Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |\^/| _| TCA |_ _|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R > CANADA < B E T W E E N O U R S E L V E S >_./|\._< for P I O N A I R S | Your crew is: Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson Chief Navigator - Terry Baker tm number 90 date Oct 20th 1996 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . The Vancouver Island Pionair Fall Luncheon is planned for Wednesday 23rd October at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel at 1175 Beach Drive, Victoria at 11.30 for 12.30 lunch. Featured speaker will be Sandie Dexter, Air Canada Communications Manager for Western Canada. . Gene Brown has changed his email address to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Keith Ohman tells us that the author of the 'Down East Airlines' stories mentioned in Netletter nr 89 was Jack Desmarais of Toronto Base. . Following information from Bob Robbins, Ottawa District Director - Pionairs 'Our Ottawa Pionairs' newsletter gives dates and locations of social activities through the year end and into March. We'd love to have you join us. All you need to do is look in your District's newsletter files, and plan to be with us. Of course advance notice that you're coming is preferable, but if you can come and cannot notify us, we'll certainly fit you in!' . Con travel - by Terry My wife and I had decided to visit London, England again, and invited our friends to be our Travel Partners. After explaining at length the why's and wherefor's of this type of travel, they readily agreed. Our plans were to travel Sept 29 from Nanaimo (YCD). As the Travel Pass does not include travel on an Air Canada connector, they bought the special fare of CA$73. As the ID50 fare was CA$112, we elected to buy the special also. Armed with the usual intelligence information that cons need ie alternate routes to London and seats available, we arrived in Vancouver (YVR) at 0800, allowing time for plan B if necessary. After reviewing the alternate space, we elected to wait it out for the London flight from Vancouver which leaves at 17.10. During the morning, I went and viewed the new terminal to find out where standby cons should congregate. I spoke with an agent at counter 112 who told me to return at 16.30, but he did not hold out any hope of getting us out. He checked to ensure Nanaimo had listed us correctly, and adjusted the priority for our Travel Partners, which Nanaimo had neglected to do. I returned to our group and we settled down for the long wait. Incidently, we had been visited by some friends from Britisah Airways in London who could not get out of Nanaimo so went by ferry to Vancouver, and could not get out on either Air Canada or British Airways for 3 successive days and ended up buying on Canada3000 (ooch!) At 1400 we heard our names called and reported to counter 112 as requested. The same agent told us that there was no hope for the London flight, but he could put us on the Glasgow (GLA) flight which was leaving in 30 minutes. We told him our luggage was booked through to London by Nanaimo. He grabbed our baggage tags and raced off while his co-worker changed out routing and passes. After our baggage was rerouted I said we had cars booked at London, the agent, after asking 'Who with?", grabbed the phone and dialed a number and passed me the phone and I made arrangements for the cars to be available at Glasgow and to ensure there would be no drop off charge when we returned the cars to London. The effort and consideration by the agents was really 'over and above', and our Travel Partners were really impressed, as were my wife and I. Although we arrived on the other side of the Atlantic, albeit at the other end of the country of our choice, we were more than happy. After ensuring there would definitely be no drop-off charge on our rentals, we did the customary two circuits of Glasgow airport before finding our way out to the main highway! Our return flight from London Heathrow was a complete contrast - a B747, full size, with over 200 open seats. There were only six people in the rear cabin, and all received dedicated service, including a trip to the flight deck for our Travel Partners. We arrived back in Vancouver at the height of the storm only to learn that most of the AirBC flights had been disrupted, including the cancellation of the mid afternoon flight to Nanaimo, so another long wait until 19.30 ensued. As soon as we landed at Nanaimo, the power in the surrounding district failed, and we had to stumble our way into our house, but were thankful to be home. It is nice to go away for a vacation, but nice to get home too. After enduring the trials and tribulations of driving on the English roads it will be good to experience a slower pace. Next time we will take a cruise and let someone else do the driving. ~-=o0o=-~ . Dream flights - The balance of the schedule for the Dreams Take Flight organised by Air Canada staff is - October 22nd - Edmonton October 23rd - Calgary October 24th - Vancouver. The British Airways staff also run an annual Dream Flight taking sick children to Disney World in Florida, this year is planned for Nov 4th with the operation of a B747. Started in Nov 1987 when Princess Diana wished goodbye to the children, some 1600 children have enjoyed the Florida sun. Each trip costs UKL300,00.00 (CA$650,00.00). . Found on the internet Air France is equipping more long-range jets with 'smokers bars' accommodating between 5 and 11 passengers. Economy and Business classes will have their own smoking zone. Powerful extractors pump smoke to the outside of the aircraft. Air France claims to be the only airline to offer a non smoking cabin while respecting the needs of the passenger who wish to smoke. First British Airways B777 trans-Atlantic flights could start during November. Virgin Airlines launched their 'drive thru' check-in service for their upper class passengers at London Heathrow. Arriving by chauffered limos, travellers are driven to an area at the short-term car parking at Terminal 3 where staff complete check-in facilities. Passengers do not have to leave the back seat of the car. Once equipped with a boarding pass, upper class passengers are dropped off at the departure level and walk through the 'fast track' security and immigration channels. British Airways has bowed to the inevitable and is allowing staff and their families who travel on discount tickets to dress in mufti. Until now a strict dress code was rigorously enforced. Welcome to the 20th centruy B.A. Jet passengers put shoulder to the wheel - Passengers on a British Airways B737-400 from Rome to London Heathrow took the strain of the plane recently when they pushed their aircraft onto the runway to beat a strike by ground staff. Faced with a six hour delay, BA staff decided to take matters into their own hands. Rounding up collegues from various sections, about 15 put shoulders to the wheels. Unable to shift the 60 tonne aircraft, they asked the passengers to deplane. When some of the passengers saw what was happening, they decided to help. With 5 men on each of the 6 wheels they managed to push the aircraft 40 metres from the terminal to the runway, allowing the captain to get underway. ~-=o0o=-~ . Interline stuff - Be aware that, when changing foreign currency travellers cheques in the UK that, unless the bank or travel agent has connections with the type of cheque you present, you will be charged 3% at some bank, or UKL3.00 for the first UKL150.00 then 2% on the balance at Thoas Cook. American Express are handled by Lloyds Bank. Some prices in the Airport Duty Free are higher than those on the Air Canada Boutique. So that you may compare prior to departing here are some prices from the latest issue of Boutique - Rothman, du Maurier, Player's, Silk Cut are CA$18 per carton 200 and Marlboro are CA$25 per carton 200. Canadian Club 1ltr CA$18, Crown Royal 1 ltr CA$17, Black Label 1 ltr CA$31, Chivas Regal 1 lts CA$34, Glenfiddich 1 ltr CA$31, Smirnoff 1.14ltr CA$13, Baileys 1 ltr CA$22, Beefeater 1ltr CA$15. Cruises - Celebrate an Exotic Holiday from Hawaii or Tahiti on the Sky Princess for 11 days. Depart Dec 18 or 29th, visit Papeete, Moorea. Bora Bora, Big Island, Maui and Oahu Cost US$1710 pp dbl includes free air travel. Beijing Tour 8 days departing Vancouver Nov 25th 1996 visit the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tian An Men Square, Temple of Heaven, Hard Rock Cafe. Cost includes round trip airfare, 4-star accommodation, 3 daily meals, guided sight-seeing, admissions, cultural shows & ground transportation. Cost CA$1399 pp dbl plus CA$50 tax and CA$55 for China visa. Call 1-800-690-3223 for more details. ~-=o0o=-~ . Smillies from Terry . With Air France proposing to institute a smoking section on their aircraft, one passengers comment was 'Is this like providing a p---ing section in a swimming pool?" Religious equal rights - pray equality. ~-=o0o=-~ . That's it for this time, please we need your input, send comments and email addresses of any others who may be interested to Vesta with a copy to Terry. -!- Landing on an Island in the Pacific. _____(~)_____ ! ! ! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. <<<>>> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ................................................... . GREETINGS FROM . . Vancouver Island . . BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA . ...................................................

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |\^/| _| TCA |_ _|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R > CANADA < B E T W E E N O U R S E L V E S >_./|\._< for P I O N A I R S | Your crew is: Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson Chief Navigator - Terry Baker tm number 89 date Sept 29th 1996 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . Your navigator is trying to navigate himself and spouse through the contingency network during next 3 weeks. The Chief Pilot will be glad to hear from any of you. . Tom Martin read an interesting article in EnRoute while heading to YUL, and thought it may be of interest - An interview with Daniel Lortie, Foreman of the Paint Shop at Dorval Base revealed some interesting facts about painting airplanes. It takes 100 gallons and costs $190,000 to paint an Airbus A340. Paint lasts between 5 to 7 years. To affix the 13 piece maple leaf on the tail of a large aircraft takes 2 people 10 hours and costs $10,000. The special paint job for the Toronto Raptors airplane has no decals; the crew painted directly onto the aircraft with the aid of tracing paper. It took 950 manhours and cost $65,000. The paint on a 747 adds 350 kg to the weight of the aircraft. . Al Graham, CEO AirBC mentioned at a recent Vancouver Island luncheon that Air Canada was planning to paint an aircraft up in recognition of Donovan Bailey to worlds fastest human - nothing more yet. . Many years ago, a Air Canada pilot authored stories about a fictional airline called 'Down East Airlines' flying Vanguards - here is a story which COULD have come from those stories, but came from a book called 'Left Seat' by Robert Serling - The captain was flying a DC-2 trip once and he had a cocky copilot on board. The kid didn't know it, but the captain had met some Army pilots the night before and told them where he'd be flying the next day. He turns the ship over to the copilot just about the time he catches an Army pursuit job on the starboard wing. The Army guy, exactly as the captain had planned it, rolled just before he came alongside. So when he pulled up even, he was on his back. The captain tapped the copilot on the shoulder and pointed to the other plane. 'Don't look now.' he says, 'but I think we're flying upside down.' The copilot fainted. . Found on the internet - ValueJet starts flying tomorrow 30th, all fares at US$19 on non stop flights. AirBC pilots take a strike vote tomorrow 30th. Canadi>n flight attendants vote a strike mandate. Alaska Airlines order 12 Boeing B737-400 powered by CFM56-3 engines. Continental DC-10 with 178 passengers got stuck in the mud while taxiing to the ramp at Houston Intercontinental Airport. Dirty hydraulic fluid may have caused a rudder component to fail on a USAir flight which crashed at Pittsburgh in 1994. WILL THE SKIES PART FOR FAMILY CHANNEL'S AIR DISASTER FILM? Televangalist Pat Robertson's personal cable channel will air "Panic in the Skies!" Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. Watch how lightning kills the crew and a hacker patches into the 747-300's EFIS to fly it safely home again. Pilots: be sure to mark your calendars, and have your barf bags handy. RUSSIAN YOUTH FOUND DEAD IN GEAR WELL: The young would-be hitchhiker apparently died in-flight of cold and hypoxia on a flight from Moscow to Rome. But he got a round-trip home when his body went unnoticed during the plane's Rome stop. Maintenance workers found the 18-year-old's body during a routine inspection Saturday after the plane returned to Moscow. ~-=o0o=-~ . Interline stuff - At all U.K. airports a 10% Airport Service Charge is applied to rentals of cars from suppliers located on the airport grounds, even if the rental is booked from Canada, the surcharge is payable in local funds. Exotic Orient Aboard the 'Sky Princess' escorted by two Vancouver Island Pionairs Syl and Kay Napolitano March 28th for 14 days. Itinerary - Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dalian, Beijing, Pusan, Nagasaki and Osaka. While at Beijing, disembark for all inclusive 2 day land package visiting the Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and the Great Wall. Cat J inside US$2743, Cat I inside US$3010 Cat E outside US$2810 Cat D outside US$3110 Prices pp dble + port charges US$176.50. Cruise the Amazon - 13 days - Itinerary Iquitos 1 1/2 days, Amazon River cruise - 7 days, visit Pevas, Leticia, Tabatinga & Cuzco, Machu Picchu - 1 1/2 days Includes confirmed air from Miami US$2695 pp dble Canary Islands - 7 day cruise on ms Windstar round trip Madeira visiting Lanzarote, Las Palmas, Gomera and Santa Cruz De Tenerife. Departures Oct 6 and 13th. Price US$995 pp dble. Call 1-800-690-3223 for more details. Norwegian Cruise Lines' 'Seaward'. 7 days from US$399 - San Juan round trip via Aruba, Curacao, Tortola,St.Thomas Departs Oct 13, 27, Nov 10, 24, Dec 8 San Juan round trip Barbadoes, Martinique, St. Maarten.Antigua, St. Thomas. Departs Oct 6, 20, Nov 3, 17, Dec 1, 15. Call 1-800-345-7576 for details. ~-=o0o=-~ . More smilies from the London England Pionair monthly newsletter - Getting older is when - You get winded playing chess. Your children begin to look middle-aged. You know all the answers but no-one asks the questions. You look forward to a dull evening. . That's it for this time, please we need your input, send comments and email addresses of any others who may be interested to Vesta with a copy to Terry. -!- Landing on an Island in the Pacific. _____(~)_____ ! ! ! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. <<<>>> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ................................................... . GREETINGS FROM . . Vancouver Island . . BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA . ...................................................

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |\^/| _| TCA |_ _|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R > CANADA < B E T W E E N O U R S E L V E S >_./|\._< for P I O N A I R S | Your crew is: Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson Chief Navigator - Terry Baker tm number 88 date Sept 25th 1996 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . Welcome to Bob (and Anne) Robbins, Ottawa District Director Pionairs, can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. . Extended stays in the U.S. Resididency rules - If you are planning an extended stay in the U.S. watch the calender. If you stay too long, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service may view you as a U.S. resident for tax purposes and require that you file a U.S. tax return. If you're in the country more than 30 days, a special formula is used to determine your status. The number of days spent in the U.S. in the current year is added to one third of the days spent in the previous year and one sixth of the days spent in the year before. If the total exceeds 182, you may be considered U.S. resident for tax purposes. . Following reminiscing by Dick Bradbear former Sales Manager at Birmingham, U.K. - from the LHR monthly newsletter - 'Some of you may remember me I am sure and certainly hope so! I joined TCA on 10/6/47 at the old Reservations & Sales or Traffic Office in the old CNR building in Cockspur Street, London, SW1. Actually I was employed as a Reservations agent and served under Graeme Gibson and Pat Wilson with a local staff then of about 6, comprising ticket counter agents, reservations (telephone) and Sales personnel. All were then Canadian employees so I was actually the very FIRST Englishman hired in the U.K. on Traffic side (apart from Scottish staff who may have been senior to me, but have since passed on - sadly). So I saw TCA grow and helped it accordingly. But, of course, Annus Domini creeps up. I am now over 80, in reasonably good health, have my eldest son in Vancouver, in fact my twin grandsons are now 26! My best wishes to all you pionairs amd I can only hope that some of you who do remember me will not forget me!' Dick can be reached c/o U.K.Pionairs, 18 Tekel Way, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 1HX. U.K. ~-=o0o=-~ . Found on the Internet - Pan American World Airways will start full service flights from Miami to New York JFK and New York JFK to Los Angeles Sept 26th. British Airways confirmed that it might sell major support operations, such as maintenance, information technology and baggage handling, and contract these services. The carrier seeks to cut 1 billion pounds ($1.56 billion) in costs over three years. It didn't rule out job cuts in the restructuring, but denied a British news report that it will ax 10,000 of its 55,000 jobs globally. A few things are on the table right now with Canadi>n. 1. The flight attendants' contract has been up for awhile now. The federal mediator walked away saying that both parties are too far apart. 2. Maintenance contract on Airbus Aircraft. - Supposedly this contract has expired. The company doesn't have the cash so they are going to give the aircraft back to to rightful owners. 3. Routes- I heard they are getting rid of the 2 domestic triangles. 1 is the Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver triangle, the other is Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. Source is the follwing papers: The Financial Post, Globe and Mail, and Aviation News(a paper distributed around Pearson airport) In some Canadian web news page today (Sept. 12) apparently each of the 56 flights leaving from Hong Kong to Canada in the last two weeks of June next year have been sold out. This is nervousness by returnees as to their citizenship status and residency rights. Also most of the flights leaving Canada to Hong Kong in the last two weeks of June 1997 have been sold out. It is caused by the rumor that HK permanent residents have to be physically present in HK in order to retain their permanent residency after the Chinese takeover. An independent survey of more than 2,200 frequent travellers worldwide has ranked AIR CANADA as the Best Long Haul Business Class carrier in the Americas. Sixty-seven of the world's airlines were included in the survey that was commissioned and conducted by U.K.-based Inflight Research Services. ``This year's results demonstrate the quality leadership of carriers offering a premium business class cabin and service on long haul routes,'' said Edward Plaisted, Managing Director and founder of Inflight Research Services. ``Of the eleven major North and South American airlines included in our survey, AIR CANADA took first place.'' AIR CANADA's business class was ranked among those of the top five airlines worldwide for its: . Friendliness of cabin staff . Seating comfort . Check-in efficiency . Quantity of onboard food served . Selection and standard of reading material . Quality and utility of products in amenity kits In addition, AIR CANADA's business class was ranked among those of the top ten airlines worldwide for its: . Quality of assistance for arrival and transit passengers . Quality of onboard meal presentation . Standard of facilities and programming for onboard video and audio . Quality and exclusivity of business class priority . Total quality of airport service AIR CANADA's premium business class service to Europe and Asia, Executive First, was introduced in 1994 and continues to lead the industry by offering passengers first class space, comfort, and service at business class prices. On its international routes, the carrier operates Boeing 747 and 767 aircraft as well as Airbus A340s. Passengers are seated one or two abreast and enjoy a spacious 55-60 inch pitch between rows. Seats are a generous 21 inches wide and recline 14 inches. All passengers have arm's length access to state-of-the-art digital telephone with laptop and fax dataports. For audio and video entertainment, Executive First passengers have a personal television at their seat featuring eight video and nine audio channels. In addition to priority check-in and disembarkation, Executive First passengers receive a 25 per cent mileage bonus with Aeroplan or any of AIR CANADA's other quality frequent flyer partners. For the 1996 Independent World Business Class Survey, 2,282 frequent travellers were surveyed over a five month period from February to June 1996. Individuals in the sample group represented 40 nationalities from more than 50 countries who took on average more than 14 long-haul flights in a 12-month period. Twenty-four per cent of the respondents live in North and South America, 36 per cent in Europe, 32 per cent in Asia and the Pacific, and eight per cent in Africa. The survey focused on medium to long-haul business class services and evaluated flights of five to 13 hours in length. ~-=o0o=-~ . Smilie from the London England Pionair monthly newsletter - Getting older is when - Everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work. The gleam in your eyes is from the sun hitting your bifocals. You feel like the night after and you haven't been anywhere. Your little black book contains only names ending in MD. _|_ '---o-o-0-o-o---' " ' " . That's it for this time, please we need your input, send comments and email addresses of any others who may be interested to Vesta with a copy to Terry. -!- Landing on an Island in the Pacific. _____(~)_____ ! ! ! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. <<<>>> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ................................................... . GREETINGS FROM . . Vancouver Island . . BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA . ...................................................

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |\^/| _| TCA |_ _|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R > CANADA < B E T W E E N O U R S E L V E S >_./|\._< for P I O N A I R S | Your crew is: Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson Chief Navigator - Terry Baker tm number 87 date Sept 20th 1996 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . Welcome to Dennis Brown ex C & SS YUL now on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Bud Cluett who can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Sorry news - Those of you who remember Bob Needham a Director P & F Dorval prior to his retirement will be saddened to hear he has passed away aged 76. . Reminders - Oct 17th for the YOW Pionairs lunch at the Green Valley Resturant. Oct 18th - Family day at London Heathrow Airport to celebrate Air Canada's first flight out of Heathrow on Sept 18th 1946. Oct 4th - 9th - is the 14th annual Air Canada Tennis tournament in Florida. Nov 1st/2nd the System Badminton tournament at Glasgow, Scotland. Oct 19th the transition period for the new BC area telephone code. The existing 604 code will apply to the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley Sunshine Coast and Whistler/Howe Sound regions. The new 250 area code will apply to all other regions of B.C., including Vancouver Island. During the transition period either code will apply. On Apr 6th 1997 the transition period will end. Nov 2nd-5th - U.S. District A.G.M. at Banff Spring Hotel. A.G.M. meeting 0900-1200 on the 4th, remainder of the meeting is social. Mediaeval dinner on the 4th C$57 + taxes. Room rates C$102.50 + taxes single, C$110 + taxes double. Register by Sept 30th. Dec 15th - Toronto district Christmas Lunch - Bristol Place Hotel. ~-=o0o=-~ . Air Canada Timetable As mentioned in Netletter nr 86, the Air Canada timetable is available at the Air canada web site for downloading. Gissle Fyfe-Burke of Air Canada is responsible for updating the file, and she advises that the file is updated every 10 days. ~-=o0o=-~ . Found on the Internet - Air Pacific, the Fijian flag carrier is the first customer for the Boeing B737-700. Federal Express are planning to buy 36 aging DC10 aircraft from United Airlines for conversion to freighters. Aer Lingus are under a strike threat by their 372 pilots. A cure for terminal blues Airports are filled with all kinds of people, including less-than- honest ones. Here are some tips for playing it safe in airports - Don't get too fancy. Thieves look for well-dressed people with expensive luggage. Don't put valuables or documents that can't be replaced in the luggage you check. Carry only the credit cards and calling cards you'll use, and take the numbers you will need to report loss. Keep your cash in several places, so you won't lose it all if your wallet or purse disappears. Money belts are a good idea. Don't carry your passport with your cash. Be wary of strangers who offer to assist you. Ladies - don't set your purse down in a restroom stall. Someone in the next stall could grab it and disappear quickly. Thieves also reach over doors to remove bags from hooks. TWA 800 UPDATE The recovery effort is expected to wrap up within two to three weeks. The investigators are considering blowing up an empty Boeing 747 on the ground to study the damage in an effort to pinpoint what might have caused the TWA crash. UH, CAPTAIN, THIS MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD TIME TO BRING THIS UP, BUT... A British pilot told his captain he was afraid of heights while their jet with 54 passengers and crew cruised at 33,000 feet over France last May. The FO complained of feeling ill and said he was "frightened of the altitude." The unnamed airman, who had seven years of flight experience, refused a cold drink and oxygen to calm his nerves and "continued to show symptoms of anxiety and stress." The pilot was fired four days after the incident and has not flown since. ~-=o0o=-~ . Virus - Dave Baker send us the following information from Advantis - A new virus, WINWORD.CONCEPT, representing a new class of viruses, has been discovered. This virus is a Macro Virus. It infects the Word environment on any hardware platform (PC Compatible, MAC, PowerPC, etc.) and its .DOC and .DOT files. WINWORD.CONCEPT is a benign virus. The only symptom if you have this virus is a one-time occurrence of a dialog box with only '1' as text and only 'OK' as a choice. Following that, it replicates a set of macros into your global template file (ususally NORMAL.DOT) and changes any file saved using the 'Save as...' command to be of the template type. Please take the opportunity to protect yourself from this form of virus by... In Word, go to: Tools Options.... Save and enable the 'prompt to Save Normal.Dot' option. This will alert you to any future attempt by any macro virus to infect your system. ~-=o0o=-~ . Smilie from Terry - Sign near a Brussels hotel elevator - ' To move the lift, push button to wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should push number for wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by natural order. Button retaining pressed position shows received command for visiting station." _|_ '---o-o-0-o-o---' " ' " . That's it for this time, please we need your input, send comments and email addresses of any others who may be interested to Vesta with a copy to Terry. -!- Landing on an Island in the Pacific. _____(~)_____ ! ! ! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. <<<>>> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ................................................... . GREETINGS FROM . . Vancouver Island . . BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA . ...................................................