1940s AIRLINE FLIGHT ATTENDANT/STEWARDESS TRAINING MOVIE
Produced in 1949, "Airline Glamour Girls" shows flight attendant training at the McConnell Hostess School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
McConnell gained considerable attention in 1947 when it was featured in a Life Magazine article that detailed how the school trained young women to serve as stewardesses and deal with (among other things) "drunks, diapers and double-chins." Some of the daily exercises practiced in this era included walking up and down flights of stairs in high heels, and chewing gum on off-hours to reduce the chances of getting a double chin.
Such was the environment that existed in this era, with only the prettiest being selected for jobs with America's airlines. The cost of attending the school in this era? $325 for an eight week course. The school apparently remained in business into the 1990s.
Click on image below for video.
Air Canada Fin #510 becomes the "Stargazer"
I had written about the Air Canada L-1011 fleet in NetLetter # 1344 and mentioned that Fin # 510 had been acquired by Orbital Sciences and branded as “Stargazer” (N140SC) then modified into the launch pad for Pegasus rockets.
Reader Gregory Landry contacted us with an update on the aircraft. Greg writes:
“This week on TV they are featuring an L-1011 REG N140SC. The only L-1011 still flying; previously owned by AC Reg C-FTNJ ACFT (510?).
Stan Price and Michel Leclerc and myself signed the airworthiness and maintenance release on this aircraft before delivery to Orbital Science. The aircraft had been stored in the desert at Mirana.”
The TV show that Greg refers to is “Mighty Planes” Season 4 Episode 3 first aired on June 20, 2017 on the Discovery network.
Lockheed L-1011 MSN 1067 was first delivered to Air Canada on September 3, 1974 and was among the aircraft of this fleet removed from service due to the high operating cost. It was chosen by Orbital Science (over the DC-10 and B-747) for the task of becoming a rocket launcher due to the sturdy structure of the L-1011. 
The “Stargazer” has now reached 25 years of serving in this capacity and a combined 43 years of service. I have not been able to confirm that it may be the last L-1011 in service and has been retired. It presently is parked at the Mojave Air & Space Port where it has traditionally been parked waiting for its next rocket launch
Below are several links of interest:
Wikipedia.org
Launch take off on YouTube
AirFleets.net
Flightaware.com
Also, a history of the Lockheed L-1011 on YouTube
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Bill Cameron has sent us these photos -
I put together the models of the collection ten years ago, when kits and decals were still available, and the models are now in the museum of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame at Wetaskiwin, Alberta. Sorry – I never got the decals for a TCA DC-3... Cheers, Bill Cameron, Okotoks, Alberta |
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Canadian Pacific |
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Pacific Western |
Queen Charlotte Airlines |
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Frank Pedder sent us this photo of the group. |
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Here we have this cartoon from the Super Constellation handbook issued by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, originally printed in the "Between Ourselves" magazine issued April 1954.
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"Due out next summer, it is the history of the stewardess/flight attendant profession in North America with a focus on Canada. By tracing the evolution of the stewardesses from nurses to safety experts today, it is the history of feminism in aviation, encompassing their struggles in TCA/Air Canada, CPA, Wardair, Transair, and PWA to be accepted as more than glorified waitresses in the sky". "Coffee, Tea or .... Feminism and Flight Attendants - A History" is sure to be of interest to our readers. |
