I looked back in the cabin to see the
calves gracefully suspended in mid air and mooing like crazy. I was going to comment to Ron on this unusual sight, but he looked a bit green and had rolled himself into the feral position and was screaming' his 'freakin' head off.
Mate, talk about being in a bloody zoo. You should've been there, it was so bloody funny! At about 500-feet I levelled out, but for some reason we kept sinking.
When we reached 50-feet, I applied full power but nothing happened. No noise no nothin'. Then, luckily, I heard me instructor's voice in me head saying "carb heat, carb heat." So I pulled carb heat on and that helped quite a lot, with the engine finally regaining full power. Whew, that was really close, let me tell you!
Then mate, you'll never guess what happened next! As luck would have it, at that height we flew into a massive dust cloud caused by the cattle and suddenly went I.F. bloody R, mate. You would have been really proud of me as I didn't panic once, not once, but I did make a mental note to consider an instrument rating as soon as me gyro is repaired (something I've been meaning to do for a while now). Suddenly Ron's elongated neck and bulging eyes reappeared. His mouth opened very wide, but no sound emerged. "Take it easy," I told him, "we'll be out of this in a minute" Sure enough, about a minute later we emerged, still straight and level and still at 50-feet.
Admittedly I was surprised to notice that we were upside down, and I kept thinking to myself, "I hope Ron didn't notice that I had forgotten to set the QNH when we were taxiing." This minor tribulation forced me to fly to a nearby valley in which I had to do a half roll to get upright again.
By now the main herd had divided into two groups leaving a narrow strip
between them. "Ah!" I thought, "there's an omen. We'll land right there."
Knowing that the tyre problem demanded a slow approach, I flew a couple of steep turns with full flap. Soon the stall warning horn was blaring so loud in me ear that I cut its circuit breaker to shut it up. But by then I knew we were slow enough anyway. I turned steeply onto a 75-foot final and put her down with a real thud. Strangely enough, I had always thought you could only ground loop in a tail dragger but, as usual, I was proved wrong again!
Halfway through our third loop, Ron at last recovered his sense of humour. Talk about laugh. I've never seen the likes of it. He couldn't stop.
We finally rolled to a halt and I released the calves, who bolted out of the aircraft like there was no tomorrow. I then began picking clumps of dry grass. Between gut wrenching fits of laughter, Ron asked what I was doing. I explained that we had to stuff the port tyre with grass so we
could fly back to the homestead.
It was then that Ron, really lost the plot and started running away from the aircraft. Can you believe it? I saw him running off into the distance, arms flailing in the air and still shrieking with laughter.
I later heard that he had been confined to a psychiatric institution - poor
bugger!
Anyhow mate, that's enough about Ron. The problem is I got this letter from CASA withdrawing, as they put it, my privileges to fly; until I have
undergone a complete pilot training course again and undertaken another flight proficiency test. Now I admit that I made a mistake in taxiing over the wheel chock and not setting the QNH using strip elevation, but I can't see what else I did that was a so bloody bad that they have to withdraw me flaming' license. Can you?
Ralph H. Bell
Mud Creek Station |
|
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
|
|
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.
|
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
To contact us, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
|
|
| |
|
