The NetLetter
For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)
June 20, 2012 - Issue 1209
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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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Greetings!
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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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ACRA Upcoming Events- Compiled by Alan Rust
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 Retirees Welcome!
The following events are available for retirees through ACRA, the Air Canada Recreation Association.
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ACRA System Golf turns 50!
Just as Air Canada celebrates its 75 year anniversary this year, the employees who started the Air Canada Recreation Association over 50 years ago are also celebrating with their 50th Anniversary System Golf Tournament!
This is a once-in-a-lifetime milestone event that we hope you can attend.
Date: September 9 - 12, 2012
Where: San Diego, California
Venue: Sycuan Resort & Casino
Prizes: To help celebrate this event, Air Canada Vacations has donated a prize of a 7 Night all inclusive package for two to Mexico with Air and Hotel at the Gran Bahia Principe Coba in a Double Occupancy Junior Suite.
For further information and registration visit: www.acra.ca/events/system/golf.html
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| Our First 75 years - Compiled by Terry Baker |
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1939 - Flight Schedule
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 1973 - Sept 2nd - North America schedule until October 27th (shown)
1976 - April 25th - Inaugural service Boston - Toronto with DC-9 equipment. |
| CAHS Summer Newsletter |
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CAHS 2012 Summer Newsletter
The CAHS Summer Newsletter has just been published and is full of interesting information on Canadian Aviation. Please click on the image to read this on the CAHS web site.
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| Reader Submitted Photos - Compiled by Terry Baker |
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 Reader Submitted Photos - The photos and information below have been submitted to us by our faithful readers.
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 Jack Stephens has sent along a photo of this piece of art by Jim Bruce and has given me permission to share this photo of a North Star CF-TFK. It is obvious when one studies his paintings, that Jim is a master at detail.
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Greetings from Australia. I scanned some CPA memorabilia that I thought might bring back memories for some.
Regards, Arnold Broese-van-Groenou (ex CPA)
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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.
 This a first day cover issued for the inaugural flight July 1st 1975 Toronto - Texas.
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From the Windsor Star Issue dated - January 5th, 1963
Some items gleaned from old newspapers or magazines.
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T.C.A. plane damaged on landing.
A Trans-Canada Air Lines Viscount made an emergency landing at Winnipeg International Airport on January 5th 1963, after its nose wheels failed to come down, but all 26 passengers and four crew members escaped injury. Pilot Laurie Paxton of Winnipeg brought the turbo-prop airliner to a landing on the two main wheels of its tricycle landing gear. The plane rolled along the runway in suburban St. James.
then tipped on its nose. Sparks flew In the air but there was no fire.
Police who were beside the Viscount said three of its propellers were damaged as well as the nose. The aircraft, on a flight from Winnipeg to the Lakehead and Toronto, circled the airport for more than half an hour to burn up to 1,000 pounds of fuel before landing.
(Source The Windsor Star dated January 5th, 1963).
(If anyone has any photos or memories of this incident we would like to hear from you - eds)
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Issue dated - October 1963
From the "Between Ourselves" magazines -
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 FIRST PASSENGER REMINISCES - The first paying passenger for TCA out of Fredericton on July 7, 1944, recently returned to his Fredericton homeland. While talking about days gone by with an old friend, he decided to visit the Fredericton airport for a detailed observation and comparison between now and the state of things back in the Lockheed days. At the airport, Mr. W. Fleet (left) had a close-up inspection of the Viscount with Wendell S. Cook, (right) Fredericton Sales Manager for the Company.
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Issue dated - September 1962
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 WINNIPEG CUBS TAKE TO THE AIR. Over a 100 Cub Scouts were taken for an air cruise around the city of Winnipeg recently. The outing was arranged by George Heron, Mechanical Performance Analyst in the Winnipeg Inspection Shop who is a local Cubmaster and former District Cubmaster. In most cases this was the first flight for the boys and following the cruise they toured the Winnipeg Overhaul Base.
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Issue dated - June 1976
Found in the "Horizons" magazine -
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 The Company, which has operated from Boston for 29 years with service only
to the Maritime Provinces, began service to Toronto April 25.
Shown in front of the first flight, which departed with almost a full load are, from the left: F/O Tom Oldrich; Boston District Manager Charlie Fitzgerald; Airport Customer Service Manager Hank Anderson; and Captain Philip Brown.
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| Alan's Space - by Alan Rust |
 I don't need no "stinkin" runway!
(submitted by Al Watson)
This is one of the neatest video clips I've ever seen. Watch how this bush pilot puts his specially built Maule M-5 (with M-7 wings) down on various approaches to rocky riverbanks. There's no runways and not even the usual flat hard sandy riverbanks that are normally used.
He has huge specialty tires mounted to allow landing on uneven ground and rocks without digging in or flipping the aircraft.
The video is best viewed at full screen and near the end the owner explains the modifications made to the aircraft.
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| Bush Pilots in Alaska |
More info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maule_M-5 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maule_M-7
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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 it's "ancestry" of contributing airlines. |
 Harry Baedak found this photo in the January 1980 edition of the "CP Air News" of the first overseas flight to Rome with this caption - FOLLOWING DC-l0 days in Vancouver and Toronto, the "Empress of Alberta" took off on its first overseas flight destined for Italy. The crew on that initial run (CP flight 202 Dec. 11, 1979) are pictured at Fiumicino airport, Rome, with Capt. Harry Baedak, third from left and check Capt. John McNee, seventh from left. Sadly not all the crew are identified. (Anyone help here - eds).
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Issue dated - September 1980
Extract from the "CP Air News" magazine -
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On October 26th 1980. Empress Class was introduced for the economy service to entice passengers paying the regular economy fare on its transcontinental, Orient and South Pacific routes. In Canada this is a first. A modified Empress Class has been in operation on the Orient route for the past 18 months.
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 ONE-STOP CHECK-IN is what the smiles are all about. These Vancouver airport passenger agents are the first to learn the new procedure which offers seat selection at initial check-in, thereby expediting customer service. Passengers on through flights (i.e. Toronto to Hong Kong). Leading the way are from left: Graham Tilley, passenger agent; Mike Shanks, development analyst, Pegasus Services; Pat Doyle, training supervisor, Vancouver airport; Barbara Jurchuk, Jeff Hoekstra, Doreen Hazell and Peter Gelln, all passenger agents.
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Names for the aircraft -
The name "Empress" comes from the CP Ships subsidiary which during the last century was well known for its "great white empresses" which steamed the oceans of the world. The empress designation is no longer carried by CP Ships.
B-727: 771 - Empress of San Francisco 772 - Empress of Los Angeles
B-747: 741 - Empress of Japan, 742 - Empress of Canada, 743 - Empress of Australia, 744 - Empress of Italy
DC-8-63: 801 - Empress of Quebec, 802 - Empress of Alberta, 803 - Empress of Ontario, 804 - Empress of British
Columbia, 805 - Empress of Manitoba
DC-8: 601 - Empress of Santiago, 603 - Empress of Lima, 604 - Empress of Hong Kong - 605 - Empress of Mexico City, 607 - Empress of Lisbon
DC-l0-30: 901 - Empress of Amsterdam, (from AC 604), 902 - Empress of Sydney, (from AC 804) 903 - Empress of Rome (from AC 601 to remain as Alberta until end of year), 904 - Empress of Buenos Aires, (from Ac 602, sold in March '80), 905 - Empress of Fiji, 906 - Empress of Lima, (from AC 603
B-767: 1. Empress of Vancouver, 2. Empress of Toronto, 3.. Empress of Montreal, 4. Empress of Winnipeg 5. Empress of Edmonton, 6. Empress of Calgary, 7. Empress of Ottawa, 8. To be assigned
As in the past, CP Air's fleet of B-737 aircraft will not carry names.
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 A WIDE ANGLE lens captures the Toronto charter staff beneath the distinctive city hall of this largest Canadian city. From left they are: John Kneebone, Marla Faraone, Irene Dixon, Nancy Clarkson, Jim Currie, Anita Wallace, Vicky Cubillos, Bill Noorduyn, Cheryl Pyzyna, Priscille LeBlanc, Shirley Irving, Tom Aquiline and Rick Boucher. Absent, on a charter no doubt! is Ken McNiff, |
 THE LION'S SHARE of Canada-bound charter traffic Is what CP Air charter staff in London UK is out to capture and they're doing a good job at it. Smiling for the camera are from left: John Osborne, Anne Robson-Smith and Ewan MacCormick, under the watchful eye of Leo who sits at the base of Nelson's Column in London's picturesque Trafalgar Square. Absent, handling the next charter perhaps, are Fons Wiersma, Chris Robson-Smith, Hugh Bell, Sylvia Roberts and Roger Wood.
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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.
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 Jim Gregory sends us this information:
With regards to the photo of Capt George McKay's last flight (issue 1197), Barb Buchanan the flight attendant sitting on George's lap was married to a Captain by the name of Buck Buchanan who was a DC-8 captain based in Montreal in the early 70's. I think he eventually moved to Vancouver. The pilot standing directly behind Barbara was Robin Lamb who joined as a pilot in February 1973. In NetLetter nr 1200, Don Kershaw mentioned that the person in the background tall with glasses was Ron Clark, but we identified the incorrect person, so we have rearranged the names accordingly.
Capt Jim Gregory (Retired)
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Referring to the photo sent in by John Rodger of the Flight Attendants class of 1967 in NetLetter nr 1207, Shirley Sywulych has this to say: I was in the graduating class of January/February 1967. We were a very large class (100), so were divided into 4 smaller groups. This was not my class so although a number of faces look familiar I can't help you out with names. I lost my class picture a long time ago. If anyone has any more of the graduating group of 1967, I would love to see them. Shirley Sywulych
(The NetLetter gang checked the "Between Ourselves" magazine for year 1967 - unfortunately, there are no photos of this class.)
In NetLetter nr 1207 we had an article regarding a Viscount making an emergency landing, as reported by the Glasgow Herald dated July 19th 1962. This article produced several emails on the subject via members of www.vickersviscount.net
Jack Stephens sent a copy of the NetLetter article for inclusion in the Viscount web site.
Geoff Blampied writes: Hi Jack - This aircraft was Viscount c/n 274 CF-THN and there are some interesting photos of the incident on our website. All the best, Geoff
Dave Peters writes: Thanks for passing this along. Bill Gwynne is my father in law I sent some photos to Brian that Bill gave me a couple of years back.
From Brian Burrage this message was received: Hi Dave - The two colour photos are on the website credited to you. Do you want them credited to William 'Bill' instead? The press report states that the aircraft circled for three hours before landing. This aircraft was fitted with the fuel dump system (photo evidence) so why circle for three hours?
It surely wouldn't have taken that long to foam the runway. Let me know what you think. Regards, Brian
Dave Peters responded: Hello Brian - You're correct, the black and white photos came for Bill and Bill or William is fine. The three hour flight time was not to reduce landing weight, a number of touch and goes we're tried to free the gear as well as some positive "G" pull ups. They also had contact with maintenance in Montreal and the Vickers representative to help trouble shoot the problem. Cheers, Dave
Dave Peters very kindly sent along these photos, and a final comment:
Here are the photos from the 1962 Viscount accident.
Another interesting tidbit... Maintenance told Bill that with the nose gear retracted and the main gear down the outer props would not contact the ground. They had to amended the manual.
Cheers, Dave
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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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Aviation buffs may want to take in this event at YVR on October 6th 2012. Click on image for more information.
AMECO BEIJING was selected by MEGA Maldives Airline to perform engine/repaint of ex Air Canada B767-300ER c/n 26206 C-GHPF fin 689 which was returned to GECAS.
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 Back in January 2012, a request was made by the Airline Financial Credit Union to Dave Peters of the web site www.vickersviscount.net for a poster of a TCA Viscount they could use in their office. Ed Jones came through with this poster. This is an image of a TCA poster by Grant Tigner.
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Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker
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 At 275 pounds, the Arch Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church required two seats on the YOW-YEG of his tour. The centre armrest was raised and a longer seat belt installed. However, the Arch Bishop was unable to get out of his seat upon arrival at YEG, as his beard had become entangled in the seat belt. (source: Lewiston Daily Sun December 14th 1955)
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Smilie.
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 This cartoon, by Dave Mathias is from "Between Ourselves" issued April 1955.
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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
- Stewardess - Lisa Ruck, Brooklin, 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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