The NetLetter
For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)
April 26, 2014 - Issue 1298
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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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Sponsors
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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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| Air Canada News |
Caracas Flights Suspended. Due to on-going civil unrest in Venezuela, Air Canada can no longer ensure the safety of its operation and has suspended flights to Caracas until further notice.
Rouge began daily Montreal-Las Vegas service, initially with Airbus A319s, moving Boeing 767-300ERs
AIR GEORGIAN leased ex-Jazz CRJ100 (7095) from Avmax Group for operation as AIR CANADA EXPRESS
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| PEOPLE FINDER - compiled by Alan Rust |
We have received this request from Perry Edwards
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| Mary Jo Bishop |
Hello, I am a retired RCMP member, who was stationed in plainclothes at YYC in the late 1970's. I occasionally had coffee with one of the AC passenger agents there, Mary Jo Bishop. I remember her as a very sweet person and great to chat with.
I subsequently transferred to other locales in Alberta and then home to Vancouver in 1993. I retired from the RCMP in early 2011 and reside in North Vancouver with my wife and young son "my retirement project"!
I recently heard a rumour from a former RCMP colleague (which I fervently hope is not true), that Mary Jo (and her family) might have been involved in a very bad accident in northern BC a few years ago. I did a "Net search" and came up with one entry in your newsletter, which appears to show Mary Jo working here at YVR in 2010.
It appears I misread the webpage. The newsletter concerned was from 2010 but the
photo dated from 1993, depicting AC staff preparing for the inauguration of
service to New Delhi.
If you know of Mary Jo or are able to put me in contact with her to say hello, I would appreciate that.
Thanks very much, Insp. Perry Edwards, RCMP (retired) North Vancouver, BC
(Any information can be passed to Perry at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with a copy to the NetLetter - eds)
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| Women in Aviation - Compiled by Terry Baker |
Army women are better helicopter pilots than men!
Ten out of every 100 Army helicopter pilots are women - but they account for only three out of every 100 accidents. That's the bottom line in an Army report that, in an effort to study the impact of women on the front lines, compares accident rates of men and women flying U.S. Army helicopters from 2002 to 2013.
The revelation is included in Army Major Seneca Peña-Collazo's report, Women in Combat Arms: A Study of the Global War on Terror, which he published while a student at the School of Advanced Military Studies at the Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. his report does not hypothesize what might account for the different crash histories of the Army's female and male pilots, although the data matched what auto insurance underwriters have known for years-women are better drivers than men.
The report is also is consistent with the informal information reported by World War II Royal Air Force Air Transport Auxiliary pilot Diana Barnato Walker in her book, Spreading My Wings. Male and female Air Transport Auxiliary pilots received the same training and flew the same aircraft, Tiger Moths through Spitfires and Lancaster's on the same deliveries, yet the women pilots had a lower rate of accidents.
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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.
1977 - May 1st - Use of First Class by vacationing employees/retirees, when the economy section was full, was withdrawn. However this decision was reversed effective January 1st 1979, when the conditions and environment changed.
Roger Griffiths has recently retired at LHR, having completed of 49 years of service. This is the longest period of service of anyone in the UK since the Company began operations there.
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Issue dated - February 1959
Some items gleaned from the "Between Ourselves" magazines.
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 A PRESSURE CHECK was carried out on the Company's first DC-8 at California during January 1959, and the aircraft was rolled out of the production line for this check.
At that time it was at number seven position and later in the month it was back on the line at number four spot. Assembly of basic wing, fuselage and tail structure components of TCA's second jetliner progresses, and assembly of the first parts of the third TCA aircraft was underway. The first DC-8 for the Company was expected late in 1959.
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Issue dated - October 1978
Some items gleaned from the "Horizons" magazines.
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 The sheet metal shop at Dorval
"Don't buy it, we'll make it" was the fitting slogan for the lads in the Sheet Metal Shop at the Dorval Base. Here in this photo we have Crew 41 shown at work on the repair of a flap.
From the left: Mechanics Jean-Paul Lachapelle, Raymond Dugas, Bernard Nadeau and Lead Mechanic Leon Brasseur.
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Issue dated - November 1978
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 The first shipment of lobsters for Paris on the new Atlantic Canada-Europe freighter service receives a real regional send-off.
Goods from all the Maritime provinces are assembled at Halifax for export. The point is illustrated by the backgrounds of the employees shown here.
From the left: Station Agent Terry Smith who is a native of Digby; Flight Attendant Cheryl Cuvelier-Kraemer originally hails from Truro; Flight Attendant Paul Leblanc is from Moncton and Cargo Agent Gus McDonald comes from Sydney.
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| Alan's Space - by Alan Rust |
Tour of the International Space Station Orbital Laboratory
In her final days as Commander of the International Space Station, Sunita Williams of NASA recorded an extensive tour of the orbital laboratory and downlinked the video on Nov. 18, 2012 just hours before she, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency departed in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft for a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan. The tour includes scenes of each of the station's modules and research facilities with a running narrative by Williams of the work that has taken place and which is ongoing aboard the orbital outpost.
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| Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory |
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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. On May 4th 1959 a significant development in CPA's route expansion was the commencement of daily transcontinental service between Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. At that time, the company relinquished its domestic routes in Northern Alberta and down the Mackenzie river. In 1988, PWA had a 25% interest in GPA Turboprop Ltd,a 50% interest in GPA Airbus Ltd, and 50% interest in the Gemini Group.. 1989 - May 1st - Commercial agreement with Japan Air Lines to jointly operate non-stop service between Toronto and Tokyo. |
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Issue dated - March 1989
Items from the "Info Canadi>n" magazine -
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 In 1989, the company began its 30th year of service to Italy. Here we have these two photos of the staff at that time.
Staffers in Milan who were available for a photo, from left, Graziano Visintin, airport services supervisor; Massimo Avini, cargo agent; Ada Reboanl, cargo agent; Ernesto Milani, airport services manager; Gianfranco Scaia, airport services agent; Victoria Miianl, cargo supervisor.
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 Some of the airline's Rome staff
Back from left, Ed Valka, general manager; Adriano Chiusuri, passenger sales agent; Amedeo Cimarelli, sales supervisor, southern Italy; Maurizlo Ruffini, reservations supervisor; Piero Marchetto, CTO supervisor; Richardo Menghini, reservations agent; Emma Spila, accounting agent; Francssco Marinelli, sales representative; Roberto Curcuruto, accounting clerk; Maurizio Piperno, sales manager, Italy; Fulvlo Fusco, sales manager, south and central Italy; second row, Rosana Lavalle, accounting supervisor; Lia Mancianti, reservations agent; Claudia Rosi, sales secretary; Maddelena Angeiuccl, administration assistant.
(Unfortunately, the names for the two members in front were not provided - eds)
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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. After reading about the WACA tennis event in NetLetter nr 1290, Jennie Hurley sends us these comments - What great memories were brought back with the photo of the WACA tennis tournament in Athens in 1978. Peter and I played in the tournament, I believe there were about 40 of us, and we had wonderful times with all the team in the old town wining, dining and Greek dancing over broken plates, and visiting a vineyard, and a one-day three-island tour. It was a great trip. Thanks for the memories !! Jennie Hurley, Victoria, B.C
After following the story about the history of Prestwick, serialized in several NetLetters, we received this comment from Stuart Hyde - Dear Newsletter team, firstly may I say how much I enjoy reading your Newsletter, it must be the best one for retirees in the airline industry. following your article about Prestwick this is the latest. The Scottish Government completed the acquisition of Glasgow Prestwick Airport from New Zealand based Infratil in late November 2013. The deal was valued at £1 (one pound). Scotland's Deputy First Minister said that it was a good decision and it allows the Scottish to protect not just the asset of Prestwick Airport but the jobs that directly and indirectly depend on it. Lack of interest of any private business to take on the airport led the Government to step in. Thanks again. Stuart Hyde Pionairs D.D. UK/EU
George Baker has sent in this information regarding the photo of the B767 mock up sent in by Karoly Wagner in NetLetter nr 1293 -Yes, indeed the person is Denis Hibbert, GF of the Avionics shop in Dorval. Denis left sometime in the 80s to become the tech rep for allied Signal (Air Research, and later Honeywell) for Air Canada. George Richard Hovey also sent this - The pic in Paris shows Avionics Foreman Denis Hebert. Kenneth Starnes sends this, Hi he is Denis Hebert , General Foreman or maybe Manager Dorval Avonics Shop. Clive Bebbington sends this - Hi, The gent in question is Denis Hebert who was my first boss at AC many fond memories of "F Troop". Regards Clive Bebbington (Ret). (We note a difference in spelling, but Hebert prevails - eds)
Ken Pickford picked up on this error in the request from Jim Miller sent us a request he received from William Grenier published in NetLetter nr 1293 - Re the request from Jim Miller re the AC 747 incident. He mentions 1975 as the year of AC's first 747 service. It was actually 1971 Regards, Ken (CF-TOA fin 301 c/n 20013 was received February 9th 1971 - eds)
Referring to NetLetter nr 1295, John Rodger sent us this information - I was contacted by Dick Hovey about the photo in the latest NetLetter from Robert Arnold. It looks like an old Muller x-ray tube and it was probably taken at the old Winnipeg Base before they moved to YUL. I went to work in NDT - YUL in 1974 and we had three NDT Technicians that came from YWG in our department at that time. Doug Lovat Sr.(Forman), Peter Epps & Art Fuller. That is a line up pointer on the mouth of the tube and would be removed before the x-ray was taken. If you look just above the control rod they are x-raying you can see the x-ray film sitting there. I spoke with Bob Szucs who was in NDT the same time as me and he's sure it is an old Muller tube. Regards John Rodger The NetLetter gang advised Robert Arnold regarding the info from John, and Robert responded - I had a close look at TCA photo 6924 with a 10 power loop and yes there does appear to be what might be a piece of x-ray film taped in place above the line up pointer. What I am curious about is where is the apparatus that actually takes the x-ray or is it all contained in this portable unit. When I think of x-ray equipment I think of this huge bulky piece of equipment like you would find in a doctors office but then again a dentist's x-ray machine is quite small and compact and can zero in on the small piece of x-ray film in your mouth. John Rodger seems to have a handle on what he is talking about so I shall label the photo as the Muller X-ray Tube. |
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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 Early photo of Vancouver Airport sent in by Doug Robinson.
Expansion of U.S. flights
United Airlines, the first major transcontinental airline inaugurated service to Vancouver from Seattle on July 1st, 1934. A new 10- passenger Boeing 247 carried passengers, mail and cargo. The following year, Canadian Airways began regular passenger and airmail service to Seattle using a de Havilland Dragon Rapide and Lockheed Model 10 Electra.
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| Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker |
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 Terry Baker brings you various travel tips and airline trivia each week in his area of the NetLetter.
See this week's treasures below.
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 Some deals from Interline Allstars
Norwegian Pearl
Alaska 10 Nights 1 departure date: May 08, 2014
Vancouver, Cruise Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Icy Strait, Sitka, Victoria, Seattle Prices From: Inside $469 | Oceanview $808 | Balcony $949 | Suite $1849
Norwegian Sun Alaska 11 Nights 1 departure date: May 13, 2014
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Astoria, Victoria, Vancouver, Cruise Inside Passage, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, Cruise Inside Passage, Vancouver Prices From:
Inside $939 | Oceanview $1189 | Balcony $1779 | Suite $3859
Star Princess Alaska 11 Nights 2 departure dates: May 12, Jun 14, 2014
San Francisco, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Victoria, San Francisco
Prices From: Inside $999 | Oceanview $1099 | Balcony $1499 | Suite $1799
(800) 920-5411 Gordon Froese ext 1 Call or click to reach your Allstar www.interlineallstars.com
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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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 Our cartoon is by Fernando Moura and appeared in the "CP Air News" issued May 1981.
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During a private fly-in fishing excursion into the Alaskan wilderness, the chartered pilot and fishermen left a cooler with bait in the plane. And a bear smelled it. This is what it did to the plane.
 
 
The pilot used his radio and had another pilot bring him two new tires, three cases of duct tape, and a supply of sheet plastic. He then patched the plane together, and FLEW IT HOME.
 
Duct tape... Never leave home without it.
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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
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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