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In February 2002, Joe Gulyes sent us this memory regarding the North Star -
Little known, but on December 1, 1960, Ray Bicknell and I happened to be the first flight to operate into the new terminal building at Dorval when it opened. We were doing a Montreal - Toronto - Montreal turnaround flight late in the evening of November 30, 1960, scheduled to arrive back at Montreal after midnight on December 1. Didn't give it much thought at the time as there was a Viscount flight departing slightly ahead of us to Montreal with a stop at Ottawa, being driven by another well-known pollster, Jack Parnham. To our surprise, as we trundled up to the new terminal, no Viscount!! Plenty of press and flashbulbs and Ray and I made the front page of the Gazette next morning. Rather fitting, the old girl (#206) shortly to retire, proverbially chuffing her way up to the gate 23 area as the first one in. Appears, during a rush turnaround at Ottawa, during startup, the old power cart was positioned under the Viscount's wing flaps, and not removed before flaps were selected as part of the after start checklist, resulting in a very embarrassed crew. Not to mention Incident/Accident Reports. Another fact is that the Canadair North Star operated under a special Flight Permit with TCA, rather than the usual certification. This created some problems for subsequent purchasers of the fleet, details of which are now getting shrouded in the mists and memory of time. Following the retirement of the North Star, and a brief period with Nordair, I ended up for a few years flying around the Mediterranean and North Africa in the RAF. Saw several Argonauts operated by Air Malta, and sundry other carriers, destinations into Africa, out of Brussels, cargo unknown! Just another anecdote from - retired Captain Joe Gulyes. Think I'll join Bick in Mexico. My bones could use some of the warmth via Tequila/Lime. Joe Gulyes.
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