Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

The NetLetter

 (part of the ACFamily Network)

Robert Arnold in Winnipeg sent us this memory -
This photo was taken back in July 1984. I was asked to move the aircraft out of the Western Canada Aviation Museum's hangar in Winnipeg so we could rearrange the hangar display area and prepare for the Queen's arrival on October 7, 1984.  

The ramp area was starting to get a bit crowded as we shared an active ramp with Air Manitoba DC-3's and Perimeter Airlines DC-3's and Metroliners along with The Province of Manitoba's CL-215's and Cessna Citation Air Ambulances, and if I remember correctly two DC-4's belonging to Aero Trades Western Ltd. Our two largest aircraft at the time were the Viscount and Bristol Freighter. With the shortage of ramp space it was time to be creative in aircraft placement. I found this piece of partially paved and unused section of tarmac, secured the necessary permission for use and ended up with what you see below. Thats my story of how this photo came to be my Kodak Moment "The Bold And The Beautiful".
The End

I am glad I signed on to the Netletter. Lots of history here! There have even been a few people I was able to recognize and identify, like Tony Morien in the photo of the Viscount Spar Modification Crew. I volunteered for over 25 years with Tony while he was Chief of Restoration at WCAM. Keep up the great work.
Regards Robert.

This from Ralph Nevers -
Here's a photo taken in the early 70's of the Technical Support Group for CP Air.  I am on the far left crouching down with white shirt and stripped tie.  I know most of the folks in the photo, but can't remember all of their names and of course, some of them have passed on.  

Thought some of the older CP Air Folks might get a kick out of this pic.  This picture was sent to me by Diane Olson a.k.a. DeeDee Millman, she is the only female in the picture. I've been retired from Air Canada since 2003 and will collect my Old Age Pension in January 2012.
Regards, Ralph E. Nevers.
(Anyone care to supply some identifications here? - eds)

Eight Southern Region customer service employees are seen as they attended a two-day refresher course on tariffs in Toronto. Flanking Senior Instructor Pat Ford and Passenger & Cargo Sales Manager Harry Fase are, back row, from the left:
 

Rudy Chen, Sales Rep., Kingston; Don Aranha, A/Supervisor, Nassau; George Ward, PA, Freeport; Tony St. Hill, Reservations and Sales Office Supervisor, Bridgetown; Cordell Josiah; PA, Antigua; Dennis Rollins, Reservations and Sales Office Supervisor, Trinidad. Foreground are PAs Barb Petty of Bermuda and Frances Passailaigue of Montego Bay.

L-1011 Captain Pierre Charbonneau, Montreal, left gives retired Company Captain George Lothian a tour of the TriStar flight deck before takeoff on a Toronto-Vancouver flight marking the 35th anniversary of transcontinental service on April 1. 

Times have changed since Captain Lothian flew the 10-passenger Lockheed 14-H2, the aircraft which made the first trans-continental flight 35 years ago. 

Aboard the L-1011 anniversary flight were news media representatives and three founding members of Trans-Canada Air Lines stewardess force - George's wife, Rose, Annette Brunelle Donovan and her sister, Geralde Brunelle Laurier.

The Grand Forks Municipal Airport was officially opened on September 12, 1970, with an attendance of over 3,000 people.On September 14, 1970 PWA began regular schedule service into Grand Forks, B.C.. The terminal building is a former church, having been brought from Christina Lake . It is a pan-a-bode building. When PWA opened for business, Glen (Deacon) Carleton opened the station and began selling tickets.  

Service into Grand Forks was discontinued effective January 28th 1971.due to inadequate and uneconomical traffic levels.
  

(This is the last copy of the "PWA Keeping Posted" magazine that had been donated - eds)

Last PW B737 flight to Uranium City, Saskatchewan October 28th 1982
Pacific Western started service in YBE in the summer of 1959 with DC-3 and C-46 aircraft. Service levels improved when DC-4, DC-6, Electra, Convair and B737 aircraft were introduced. Last June, when the Uranium Mine was closed, passenger and cargo levels dropped resulting in our departure from the community. A twice weekly DC-3 service from Fort McMurray is now in place. 

Mayor Rose Wasylenka was presented with a Pacific Western picture at the Uranium City Airport on October 28 when the last jet flight came in. On hand for the presentation (L to R) Captain George Dumberger, Purser Glynne Wilson, F/A Maureen Gorman, F/A Yolanda Spithoven, Mayor Rose Wasylenka, Peter Lema and F/O Hans Longerich.

The NetLetter

 (part of the ACFamily Network)

Planning on a visit to South Africa? Alan Evans, who lives in Durban, sent us this weather update - 

Yes I know you guys have seen it all before, but this is South Africa and only 60-80 kilometers from my home in tropical Durban.

We have had the most incredible cold (9c) few days with thousands of trucks incapable of getting through, jackknifing and motorists spending night and days stuck on mountain passes and desert freeways. The harbours are feeling the effects as trucks are not getting through to supply ships now waiting with heavy penalties. The military is attempting to rescue drivers and bull dozers are being dispatched to tow and dig out the truckers in so getting the blocked freeways clear. More coming they say.?. The ocean weather is very rough with swell and waves meeting 5-6 meters. A cargo ship has been washed ashore on one of the beautiful Durban North beaches.

Kevin Carey has sent us this information -
Fred Clipper (in the middle) who is/was the first member of the Pionairs recently (July 2011) celebrated his 100th birthday at his home in Bermuda.

Fred must like the life style in Bermuda. He still takes no medicine but has admitted he takes a baby aspirin everyday but only because his doctor insisted. Fred worked for TCA in Bermuda and has been collecting his pension for the past 36 years.

In the picture are Thomas and Jannet Tricarico (Jannet is the Past President of the Pionairs as of September 1, 2011) Fred Clipper, Duncan Dee (Air Canada's COO) and Kevin Carey (Director, Pionairs USA, Caribbean and Latin America) who all went to Bermuda to help honor and celebrate Fred's historic day.

Regards, Kevin Carey Director, Pionairs USA

Two scheduled flights were marked for special treatment April 1 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Company's inauguration of transcontinental service in Canada.  

On flight 105 westbound and flight 136 eastbound, regular passengers as well as special guests were served special birthday cake, and issued flight certificates to record the occasion.

Among the special guests on the eastbound anniversary flight were Captain Bill Barnes (retired) who was the First Officer aboard the original flight; and Tom Kirkham, Manager, General Services, Calgary, who was the first full time passenger agent in Vancouver, and handled the inaugural flight.

On the westbound flight were former Company Captain George Lothian and his wife, a former Stewardess; Mrs. Donovan, formerly Miss A. Brunelle, a Stewardess on one of the first legs of the early flight; and Mrs. M. Turnbull, formerly Margaret Wilson, who was a Stewardess on the Winnipeg-Vancouver leg of the first flight.

In 1939, two twin-engine 10-passenger Lockheed 14H2 aircraft took off from Montreal and Vancouver to inaugurate the Company's once-daily transcontinental service. Even before the service began however, the late C. Howe, then federal minister of transport, expressed doubt whether one schedule would be sufficient to cope with the heavy passenger traffic expected.

The 2,500-mile journey between the two cities took about 16 flying hours, and stops were made at Lethbridge, Regina. Winnipeg, Kapuskasing, North Bay, and Ottawa, with connections at North Bay for Toronto.

Both of the inaugural flights of April 1, 1939 were dogged by bad weather. Flight Two from Vancouver terminated in Ottawa due to snow conditions and passengers continued their journey to Montreal by train, while - Flight One from the east was delayed 34 hours at Lethbridge by icing conditions over the Rockies.

While disappointing to the crews, the delays were accepted casually by the passengers, who praised the captains for "their good judgement", according to news paper reports of the day.

Pilots on the little Lockheeds would head westbound out of Vancouver over the Gulf of Georgia while gaining altitude before turning eastward to cross the Great Divide, or "The Rocks" as they called it. Westbound flights out of Lethbridge would turn to the east to ride the flow of air which cascaded down the eastern slopes of the mountains and bounced off the prairie floor, giving lift and precious altitude to the planes for the mountain crossing.

Maximum altitude of the Lockheeds was 17,000 feet and the passengers and crew wore oxygen masks. Box lunches were served by the stewardess who worked alone in the tiny cabin.

Alan Rust

The second image below is linked to a video about the 9/11
World Trade Center Memorial
(submitted by Dan Wilson)

9/11 Remembered

In NetLetter nr 1177 under Readers submitted photos, we had this unidentified photo.

 
This prompted Doris Perry to sends this information - The  secretary (we were called clerk-stenos back then) is Joan Nunn (nee MacLaren). We worked in the Operations Department and were friends. We lost contact with the passing of time.  She was a lovely, gracious person but, unfortunately, passed away, either this spring or last year (my memory is not what it was!!).

Doris (nee Perry) 

Sometimes we receive articles and information that just doesn't fit in our other areas. This is where it goes!

Sharon Stout writes-

I'm an AC retiree and my husband, Ian Stout, writes novels. His first one, "Necessary Larceny", came out in 2007 and is still available at many Chapters stores and at most libraries across Canada. You can check his website out at www.writerstout.com

Ian's new book "Missing in Paradise, will be launched on Sept 26, 2011. The launch party is at the Quality Inn on Bronte Road south of the QEW. (about a hundred yards south). The restaurant and banquet services there are operated by Mike Paralovos who, would you believe, is married to Ann Paralovos, an AC agent at YYZ. (we try to keep these things in the family)

The party starts at 7:30 p.m. and goes until Mike kicks us out. No entry fee, free wine and nibbles and a couple witty speeches. (at least we hope they're witty)

All are welcome and if it's anything like the book launch of Ian's first novel, it should be a lot of fun. We know a large contingent of Toronto AC staff will be there. (as they were at the first launch) and we would like to invite any who missed the first launch to come along for this one.

Thanks, Sharon Stout, YYZ. 

And from the UK Pionairs monthly newsletter comes this article -
Vic Grant contacted us to advise that he could be our oldest retiree at 94 years of age. He says he enjoys our newsletter and had over 30 years' service with Air Canada.  After Air Canada he ran a company called Standard Aero which was a Canadian Aviation company in Ashford Kent.  He retired in l980 to Evesham, and then travelled back and forth to Winnipeg every year. His wife, Sheila, passed away in 2008 after 66 years of happy marriage. Thanks for that, Vic 

One of the biggest spoils of war taken by the rebels in Libya was opened up to the media on the weekend. Muammar Gaddafi's private A340 has been turned into a kind of ridiculous retreat for rebel leaders, although the irony of their latest occupation doesn't appear to be lost on them. Clad in fatigues but perched delicately on overstuffed leather furniture, the rebels gave media a glimpse into Gaddafi's sense of personal style. The aircraft cost $74 million in 2003.
Check the web site www.telegraph.co.uk.

BBC News: Gaddafi's Luxurious Airbus 340.

Terry Baker

Checked baggage policy update. Consistent with the baggage polices of other major carriers, Air Canada is revising its checked baggage policy for tickets issued on/after September 7, 2011, for travel on/after October 11, 2011 for customers with an Economy Class ticket as follows: For travel between Canada and the United States, a first bag fee of $ 25CAD/USD applies;  For travel between Canada/USA and Africa, the Middle East and Russia/ Asia and Australia/ South America a second bag fee of $70 CAD/USD applies.

The second baggage fees already in place for Economy Class travel to/from the Canada, USA, the Caribbean, Europe and India will remain unchanged; aircanada.com has full details.

There are no changes to the employee baggage allowance policy, posted on the Portal's Employee Travel site under News and Policies > Baggage. (Source Daily)

The NetLetter

 (part of the ACFamily Network)

Jean from Mississauga.
Hi all you hard working people,
I came across this cartoon in my files from when I flew with TCA 1959-1961.  As you can see the cartoon was published in August 1961.  Please zoom in to see the antics of the employees when they were expecting a strike to occur.

I am sending this mainly for your enjoyment and fun. Thanks for all you do to keep the NetLetter going.

Jean from Mississauga.
 

Practically the whole of the Maintenance Publications staff at Dorval was on hand recently for a farewell party honoring Art Warrener, Maintenance Publications Development Manager, on his retirement after more than 25 years service. 

Shown at the gathering are, from the left, front row:
Diane Caverhill, Jeanne McGilp, Art, Grace Bibby, and Jasmine Eames.

Second row: Sophie Johnston, John McLoughlin, Tom James, Jack Johns, Bill Ramage, Gordon McAulay, Bill Kuchiran, Art Wood, Graham Reynolds, Bill McNab, and Shirley Cole.

Third row: Paul Gardiner, Syd Bond, George Koristka, Howie Vardon, Hugh McDevitt, Ed Myer, and Joe Hugill.

Back row: Ross Smith, Hal Forrester, Charlie Folkes, Dave Downie, Tony Lemieux, Joe Kelly, and Bert Smith. Missing were Lee Eaves, George Haacke, and Vince Bigattini. 

PACIFIC WESTERN TAKES DELIVERY OF B767 C-GPWA
Pacific Western Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 767 new-generation wide-body aircraft on March 4, 1983. The first B767 was rolled out of the Boeing plant in Everett, Washington, August 4th, 1981. The initial B767 flight was on September 26th, 1981. 

Here we have this photo of Capt's Bob Moul, Earl Benson, Terry Lambourne and Transport Canada's Glen Feagan.

The aircraft pictured at Cambridge Bay's airport on March 1955 was one of many on a massive airlift hauling construction materials and supplies for the DEW Line.

Cambridge Bay's communications, weather information, navigational beacon and ice-strip made it a major staging point for the western half of the DEW Line. At first, facilities were very limited for servicing and repair of aircraft. When a pilot, by misfortune or neglect, ran up an engine with insufficient oil pressure, the result was a seized engine. This presented a problem of changing the engine on the ice with temperatures to -40°F and winds up to 40 MPH.

The answer was to do it like the locals would - build an igloo. Although it was necessary to have a removable roof, formed from a tarpaulin, the remainder of the shelter was built from snow blocks. This permitted the maintenance crew to work in relative comfort and out of the bitter wind. As a side benefit, the shelter was easily disposed of by Mother Nature.

REMEMBER WHEN?
For our history buffs . . . on reviewing our flight schedules from the years ending in three . . we come up with the following for '53, '63, '73 and '83. 

Did you know that in '53, P.W.A. or Central B.C. Airways (as it was then called) had scheduled routes from Vancouver Airport to the Gulf Islands. The fare, for example, to Mayne Island was $5.75 . . . about the same price as it is to go from the Vancouver Terminal over to our hangars.
 

COUNT ON US
First crew of Pacific Western Airlines to arrive at the official opening of Grand Forks Airport.

Left to right: Captain Wally Russell, Captain Al Eden, Stewardess Miss Rennie Hayn with Constable Wayne Pipe of the RCMP in attendance.

Approximately 20 visiting dignitaries were aboard and before the aircraft left for Vancouver 24 members of council and executives of Fall Fair Committee were taken for a courtesy ride over the city.

It is worthy of note that the Grand Forks Airport was first granted a license in 1929 when commercial aviation was barely out of its infancy and now 40 years later a first regularly scheduled flight became a reality when the PWA Nord Vistaliner touched down at 10:25 a.m.

Les Ashton has provided the name for one of the gentlemen in this photo published in NetLetter nr 1175

Re the photo of the cargo team attending Ron Law's management meeting the gentleman sitting in front of Jean Guy Roberge is Jerry Murray. I do not know the name of the other individual.  

Best regards, Les Ashton.


Lucien Baril sends us this photo from 1975, a cargo management meeting held under Ron Law's directorship, in Montréal.  

The names of the people are: Dermot Morin, Lucien Baril, Jean-Guy Roberge, Jerry Murray, Stu Christie, Ron Law, Suzanne Bucan, Robert Viau, Raymond Dicaire, Michel Saucier and Guy Bélanger and John Mansey comes up with both people names - 

In the Netletter 1175 you showed a photo of a cargo management meeting in 1975.  Possible the two missing names are Jerry Murray (in front of Jean-Guy Roberge) and Bob Viau ( in front of Ray Dicaire). 

Hope this is of assistance

Regards John Mansey,

LHR Cargo retired
 

Here is Jack's response, which conjured up these memories  -
The two interior photos drew my attention, particularly the colored one. The interior shown is the first refurbishing of the TCA Viscounts. The large medallion type maple leaves on the rear and forward walls, and the mixture of blue and gold seat covers were quite a change from the rather plain original design.

 
 In 1961 I worked in the Finishing Shop at Winnipeg when the refurbishing was well underway. The seat covers claimed to be treated with a fire retardant. Some of the guys did a little test of their own and with a cigarette lighter set a scrap of the material on fire without any trouble at all. I have no idea what ever become of the unofficial test. The seat covers were sewn in the shop. The white with a gold fleck interior walls were covered with Arborite. The original walls were stripped and I remember they were made of plywood. One of the 'high tec' jobs I worked on was the assembly of the air outlet cones.

Terry Baker

From the "Horizons" magazine issued February 1st 1974, we note these one-way air fares being introduced.
Calgary - Toronto $110, Vancouver - Edmonton $46,  Victoria - Vancouver $15, Ottawa - Winnipeg $77, Toronto - Montreal $34, Montreal - Vancouver $142,  Halifax - Montreal $46,  Fredericton - Saint John $15,  St John's - Toronto $91, Moncton - Halifax $20.
 
 

Here is a list of deals from Airline Employee Discounts
www.airlineemployeetravel.com   1-800-250-5229 

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The NetLetter

 (part of the ACFamily Network)

1974 - August - New uniforms for ground employees introduced.

Terry Baker

SOUTH AMERICA CRUISE hosted by the Interline Club of Portugal.

From Valparaíso (Chile) to Buenos Aires (Argentina)
18 days (14 nights of cruise) 10th TO 27th FEB. 2012
 

This is an unforgettable trip through South America, passing through the continent extreme, where landscapes, dazzle and provoke feelings. From the Natural Parks to Glaciers, from Ushuaia to Fire Land, passing by the sea life of Magalhães Penguins, from the cities as Santiago, to the warm and joyful
Buenos Aires, nobody will be indifferent.

INCLUDED SERVICES:

• Plane ticket on regular flight, with 20kg of baggage allowance included; from Lisbon.
• Taxes *: airport, security and fuel (320,00 €);
• Private transfers according to the program;
• 1 overnight in a first category hotel in Santiago, on half board basis;
• Half day visit of Santiago, with Portuguese or Spanish speaking guide and lunch in local restaurant;
• Half day visit of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso;
• 1 full day visit of Buenos Aires and 1 dinner with a Tango Show;
• Accommodation in Cabins (according to one´s choice);
• Meals based on full board during the cruise;
• All port taxes included;
• Tips a board;
• Tips to guides and drivers (during the visits included in the program);
• GeoStar tour escort during the whole trip;
• Tourism and services taxes included;
• Travel Insurance included (valid for departures from Lisbon, price to be reconfirmed in case departure will be from another city);
• GeoStar Travel Bag;

INFORMATIONS AND REGISTRATIONS WITH INTERLINE CLUBE OF PORTUGAL
R. Coronel Luna de Oliveira, 24 - 3º 1900 - 167 LISBOA
Tlf.: 00351 - 218 146 625 / Fax : 00351 - 218 146 798
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.