We have welcomed 151 new subscribers so far in 2021.

We wish to thank everyone for your support of our efforts.

Back issues of The NetLetter are available in both the original newsletter format and downloadable PDF format.

We invite you to visit our website at www.thenetletter.net/netletters to view our archives.

Restoration and posting of archive issues is an ongoing project. We hope to post every issue back to the beginning in 1995.

We always welcome feedback about Air Canada (including Jazz and Rouge) from our subscribers who wish to share current events, memories and photographs.

Particularly if you have stories to share from one of the legacy airlines: Trans-Canada Air Lines, Canadian Airlines, CP Air, Pacific Western, Eastern Provincial, Wardair, Nordair, Transair, Air BC, Time Air, Quebecair, Calm Air, NWT Air, Air Alliance, Air Nova, Air Ontario, Air Georgian and all other Canadian based airlines that once graced the Canadian skies.

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We will try to post your comments in the next issue but, if not, we will publish it as soon as we can.

Thanks!

Christmas Lunch 2021 by the UK Pionairs.

We are now planning this year's Xmas lunch which will be held once again at the Best Western Ship Hotel in Weybridge, on Sunday, November 28.

We have received a price and menu for the three-course meal (including tea/coffee and mince pies) from the hotel.

The price has only increased by one pound since our last lunch in 2019.  So, this year, the cost will be £28 per head.

Source: UK Pionairs August newsletter

Sherry Sands posted this on the CP Air Employees Facebook page on August 20, 2021; with this comment -

For those flight attendants who may not be on the CUPE email list.

Subscriber Vlodko Brechun noticed our error in the 'Odds & Ends' section on NetLetter #1469.

In our article we refer to 'Russia's Antonov', however Antonov State Enterprise is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company with its head office located in Kyiv, Ukraine.

See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov for more information.

Subscriber Alan Evans, in South Africa, shares this information -

Snow in South Africa?

In the history of Hillcrest, South Africa, it has never snowed. However, in late August, the temperature dropped to -2 degrees Celsius (28 Fahrenheit) and we got about 30 centimetres, covering most of the up country and all the mountains.

People drove for hours to travel up country to play in the snow some of which have never seen snow. It even snowed on Table Mountain.

So by the sound of your hot weather in Canada, Europe, Australia and the U.S.A. we might come there for the sun and you here to ski!

Alan

Editors' Note: Click Here to view photos of the snowfall. 

Stephen Helms sent us this information - 

(Editors' Note: We requested but did not receive permission to show the photograph, please click the link below to view.)

I found a photo posted at Jetphotos.com of fin #264 (C-FZUH) arriving at Taiyuan Wusu International Airport (Shanxi Province, China) on September 11, 2021. Sadly, it appears to be destined for scrapping and salvage.

I worked this aircraft on many a shift; don't believe I ever flew it, though!

Built in Hamburg as MSN 711, an A319-114, it was delivered in August of 1997. it was withdrawn from service and stored since January 5 of this year, first at MCI (Kansas City), then moved to GWO (Greenwood–Leflore Airport, Mississippi), on St. Patrick's Day. Presumably bought from the leasing company (does anyone know which one?) by Mojave Jet, in July, and re-registered as N111CX.

Believe its last AC flight was on January 4 as flight #222 (YVR - YYC).

Now, awaiting its final fate! Only 24 years old! Wonder why it too wasn't transferred to Rouge?

Editors' Note: A rather circuitous route to China (as per FlightAware.com) -

• September 7 - GWO to SGF (Springfield, Missouri)
  • SGF to ANC (Anchorage, Alaska)
• September 8 - ANC to KHV (Khabarovsk, Russia)
  • Diverted back to ANC, possible mechanical issue
• September 10 - ANC to KHV
• September 11 - KHV to TYN (Taiyuan, China)

For our past articles on Fin #264 please see:

NetLetter #1341 - April 2016

NetLetter #1454 - January 2021

This memory appeared in the LHR Pionairs newsletter dated May 2021 –

Traveller's Tales — 'Screeched In' by Cyril White (Maggie Boto-White's husband)

I am now an 'Honorary Newfoundlander' and I have a certificate to prove it!

It won't stop the police giving you a speeding ticket or give you free admission to any of the music venues on George Street in St. John's, but it gave me the funniest 20 minutes I have had in a long, long time.

To the uninitiated, to become an 'Honorary Newfoundlander', one must be 'Screeched In' - a ceremony carried out in a number of bars, mostly once again on George Street in St. John's.

I will not try to describe the ritual in detail, suffice it to say that it involves the passing over of a few Canadian dollars, a shot of Screech (rum by another name), the kissing of a fish, the wearing of a sou'wester and the answering of a number of questions in a 'Long John Silverish' accent.

On my visits to St. John's, I have always steered clear of what seemed and certainly is, a method of lifting a few more dollars from tourist wallets, however on my last visit it was suggested we visit a bar in Quidi Vidi (a long walk or a short cab ride from downtown St. John's).

The bar is called The Inn of Olde and is opposite the Quidi Vidi Brewery (of which more, another time). From the outside the bar is unprepossessing but on the inside it is very singular, every wall and ceiling completely covered in an assortment of spoons, flags, number plates and other assorted bric-a-brac.

On our arrival early in the evening we were greeted by a lady of mature years and matronly proportions, in a wonderful manner which suggested we were regular customers, instead of complete strangers. She was shortly thereafter replaced by Linda the owner. There followed a friendly, lively chat with her and the other six customers in the bar, a circumstance that one thinks should always happen when you visit a new bar, but so very rarely does.

It soon became clear that four of those present, including the writer, had not been 'Screeched In' and that this was not acceptable and had to be remedied immediately. What followed was not a brief, ritualistic ceremony done many times before, but a long, freewheeling and hysterical initiation.

No kissing a fish, but instead a long dead Puffin which Linda swore was 20 years old and kept in the freezer for just such occasions! The wearing of an eclectic range of headgear, the eating of a dried fish, a swig of Screech and the liberal application of a wooden spoon to any unprotected part of your body, if you didn't repeat Linda's words of initiation to her satisfaction, which of course we often did not and through it all much, much laughter...

So when in St. John's, do get 'screeched in', but do it at 'The Inn of Olde' and when you do, give my fellow Newfoundlander, Linda, my warmest regards and thanks.....

Source: Reprinted from the Pionairs LHR Newsletter May, 2021 

Brian Losito, Air Canada's corporate photographer, sent us these photos several years ago.

They are uniforms from 1938 through 1968 and we thought you may like to reminisce over them.

Here are a few later photos, continued from NetLetter #1469.

Some of the dates supplied may be incorrect, any comment would be appreciated.

Found in 'Horizons' magazine

The Air Canada Flying Pirates hockey team of Vancouver traveled to Belfast. Northern Ireland to play in a two-game fundraising event.

The hockey game against the Castlereagh Select raised over $4,000 for the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Foundation.

The Air Canada team also visited the Cancer Ward of the Ulster Hospital and gave gifts to the sick children to help brighten their day.

Left to right, back row: Murphy Johnson, Jack Davidson, coach Claudio Feruga, Mike Bradley, Hugh Tait, Brian Yamanaka, Ziggy Zippel and Dann Ball.

Front row: Bruce Geortzen, Corey Williams, Dan Dubuk, Paul Newmal (United), and Ken Woods (Delta).

Air Canada celebrates 50 years of flight to Bermuda.

Staff, friends and associates of Air Canada in Bermuda celebrated this station's 50th anniversary in 1998. To mark this very special occasion, an afternoon tea was held in the main lobby of the Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo.

Pictured left to right: Customer Service Agents Karen Cabral, Tina Barnard, Floyd Smart, Matthew Ringer, Veronica DeSilva, Country Coordinator; Customer Service Agent Lynette Harris, Lamar Durrett, President and CEO, David Lambert, Customer Service Coordinator - Bermuda; Customer Service Agents Lucy Monkman, Carol Ramsay, Sally Walsh, Marc Rosenberg, Vice President, Sales & Product Distribution and Polly Ricketts, Customer Service Agent.

Glasgow -

Pictured left to right. are: Ian Dawson, Cargo Sales Service Coordinator, who reached 25 years in February 1998; Lamar Durrett, President & CEO and Willie Kerr, Commissary Catering Coordinator who reached 30 years of service in 1997.

Paris -

Pictured, left to right: Lise Marie Turpin, General Manager, Passenger Sales, France, Belgium, Spain; Laetitia Lesieur, Ticket Agent; Lamar Durrett, Geneviéve Brigout, Principal Coordinator and Roger Sarti, Ticket Agent.

Welcome to our new employees in Tel Aviv.

Effective with the 1998 summer schedule, we are introducing a new Montreal - Tel Aviv link.

Pictured here are some of the employees in Tel Aviv.

Top row, left to right: Neoni Stein, Ticketing; Sara Dar, Sales; Eilat Bahari and Ilana Mann, Reservations; Victoria Shuela, Airport Coordinator.

Lower row, left to right: Anita Asman, Accounts; Ester Kastiel, Secretary and Miki Dorn, Marketing; Sigal Bonano and Tzafi Horowitz, Reservations; Victoria Shuela, Airport Coordinator and Ruth Ben-Tzur, General Manager, Sales & Operations.

Six airplanes in one.

Adapted from the April 1998 issue of enRoute magazine.

Putting one logo onto an airplane is difficult enough, but six logos?

Workers at Air Canada painted an aircraft with the colours of all the Star Alliance carriers. Henry Freiss, the Manager responsible for this unique project, says that the most difficult part of the job was making sure the six logos looked right together, while adhering to the strict rules about how each emblem was presented.

For example, a white airplane is a white airplane, right? Wrong. Though five of the six airlines have a white fuselage, each uses a different shade of white.

After the aircraft was painted in Air Canada white, the logos were applied with decals. According to Daniel Lortie, Manager - Paint Program, in Toronto, the job took 10 days and 2,600 man-hours to complete. About 600 litres of paint was used.

The Air Canada employees responsible for painting the A340-300 aircraft with the colours of all the Star Alliance carriers include:

Front row, left to right: Harry Kalenbach, Deny Risi, Richard Parker, Ayoob Motala, Carran Singh, Paul Brennan and Dany Shea.

Back row: Rick Farrell, Ed Ruttan, Barry Parsons, Val Siles, Mike Bird, Donald Yusuf, Brian Butt and Ted McGruthers.

Larry Milberry has put together a blog named 'The Great Lockheed Twins' that can be followed @ canavbooks.wordpress.com.

We have, with permission from Larry, some of the photos and story of those aircraft which ended up at either Canadian Pacific Airlines or Trans-Canada Air Lines.

Excerpt from Larry's blog -

On June 29, 1960 we again were skulking around Malton. When checking out the wartime hangar line, the magnificent Massey Ferguson Lockheed Lodestar taxied in.

What a shot it made with that great background of afternoon cumulous cloud.

Ordered originally by LAN Chile, the Lodestar had been diverted as a C-57 to the USAAC, was delivered in April 1943, then loaned to CPA, where it became CF-CPJ.

In August 1944 it moved to TCA, becoming CF-TDG. In 1948 it was converted by Canadair for the Massey Harris farm implement company of Toronto, and later was upgraded to Learstar specs, e.g. with the long, slim nose.

Massey Harris soon became Massey Ferguson with a corporate fleet at Malton.

CF-TDG briefly was registered in the 1960s to Execaire of Dorval, then ended its days as an attraction in a Montreal children's park. Sadly, vandals spoiled CF-TDG's retirement when they set it on fire!

Editors' Note: CF-CPJ was registered to CPA during 1943.

CF-TDG, type 18-08A-200 delivered to TCA on August 18, 1944 assigned fin #54 and sold to Massey Harris on July 14, 1948 after 11,211 hours of service.

Source: Air Canada Pocket Guide by Frank Pooley and CPAL history by D.M.Bain.

Juan Carlos Martin posted this on June 27, 2021.

Saw photo from the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) on the 'US Airlines Past Liveries and Aircraft' Facebook page.

Yves Hubert posted this comment -

There are a few documented events of deer impacts on the north runway at PIT. Too bad no one captured the moment we pulled up to the gate once in PIT with a deer wrapped around the nose wheel strut.

Gordon Walker added this memory -

I believe the aircraft was CF-NAB...two deer strikes within a very small period of time earned it the nickname "The Deer Hunter" amongst the YYZ Maintenance Crew.

Eric MacLean mentioned this -

CF-NAB weighed a ton more than on delivery from repairs added. Good story on it here "Nordair’s First Boeing 737 – A Jet for All Seasons"

Editors' note: Mr. Maclean is referring to 'Wayne's Wings' article from NetLetter #1351.

Paul Peron posted this photo and comment on July 25 -

This picture was sent to me by a long-time friend of Resolute Bay via her brother who was with PWA. But sadly it was taken way before my brief time there. I can't make out the cap badges.

The terminal was certainly a predecessor to the old building I worked in.

Posted by Andre Daemen on July 8 -

Mods done on Lockheed Electra CF-NDZ. News event late June 1988. Fond memories, chief pilot Dick Van Hasselt and myself showing off the new technology.

Only to have the ice patrol wrapped up shortly afterwards.

Canadian Airlines International worldwide timetable, city guide and services directory effective October 31, 1993 (excerpt of several pages).

Source:
airline-memorabilia.blogspot.com

Our first 'Featured Video' has been posted on YouTube by SimpleFlying.

A marvel of civil engineering, this is the story of how Gatwick Airport built a bridge that a Boeing 747 could taxi under.

To increase the capacity of London Gatwick’s North Terminal, a new satellite building was constructed. To get passengers to and from the satellite, the airport constructed a huge passenger bridge. This bridge spans a live taxiway and is sufficiently wide and high enough to allow a Boeing 747-400 to pass underneath! So how was this achieved?

Click the image to view the video.

"It brought back some memories. Especially the Haas-Turner L-1011’s we shared with Eastern Air Lines."

Posted on the RCHeliJet YouTube channel, the video shows a model of an Eastern Air Lines L-1011 Tristar at the Albis Airport RC Model Air Show in Switzerland.

Click this link yeahmotor.com/aero/aircraft-paint-jobs for some awesome and unique aircraft paint job images. 

A World's first as aircraft flies through a tunnel at 245 km/h.

An Italian pilot has set a world record by becoming the first to fly an aircraft through a tunnel.

Dario Costa actually flew through two tunnels on a freeway in Turkey on Saturday to claim five Guinness records. Costa took off in the first tunnel and flew its length in an Extra 300 at about five feet AGL. He had about 15 feet of clearance on the wingtips and flew at about 140 knots.

Things got a little interesting when he broke out into the early morning sunshine to line up with the second tunnel, about 400 yards ahead. “Everything seemed to be happening so fast, but when I got out of the first tunnel, the plane started to move to the right because of the crosswinds and in my head, everything slowed down in that moment,” he said in a Red Bull-produced story. “I reacted and just focused on getting the plane back on the right path to enter the other tunnel.” He covered about 1.5 miles in 44 seconds.

Source: www.avweb.com

Zoom Airlines

Terry directed me to an article at SimpleFlying.com entitled 'What Happened to Canada's Zoom Airlines'. 

The word 'Zoom' has several definitions, most commonly referring to speed, however, it may currently be most associated with the communication software that many had never heard of just two years ago. I think that it was a cool name for an airline and a very cool logo on the livery.

Zoom Airlines Inc. was founded in May 2002 by Scottish brothers John and Hugh Boyle (Hugh had relocated to Canada) as a low-fare transatlantic airline. The carrier, based in Canada's capital city, Ottawa, planned to fill a niche market in the Canadian leisure travel market. In the summer of 2006, John Boyle founded a sister company in the UK known as Zoom Airlines Limited. Unfortunately, high fuel prices lead to 'Zoom' having to cease operations in 2008.

See the links below for more on the beginning and eventual fate of 'Zoom'.

simpleflying.com/canada-zoom-airlines

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_Airlines

Always curious about aircraft lifecycles, I decided to look into what happened to the aircraft that were operated by Zoom (not including 2 short term narrow body leases).

Zoom followed the tradition of naming its aircraft after a city in its home country.

Four Boeing 767-300's - surprisingly all still active. 

C-GZUM - originally delivered to Air France in May 1993, it flew for Zoom as 'City of Ottawa' from June 2003 until August 2008. After operating several lessors, it was converted for cargo in August 2015, returned to Canada and is currently in the Cargojet Airways fleet.

C-GZMM - originally delivered to Air France in May 1993, it flew for Zoom as 'City of Halifax' from January 2004 until October 2008. Currently active with Omni Air International.

C-GZNA - originally delivered to KLM in July 1995, it flew for Zoom as  'City of Toronto' from April 2005 and then Zoom Airlines UK as 'City of Brighton and Hove' from December 2007 (in issue header). It was converted for cargo in May 2017 and is currently in the Amazon Prime Air fleet.

C-GZNC - originally delivered to KLM in July 1995, it flew for Zoom as 'City of Vancouver' from January 2006 until August 2008. After operating several lessors, it was converted for cargo in November 2015, returned to Canada and is currently in the Cargojet Airways fleet (pictured below).

Two Boeing 757-200's

C-GTDX - originally delivered to Canada 3000 Airlines (remember them?) in April 1990, it flew for Zoom as 'City of Toronto' (replacing C-GZNA) from March until August 2008. It was leased to various European airlines until scrapped in 2014.

C-GTSN - originally delivered to Odyssey International in March 1990, this aircraft has been leased by numerous Canadian 'low-fare' airlines. Including Odyssey, it also flew for Nationair, Air Transat, HMY/Harmony Airways before its lease to Zoom as 'City of Montreal' from May 2007 until August of 2008. It is currently stored at GYR in Arizona and has been acquired by Cascade Spares of Tennessee (probably for salvage). 

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

Tailwind begins NYC-BOS seaplane operation. 

Seaplane operations are not a new idea for New York City. Small airlines have been utilizing the East 23rd Street Skyport since the 1930's.

What’s new, though, is having the option to take a seaplane flight from Manhattan directly to another major city rather than a weekend getaway destination like The Hamptons.

Tailwind Air will begin operating flights between Manhattan’s seaplane base and Boston starting August 3, 2021 offering what should be the fastest overall trip time between the two cities.

What Tailwind lacks in amenities and service is made up for by sheer speed.

Source:
runwaygirlnetwork.com/2021/07/30/tailwind-seaplane-nyc-boston