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Air Canada News
Boeing 787 order increased to 37 aircraft; Air Canada becomes North America's largest Dreamliner customer.
On April 24th., we announced that we have exercised existing options and purchase rights for 23 Boeing 787 aircraft, bringing the total firm orders for the aircraft to 37 from the14 originally announced, with deliveries starting in 2010. We will thus become the largest North American customers for the Dreamliner, the world's most advanced aircraft.
The revised agreement includes options for 23 Boeing 787 aircraft for a total of up to 60 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. At the same time, we have reduced the original Boeing 777 firm order and the related capital commitment by two aircraft, which were due to, be delivered in 2009. We are scheduled to take delivery of a total of 16 Boeing 777s, in addition to one leased from International Lease Finance Corporation by the end of 2008.
New daily non-stop service between Gander and Halifax On April 24th., we announced that we will launch the only daily non-stop service between Gander and Halifax, effective June 30, 2007. Flights will be operated by Air Canada Jazz using a combination of 50-seat Bombardier CRJ regional aircraft and 37-seat Dash 8-100 aircraft during the summer, becoming all CRJ service in winter. Air Canada named 2006 "Airline of the Year" by Airfinance Journal. Air Canada has received Airfinance Journal's 2006 "Airline of the Year" award. |
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Nice to know
Residents living on Vancouver Island now have several options for obtaining passports more locally.
PASSPORT APPLICATIONS CAN NOW BE MADE AT NANAIMO OR COURTENAY OR VICTORIA NANAIMO Suite 201 Location 60 Front Street, Nanaimo, British Columbia, V9R 5H7 Phone 250 754-0222 Fax 250 754-0236 Ins & 754-0319 CS Services provided in English, French Hours of service Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. Service Area Bowser, Cedar, Coombs, Errington, Fanny Bay, Gabriola Island, Hilliers, Horne Lake, Ladysmith, Lantzville, Lasqueti Island, Nanaimo, Nanoose, Parksville, Qualicum, Qualicum Bay, Qualicum Beach, Whiskey Creek. COURTENAY Location 130-19th Street, Courtenay, British Columbia, V9N 8S1 Phone 250 334-3151 Fax 250 334-0459 Services provided in English Hours of service Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. Service Area Black Creek, Comox, Courtenay, Cumberland, Denman Island, Fanny Bay, Hornby Island, Lazo Merville, Royston, Union Bay. |
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Vancouver Island Golf
VANCOUVER ISLAND GOLF REGISTRATION Other Prizes: Mens and Ladies Low Gross, Mens and Ladies Longest Drive Mens and Ladies Closest to the Pin Mens and Ladies Fewest Putts (Ensure to keep a record of your putts)
Golf Registration (Send no later than August 02) Name: ______________________________ Phone or E Mail: ______________________________ Additional Player - Name:_________________________ Phone or E mail Enclosed: $________________ ($__.00 each) (Checque payable to Bill Wood) Send to: Bill Wood, P.O. Box 1879 1113 Sharp Place, Ladysmith, B. C., V9G 1B4 Offer Expires: AUGUST 02 2007 Vancouver Island Pionairs -
A Coffee Klatch is planned for Wed May 16th., and Wed June 20th at the Smitty's restaurant at 10:30 am for those in the Parksville/Qualicum Beach area. Those planning to attend the May 16th meet are asked to call either Bill/Cherie at (250)954-3271 John/Maureen at (250)752-3575 at least 3 days prior. |
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Where are they now?
Fin 723 C-FTLX c/n 47199 DC-9-32
Stored YUL Oct 2/01 Last revenue flight 2 Oct 2001 Ferried YUL-MCI-MHV on 14.Feb.02 for long-term storage TT 78476 TC 69633 TL 69302 Departed Mojave reg N881JM for Opa Locka Apr 14th., 2007 |
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Ron Peel's first flight (continued)
Subject: Ron Peel's first flight The following is a highly edited extract from his book "Flying with Trans-Canada Air Lines" by Ron Peel Following on from the extract in NetLetter nr 971 - To understand why it took an exasperating twenty days before my return flight one must remember that we had but one aircraft. It had taken off for Canada as soon as possible with the crew that had been awaiting our Prestwick arrival. Its mechanical problems were but one cause of such indefinite delays. I know that TCA 100 got stuck in Iceland due to a combination of these and weather problems for several days after leaving us in Scotland. As there was never a shortage of payload that could cause a delay, my first lengthy exile was undoubtedly due to more mechanical or weather problems back at Dorval. I set about making the best of my enforced vacation. Much to my delight I found my old Czech friend Symenski was also awaiting a flight back to Canada. Unlike most pilots who preferred poker, he was looking for a bridge partner when I spotted him.
That I had now become addicted to contract bridge and spent an inordinate amount of time playing it on my Prestwick layovers can be confirmed from yet another revelation from my little blue book.
Diary entry 21 November 1943 reads, "Spent most of the day looking for people with whom to play bridge. I've become quite keen on it." Diary, November 27, 1943: entry reads, "Today's five hour bridge session too much at one jump." In addition to bridge there was plenty of time during my first Prestwick layover for playing cribbage and billiards, studying mathematics for university, and firing off letters to Margaret. I also went to Ayr by bus with some of the guys on several occasions to see a movie. We usually missed the last bus back to Prestwick. If so we bought large bags of freshly fried potato chips liberally doused in vinegar to enhance the "pleasure" of the four-mile walk to Orangefield. I wore out a lot of shoe leather in the UK! Diary, November 28, 1943: entry reads, "100 arrived! Home soon, I hope." In eager anticipation I got up early next morning and enjoyed my first breakfast since arriving in Scotland. (My diary continues to amaze me too!) But I soon learned that our old kite needed more of Scottish Aviation's tender loving care than had been planned. I was soon back to playing more bridge. The next day I found the sextant on our aircraft sent to replace the faulty one I had used on my earlier crossing. The Prestwick skies were clear, giving me an opportunity to take a series of careful sun sights with which to calibrate the instrument throughout at least part of its altitude range. Our crew later carried out an air test in the hope of finding the aircraft in fit condition to fly to Canada that day. Unfortunately, a complete spark plug change was necessary. Before this could be completed the marginal weather conditions at all convenient enroute refueling stops had deteriorated further. We decided to "scrub" the flight until next day. Even then conditions didn't improve and once again I ended up playing bridge past midnight.
It wasn't until December 3rd that we took off and pointed TCA 100 towards Canada. Diary, December 3, 1943: entry reads, "Day flight across Atlantic. Navigation super to 35o West. Then we had a heck of a time crossing a front at 26,400 feet. Landed at Goose Bay after 10½-hour flight. Carried several passengers." This deserves elaboration. I was rather proud of my navigation to mid-Atlantic because I was able to stay very close to our planned track. As only the sun would be visible throughout most of the flight I had assumed it would provide my only accurate lines of position (LOPs). Although of some value in reducing dead reckoning errors single LOPs are poor substitutes for good fixes. To my delight our radio operator, Al Blackwood, obtained some first class long range HFDF bearing from Prestwick and Sangerdi, a direction finding facility in Iceland about which I knew nothing. After making by far the largest corrections I had ever calculated for convergency I was pleasantly surprised to find these bearings far more accurate than expected. (Conversion Angle is correction necessary to convert the great circle radio bearing to straight lines on my Mercator plotting chart) Using combinations of sun lines and radio bearings, I obtained several good fixes, found wind velocities, and gave my skipper the alterations of compass heading to regain and stay on track. Approaching longitude 35o west we saw the ominous bank of clouds associated with an active cold front. Jock put TCA 100 into a steady climb but it was soon obvious we could not clear the cloud. Evasive action was required to avoid the heavy turbulence and severe icing conditions expected in the towering cumulonimbus clouds looming up ahead. During the next hour or two I was extremely busy keeping track of the numerous changes of heading, height and airspeed as the pilot attempted to find a clear passage through the front. We spent far more time going north than west towards our planned refueling stop of Gander.
With those magnificent Merlins at near full power our climb continued to 26,400 feet - about 10,000 feet higher than I'd ever been before. By then Jock was exhausted and tried to get Kelly into the left seat where he could better assume control. During the attempted seat switching both pilots' oxygen tubes and headset leads became entangled. I watched Jock take his hands off the controls, remove his oxygen mask, and try to sort things out. To my horror I also saw our indicated airspeed dropping rapidly. As it dropped through 135 mph, I reached past Jock and eased the control column forward. Then I convinced him to put his mask back on and resume control of the aircraft. I have no idea what our co-pilot was doing at that time. Maybe he too had removed his mask or unplugged his oxygen tube and like Jock was beginning to suffer from anoxia. I was well aware that I had no authority to interfere with the operation of the pilots' flight controls but it sure seemed the right thing to do at the time!
Shortly thereafter we found a corridor to the west through those towering thunderheads, passed the front and began a descent to below 10,000 feet. I caught up on my neglected DR and estimated that it would now be much quicker to head for Goose Bay than Gander. We had wasted a lot of fuel battling that front and detouring northward; so it was an easy decision for the skipper to make. We set course for Goose, the stars were soon visible; astro fixing was possible, and the rest of my navigational responsibilities became "A piece of cake."
(The conclusion of the flight in another NetLetter - eds) |
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Terry's Travel Tips
Carol Humphrey < THAT 1P TRIP WILL COST YOU AROUND 71 POUND EXTRA CHARGES BEHIND BUDGET AIRLINE FARES Kate Mansey 15/04/2007 IF the offers of dirt-cheap flights sometimes seem too good to be true... well, that's because they are. Budget airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair offer flights around Europe for as little as 1p. But then they cash in with a host of extra charges. Once you've paid the booking fee, airport tax, luggage check-in fees and refreshments during the flight - not to mention the cost of getting to and from out-of-the-way "secondary" airports - you can add hundreds to a family holiday. For example, a return flight with Ryanair from Stansted to Barcelona is advertised as 1p each way. But after two bags have been checked in and you have paid a booking and boarding fee, the grand total comes to £71.52. This year Ryanair - who are hoping to launch £6 flights to the US - are expected to charge £100million in extra fees alone. But they aren't alone. A string of other airlines are all cashing in, as KATE MANSEY discovers... RYANAIR £8 each way to check in bag at the airport(£4 online)
Food and drink available to buy on board - prices vary £20.50 for sports equipment (£15.50 online) £17 flight change fee (each way), £70 name change fee £7 infant fee for babies and children under two years £2 for a priority boarding pass, £1.75 fee for credit card booking (70p debit card) Taxes, fees and airport charges (return): £30 to £55 depending on airports LATEST DEAL: Stansted to Barcelona, 1p each way PLUS £35.75 taxes and fees, £32 for two bags, £1.75 credit card booking fee, £2 priority boarding pass WHAT IT COULD COST: £71.52 BMIBABY Each item of luggage costs £6 to check in (£2.95 online)
Excess weight (above 20kg per passenger) charged at £5 per kilo Extra leg room: £10 per person one way, Pre-bookable seats: £3.50 when booking online £15 to change flights, £30 to change name, £4.95 credit card payment fee £15 for golf clubs, skis or surfboards, Taxes, fees and charges included LATEST DEAL: WHAT IT COULD COST: £34.49 |
