Abbotsford Air Show - August 10, 11 and 12, 2018

Some of the participants are Canadian Forces Snowbirds and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.

Events included for this year will be demos of the CF-18 Hornet, A-10 Thunderbolt II, Skyhawks parachute team and more.

More information at www.abbotsfordairshow.com

Farnborough Air Show - July 21 and 22, 2018.

- Over 600 exhibitors
- 150 aircraft.
- 5 hours of flying demos.

More information at www.farnboroughairshow.com

Girls in Aviation Day -  October 13, 2018.

All around the world, Women in Aviation International will host Girls in Aviation Day 2018 through its chapter network and participating sponsors and partners. Here are some of the chapters in Canada:

• Northern Spirit Chapter, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
• Alberta Rocky Mountain High Chapter, Calgary, Alberta.
• Sea to Sky Chapter, Vancouver, British Columbia. 
• Western Aviatrix Chapter, London, Ontario.
• Upper Canada, Toronto, Ontario. 
• Winged Warriors (Univ of Waterloo), Waterloo, Ontario.

Check the web site, wai.org, for other chapters world-wide.

Three generations of the Davis family

Captain Steve Davis and his wife Mina have sent us some photos.

Mina sends this of her grandson, Tyler Davis, currently a Captain on the Embraer 190.

When not flying, we often played hockey. The picture on the left was taken in 2013. 

Captain Steve Davis has sent this short personal bio -

Hired by Trans-Canada Air Lines on November 17, 1952——retired March 30, 1993. Promoted on the North Star, age 25 years.

I was invited to supervisor capacity by Captain Bill Brett, worked under Chief Pilot Frank Bond, while in this capacity, flew initial introductory flight to San Francisco, after a number years, returned to regular line flying on the L1011, retired on the Boeing 747 after over 40 years of service

 Below are colourful ticket wallets from previous years.

(Source: airline-memorabilia.blogspot.comom)

The Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) represents more than 3,700 commercial pilots who fly millions of passengers across Canada and around the world on Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. 

Captain Matt Hogan was elected Chair at a Special Meeting of its Master Elected Council (MEC) in Toronto.

The one-year term will run from March 1, 2018 until March 31, 2019. 

For more information, visit www.acpa.ca.

Extracted from "Horizons" magazine issued May 1983.

The DC-8 aircraft has been retired from commercial passenger service.

The last scheduled flight was CF-TIM fin #869 c/n 46035 as flight AC140 April 23, 1983 leaving Calgary at 17:40 arriving in Toronto at 23:10. On April 28, 1983 the aircraft was stored at Marana, Arizona until sold to ATASCO Leasing Inc December 29, 1984.

Here we have a photo of the crew of fin #869 at Toronto from the left:

Flight Attendants Karl Kriese, Madeleine Brochu and Polly O'Connor; Second Officer Paul Munnings; Captain Jack Coleman; First Officer Ross Emmans; Flight Attendants Ann Maltby, Jennifer Simon, Carmen Barnes and Jeannette Forbes, In-Charge.

The last charter flight ended at 10 minutes past midnight on April 24, 1983 when flight AC071 arrived at Halifax from Tampa.

The retirement of its passenger DC-8's is a historic event marking the end of an era which spanned 23 years since the airline took delivery of its first model (series 40, 133 passengers, later known as "DC-8 short") CF-TJD fin #804 c/n 45445 on February 7, 1960. The aircraft went into service on April 1, 1960, on the Montreal-Toronto-Vancouver route. Trans-Canada Air Lines had entered the jet age.

The aircraft, CF-TJD, was sold in 1, July 1977 to Templewood Aviation Sales Ltd, for lease to Air Celon registered as 4R-ACT. It had chalked up 21,401 landings and flown 46,166 hours.

CF-TJL fin #812 c/n 45640 had the highest operational data having flown 55,859 hours and landed 24,354 times when is was sold December 19, 1984 to Lift Air Foundation of Liechtenstein. The aircraft had several operators and was stored at Miami where it was damaged during a hurricane in August 1996.

Irish for a day.

Parting the early morning mist at Shannon Airport on St. Patrick's Day was the first all-cargo flight AC596 from Toronto and Montreal. To mark the occasion, Airport Manager Aidan Larkin presented sprays of shamrock to crew members.

From the left: First Officer Phil Lewis, Captain Doug Spencer and Second Officer Rami Mani.

The pilots were also installed as honorary Irishman for Ireland's national day. This brief ceremony required the use of the Irish version of their names and they became F/O Paddy O'Lucy, Captain Dermont Shaun MacSpenser and S/O Roddy O'Mahoney.

Aidan apologizes for the poor quality of the photograph, but the dawn was overcast, the camera ancient and the film coloured.

Throwback Thursday 1939

This rare 1939 colour image shows TCA’s first hangar under construction in Winnipeg. (sorry we couldn't find a larger image)

Although no longer used by Air Canada, the hangar is now the home of the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.
(Source: Daily May 17, 2018)

The aircraft shown is Lockheed 14H-2 Super Electra CF-TCM fin #35 delivered September 19, 1938 modified to 14O-8 on December 18, 1942. Sold to Montreal Air Services on April 21, 1947 after 19,019 hours flying time.

(Source: Air Canada Pocket Guide)

Frontier tales from Pacific Western.

Stuart Russell has sent us this information and two photos -

Pacific Western Airlines Curtiss C46 Commando CF-HYI and Douglas DC-3 CF-INB at the Dew Line site (Distant Early Warning) Fox Main at Hall Beach Nunavut N44’ 39” Latitude W63’36” Longitude in 1957.

Hall Beach YUX was one of 42 radar stations constructed in the mid 1950s that stretched across the arctic from Alaska to Labrador, designed to monitor potential air traffic over the polar regions of North America.

Pacific Western operated seven Douglas DC-3’s and seven Curtiss C-46 Commandos during the 1950's and 1960's, with many of these aircraft used to transport vast amounts of air cargo to the sites during the construction of the Dew Line, and later during the resupply phase. Both aircraft types were considered workhorses in their day. Photo courtesy of Jim Kulak.

Pacific Western Airlines Douglas DC4 CF-PWJ offloading drum fuel and lumber at Coppermine NWT (now Kugluktuk Nunavut) N67’49” Latitude W115’08’ Longitude in the early 1960’s, with the assistance of local Inuvialuit residents and their dog teams.

PWA aircraft provided a resupply lifeline to communities like YCO up on the arctic coast and their arrival was always a cause for excitement in the remote isolated northern communities. Photo courtesy of HCRA files, from the "Canadian Pacific COMPASS" magazine issue 1981.

Taking off.

At the same time civil aviation was becoming increasingly important. In 1942, 10 small regional air services, flying North-South routes, were consolidated to form Canadian Pacific Air Lines.

Two strong men, C.H. 'Punch' Dickins and Grant McConachie took on the task of shaping the destiny of the new airline. D.C. Coleman, now president of Canadian Pacific, expected great things of company air transport after the war. The government, however, had different ideas.

It ordered that, within a year after the war, railways would have to be out of the airline business.

Click the cover at left story on the delivery from Info-Canadian Newsletter #180 - December 13, 1990.

Click the image below for Paul Simpson's video.

Note: The video begins with footage of Fin 635 a B767-300. Fin 881 enters the hangar at 3:35.

A decommissioned Russian Boeing 767 makes its way up the up Shannon river to the sea heading for Enniscrone where it will be the centerpiece of a transport themed glamping village in Enniscrone.

(Source: irishtimes.com) 

Labrador Airways Limited, established and started operations in 1948, as Newfoundland Airways, operating as Air Labrador, was a regional airline based in Goose Bay (CFB Goose Bay), Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. 

It operated scheduled daily passenger and freight services throughout Labrador and Quebec. 

Here is the timetable issued in 1997 for Air Labrador. 

On February 3, 2012, the company announced that the Nunatsiavut Government bought a 51% share in Air Labrador.

In June 2017 Air Labrador merged with Innu Mikun Airlines to form Air Borealis. 

Aircraft used by Snowbirds aerobatic team, on the go since 1963, will be kept flying until 2030.

The 55-year-old planes used by the Canadian military’s iconic Snowbirds aerobatic team will be kept flying until 2030. Aircraft avionics will be modernized on the CT-114 Tutors to comply with upcoming aviation regulations and the life of the aircraft extended for another 12 years, according to the Royal Canadian Air Force.

(Source: RCAF Association news May 18, 2018)

Terry Baker, co-founder of the NetLetter scours the internet for aviation related Trivia and Travel Tips for you, our readers, to peruse.

Effective June 1, flights for our codeshare partner Central Mountain Air (CMA) out of Vancouver International Airport (YVR) will be relocating to the South Terminal (from the Main Terminal), and all CMA flights will depart from and arrive at the South Terminal.

(Source: Daily May 18, 2018)

PAL Airlines

Our roots in the aviation industry were planted over 40 years ago in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

What started as a renowned Atlantic Canadian flight school has grown into one of the largest independent airlines operating in Eastern Canada. Our core services include scheduled flights, air charter and air cargo services.

The fleet has two each of Dash-8-300, Dash-8-100, Twin Otter and Beech 1900D.

(Source: www.palairlines.ca)

Location: Brookshire, Texas.

Project Freedom was thought out and built by airplane enthusiast Joe Axline. It includes two separate planes, a MD-80 and a DC-9-41 without their wings, resting next to each other.

The MD-80, which Axline named Freedom, provides rooms for friends and family, including a master bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. The DC-9-41, called Spirit, includes a theater, music room, arts and crafts room, bedrooms, a bathroom, and also a kitchen. 

Axline has been living in one of the planes from Project Freedom for the last two years.

(Source: complex.com)