Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

For Air Canada Retirees 

March 7, 2012 - Issue 1197

GOGO In-flight WiFi services now available on select flights. 
Air Canada has announced that it is to reintroduce its non-stop service between Dublin and Toronto this summer, operating up to seven flights per week from 8 June 2012.

The Dublin to Toronto service will be operated by Boeing 767-300 aircraft, offering customers Economy Class and Comfort Plus seats. 

From 18 June 2012, the B767-300 will be equipped with both Executive First and Economy Class seats on outbound Dublin to Toronto flights on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on inbound Toronto to Dublin flights on Sundays and Tuesdays.

Reader Submitted Photos -  The photos and information below have been submitted to us by our faithful readers.  

We welcome photos of interest from our readers. Please check your cupboards and shoe boxes, we bet you have some excellent photos lying around! If you do, send them to us and we will consider them for publication in a future NetLetter. We prefer good quality Air Canada, TCA or Canadian, CP, etc. airline related photos, with descriptive text and names (whenever possible) included with the submission.

Tony Iudica sent us a Teamsters Union Local 25 newsletter centerfold with pics of the 1983 Boston staff when they visited his office.

Here we have, from the left, Dotti Scandone, William Lynden, John Finegan, Maurice Simoneau, and Tony Iudica himself.

Jan Wegman has sent us these photos from his collection, but unable to identify many people -

perhaps someone out there can help -
A retirement picture/last flight of Captain?
  

Names: Jan Wegman on the very far left. On the right of the lady on the Captains knee Sandy Nee Horsfall. Cannot remember her married name. The year must have been 1996 or 1997.

A service pin presentation to Monica Hilson 30 years if I am not mistaken. Jan the presenter as Base manager IFS YVR The year is 1995. On the far right is Eleanor Kokotailo. Between my self and Monica is Louise Tucker.

Martina Shaw has sent us this memorabilia -

I have attached a notice given to me by the pilot on my first flight as a child. My father Ralph Hetherington, was a millwright in YYZ and this was the start of many great adventures with Air Canada.

From Martina Shaw, wife of Paul Shaw who worked in Baggage at YYZ for 35 years retiring in 1999.

(The flight on August 14th 1958 Capt. J.F.Leeper, F/O G.R.Sprachlin, Stewardesses A.Chauvin (RN) and R.Kibsey (RN). Note the RN designator as stewardesses were required to be Registered Nurses - eds)

Elizabeth Coleman - Born on Jan. 26, 1892, she spent her childhood living the stereotype of poor African-American children in the racially-divided South: walking four miles to a one room school and lacking even the basic materials most students take for granted today. Despite those hardships, she excelled in math and completed all eight grades.

Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman would go on to be the first female pilot of African-American descent.

After countless rejections from flight schools throughout the U.S., because she was both a woman and African-American, Coleman decided to take her dream abroad.

With support from Chicago Defender publisher Robert Abbott and a local banker, Coleman took a crash course in French from the Berlitz language school and headed to Paris in late 1920. She learned to fly the Nieuport Type 82 biplane, with, in her words, "a steering system that consisted of a vertical stick the thickness of a baseball bat in front of the pilot and a rudder bar under the pilot's feet."

On June 15, 1921, Coleman became the first African-American woman in the world to earn an aviation pilot's license, graduating from the famed Federation Aeronautique Internationale. After a couple of months of additional training from a French ace pilot near Paris, Coleman was ready to head home.

On April 30, 1926, Coleman was in Jacksonville, Fla., preparing to fly in an airshow there using a newly purchased Curtiss biplane, despite safety concerns from family and friends. With her mechanic and publicity agent, William Wills, flying the plane, Coleman was in the other seat scouting the terrain for a parachute jump the next day - with her seat belt unfastened.

About 10 minutes into the flight, the plane began to spin rather than pull out of an intended dive. Coleman was thrown from the plane from a height of about 500 feet and died instantly upon impact. Unable to gain control, Wills also plummeted to the ground and died on impact. It was later discovered in the wreckage that a wrench had slid into the gearbox, causing it to jam.  

More information can be found by following this link.

 The first scheduled direct service between St. John's, Newfoundland and Toronto began April 27, and already it has a nickname. Dubbed the " Newfle Bullet".

The new service will provide popular non-stop service between the two cities. Shown prior to departure are, from the top Captain G. H. Down, Flight Attendant A. Farago, F/O A. J. Blake, Flight Attendant P. Kitchen and T. Taylor, Purser C. Hunter, and Gene Burden, District Manager, Newfoundland.

The Inauguration of the new Northern Tier service linking Sudbury to Montreal and Winnipeg blew up a storm of activity In the Ontario city.

Shown on the steps during first flight ceremonies are, from the top: Brock Stewart, Public Affairs, Toronto; Sherrie Boucher, Northern Life News, Sudbury; Joe Lee, Station Agent, Sudbury; Wally Ritchie,Sales Rep., Thunder Bay and Ray Bonin, Passenger Agent, Sudbury.

ReserVec marks the first anniversary.  Although the company was the first in the Industry to develop an experimental electro-mechanical automatic reservations system as early as 1942 in Winnipeg, TCA was nevertheless one of the late starters in the electronic computer systems.

Even though the company was late getting underway it wasn't long before it gained momentum and ended up in first place. Trans-Canada Air Lines is the first in the Industry to have the fastest system-wide electronic reservations inventory control in operation; combined with an elaborate audit trail for reservations matching and flight firming purposes.

After the 1963 Grey Cup final held, that year in Vancouver, dense fog descended and trapped many passengers as the aircraft were grounded for two days. To move the passengers, several extra sections had been arranged for departure from Abbotsford, which remained fog free,  and the aircraft were dispatched successfully.

Here we have this photo of the ground crew from the left: Barry Armstrong, Sam McRae, Margaret Bishop, Wally Buchanan, Dennis Fulcher, Gerry Hobbs and Murray Brown. 

(Also on staff but not shown, were John Berewick and Don Pryce - probably lost in the fog - eds) .

On the ground in Montreal -

from the top; Marlene Butzphal, Rosa Pizzi, Anna Castelli, Sandra Hooton, and Sylvia Baltes.

Fraser Muir sends us this information referring to NetLetter nr 1194 - Just viewed the video on the Lancaster, and enjoyed it very much. Brought back many memories, as I did a Tour of 35 Operations in the MidUpper turret on 50 Squadron, 5 Group... After a while our aircraft almost came alive, and I for one talked to it as if it actually was alive; since the war I have a CD that has a poem on it ...that has the Lank reciting it. 

Anyway, are you aware that Bomber Command was never recognized by the government or by Churchill?? Nor was there ever a Memorial constructed to acknowledge the 55,573 boys killed. And now thanks to Robin Gibb (Bee Gees) who had a childhood dream of building one, he convinced the London Telegraph for help, together with the Bomber Command Assn., they raised sufficient funds to have one constructed; which is scheduled to be unveiled on June 28, 2012 in Green Park, Central London, England.

Note: Some of this information was previously published in our last NetLetter but was actually scheduled for this one. We are still looking for a web site where those wanting to attend can book this. If you know of such a site, please advise and we will post it in a future NetLetter.

This photo is of sculpture Phillip Jackson working on a scale model of the bronze which will form the center piece of the memorial.

Information is on www.telegraph.co.uk  search for Bomber Command Memorial. 

B767-300ER fin 689 C-GHPF c/n 26206 ex-Air Canada returned to GECAS now leased to Mega Maldives Airlines.
 
Final episode of the story by Tony Walsh started in NetLetter nr 1195

- A bit of good airmanship + smidgen of luck:
My car was in the ferry crew parking lot (thanks to a borrowed Captain's parking badge from Bob) when we got to the Tsawwassen terminal and I blocked the slow lane on the highway with 4-way flashers going and the trailer and plane in the fast lane, taking up 2.25 lanes on Highway 17, then on 56th St. through mid-town Tsawwassen, then US customs at Point Roberts let us go into USA on the wrong on-coming traffic side of the border crossing because plane could not fit between the explosive sniff sensor posts at the truck booth. 

Change in SAS ZED ticket policy.  We have been notified by Scandinavian Airlines that with an effective date of April 1st they will no longer be able to accept ZED (Zonal Employee Discount) paper tickets.  Therefore the ZED agreement will be temporarily suspended until both carriers are able to accept NET (non-eticket).  While this temporary change may be disappointing, we must emphasize that this is not a permanent suspension and we look forward to reinstating our agreement between Air Canada and Scandinavian Airlines in the future. (source Daily)
 
Traveling to Britain? Beware of the 20 pound bill.
On July 1st 2010, the British government issued a new gbp20.00 bill. The older note, which this one replaces, is no longer legal tender and could be refused at retail outlets in the U.K. All banks, - except the Bank of England - are not obliged to exchange the old notes for the new issues.

When picking up sterling currency from Canadian banks before you travel, ensure the new notes are supplied. They have a portrait of Scottish economist Adam Smith instead of Sir Edward Elgar..
(Strange they should have a Scottish person in view of the fact Scotland wants to separate - eds)
 
Time to renew your British passport?
Be aware that the British High Commissioner in Ottawa no longer issues this document, it has been outsourced to the American Regional Passport Processing Centre (RPPC), in Washington, USA.

With effect from 29 September 2011, the Regional Passport Processing Centre in Washington DC will process your passport. The passport will be printed in the United Kingdom. You will receive two packages, one containing the supporting documents you submitted, and the second package directly from the UK with your new passport.

These changes will ensure that you receive the new style passports which were introduced in the UK in October 2010.  The new passports have more sophisticated security features, required to meet international quality and security standards. It is not affordable to print these new passports overseas.  New designs and processes reduce the likelihood of identity theft and passport fraud, protecting British nationals and our borders.

How much. Passport fees in the United States are:  
Adult passport
* 32-page passport - US$211
* 48 page passport - US$255
Child Passport
* Child passport (32 pages) - US$134
Courier Fee - Each customer will be required to pay a courier fee to cover the cost of the return of supporting documents from Washington DC and for the return of the passport from the UK.
Courier fee - US $33

How to pay.
You need to pay the correct fee in US Dollars when applying for your passport.

Effective March 5th 2012, "in person" British Passport services will no longer be available at the British Embassy in Washington D.C.
For all the gory details Go online http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk and follow the links. Allow plenty of time

If the prime minister of Canada can go there - so can you - 

Per person March 19 - 28, 2012
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