Vickers Viscount CF-THS
Air Canada Pionairs from the Manitoba-Saskatchewan district celebrated this year's anniversaries for Air Canada (80th) and the Pionairs (40th) by visiting the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg.
When they sent us images from visit for posting on the district Pionairs's Photo Gallery, Vickers Viscount registration CF-THS (Fin # 637) caught my interest.
Originally delivered in early 1958, CF-THS had a rather routine career within the Air Canada fleet. Its story gets interesting concerning its retirement, storage, acquisition by the museum and restoration. 
Retired in the early eighties, it was tentatively sold to Zaire Aero Services but when the sale fell through it was flown to the RCAF base at Gimli for storage in 1982. In late 1983, it was acquired by the museum but needed considerable work to be airworthy enough to make one last short flight.
Click Here for the complete story "Shutting Down History", The Last Flight of Viscount CF-THS by Captain Jim Griffith.
Click Here for its profile at the Royal Aviation Museum web site.
Captain Griffith subscribes to the NetLetter so I asked him if he had any further comments to add to this article. He responded with the following:
"Flying Viscounts out of the Winnipeg base in the late 60’s and early 70’s was more fun than work. Most of the pilots and F/A’s were junior and while management tried to rein us in ... it didn’t work. Nobody took the old school regime very seriously. It was like belonging to a western Canada flying club with all the associated fun and frivolity."
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Shirlee Schacter has sent in these photos and report - Central Ontario Pionairs Golf Tournament at the Royal Ontario Golf Club. August 22, 2017. Our tournament had a change in location for the first time in a dozen years. Sixteen teams - made up of 64 golfers playing modified four person "Texas Scramble" format - tee'd off at the sprawling, scenic and challenging, course of the Royal Ontario Golf Club. The day of golf was followed by a special “Lion’s Roar” buffet of carved roast strip loin with all the trimmings. After dinner, Valdy Prieditis, the Tournament Organizer / Director, along with Central Ontario Director, David McNeilly, presented trophies and prizes to the top golfers. All golfers then received a prize from the prize table which had a wide array of booty to choose from. There was also a Special Draw, open to all, for "Grand Prizes" along with some big $$$ in the Cash Draw which made for many happy winners. Everyone enjoyed the day and are looking forward to doing it again next year!!! Here are some photos of the event - |
 "Good Game" foursome: Stu & Evelyn Frake, Frank Marando and Tony Shulist. |
 Team Low Gross Champions: Claudio Zucconi, June Dalziel, Serge Colekessian and Fred Zurcher: Trophy presentation by District Director David McNeilly. |
 Team Low Net Champions: Walter Moran, Bill Walker, Kevin Gleeson and Bonnie Thompson. Trophy presentation by District Director David McNeilly. |
 Claudio Zucconi, winner of the putting contest, earned the title of “Pionair Champion Putter 2017". Bronze trophy presentation by Tournament Director, Valdy Prieditis. |
 Evelyn Costigan, Al Garcia, John Ferguson and Nestor Yakimik (a regular prize donor). |
 Linda Benison, Margaret and Stan Molstad. |
 Toasting another enjoyable event with fellow Pionairs - Lois Storrie and Central Ontario Treasurer, Ed Storrie. |
| Shirlee Schacter |
Our cartoon is by Dave Mathias and appeared in the "Between Ourselves" magazine issue dated December 1963, with the caption "Mr. Finchley, sales representative, Trans Parent Air Lines to see you, Sir John".
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A good website to use when you are planning a trip is www.Rome2rio.com. This website is full of great information on how to get anywhere using any mode of travel. It is useful for discovering what airlines travel to destinations that AC does not and when you need to use ZED fares. (Source: Vancouver Island Pionairs November newsletter) |
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The Canada Border Services Agency (CSBA) now offers Primary Inspection Kiosks at six Canadian airports, started to phase-in Primary Inspection Kiosks (PIK) in the customs hall, eliminating the need for U.S. and international travellers and crews to fill out the E311-Declaration Card by hand. Now when these travellers arrive in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto –Terminal 3, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, they will be directed to a PIK where they will be prompted to answer a series of questions, scan their passport and have their picture taken. Once complete, a receipt is printed and the passenger proceeds to a border services officer for clearance. Please note, there are a few exceptions and the following passengers will be directed to a border services officer for in-person processing: unaccompanied minors, and travellers with a non-machine-readable travel document. More airports across Canada will switch to this new border clearance process in the months ahead. Detailed information is available at the CBSA’s website: Click Here Did you know there’s a CanBorder eDeclaration mobile app available? In this digital age, the CBSA has also developed a mobile app that allows you to complete your customs declaration in advance. It should help reduce the processing time at a PIK by up to 50 per cent. For more information or to download the mobile app - Click Here. (Source: Daily November 8, 2017) |
 Vacations for Interliners & their friends & family from Dargal. |
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El Cid La Ceiba Beach, Cozumel, Mexico Jolly Beach Resort, Antigua, Caribbean Royal Decameron Montego Beach, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Caribbean Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda, Riviera Maya, Mexico 8 Night United States Waterways - American Queen Steamboat Company - 14 Night Asia - Celebrity Cruises - Celebrity Millennium Hong Kong; Hong Kong; At Sea; Ha Long Bay; Chan May; At Sea; Phu My (Ho Chi Minh); At Sea; Laem Chabang (Bangkok); At Sea; Singapore; 5 Night Bahamas - Carnival Cruise Lines - Carnival Sunshine Port Canaveral (Orlando); At Sea; Half Moon Cay; Nassau; Freeport; Port Canaveral (Orlando); For more information on these & other Dargal Interline specials: |
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For anyone planning to spend their golden years within Canada, these 10 spots boast some of the country's warmest summers and mildest winters. Victoria, British Columbia (Source: msn.com) |
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The train from Vancouver to Calgary took 25 hours. The flight was the first ever made across the Canadian Rockies, also the first airmail delivery. The Flight from Vancouver was via Vernon, Grand Forks, Cranbrook, Lethbridge onto Calgary. Click Here for the full story. |
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Larry Milberry sends his CANAV’s autumn 2017 special list of books, journals and collectibles. Have a look and let me know if you see anything you’d like for your own reading, for some special gift, etc. Keeping building up your library … it’ll help keep the internet from turning your brain to mush! |
