Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

The NetLetter - January 9th, 2010

Vesta's Jump Seat Why not allow the NetLetter be your platform, and opportunity, to relive your history while working for either TCA, AC, CPAir, CAIL, PWA, AirBC etal. and share your experiences with us!

Our first 70 years. 1948 - May 28th - Pre-inaugural service Montreal to Vancouver with North Star aircraft commanded by Capt. Al Edwards, Capt. Art Rankin, also aboard Stewardess "Billy" Houseman and Purser Bill Grant. - June 4th -  Commencement of service to Cleveland with North Star equipment. 1976 - Apr 30th -  Airtransit services between Montreal and Ottawa will wind up. - August -  Full length movies introduced on L1011. Charge of $2.00 for headsets 1984 - Apr 29th - Service to Geneva started, Service to Munich reestablished. Previously served from 1974-76. - Jun 25th - Inauguration of service between Calgary, Vancouver  and  New York with B-767 equipment.

TCA/AC People Gallery Over the past months we have been publishing various photographs from earlier "Horizons", should any photos prompt a memory in seeing one of them, feel free to send us your comments and thoughts. Musings from "Between Ourselves" magazine Issue dated Midsummer 1948 The crew on DC-3 CF-TEC fin 376 inaugurating the service to Yorkton and Brandon were Capt. J.D.Storie, F/O A.C.Wanlin, and Stewardesses P.Ghidoni, A.D.Bayley. Here we have this photo of Moncton notables. Back row from left: J.McCullum, A.McMahon, M.Speedie, H.McKenzie, E.Johnson, G.Roper. Front row from left: D.Fairbairn, G.Burgess, T.Ascroft, J.Morten. The London Ontario staff are pictured here. From the left: M.McDevitt, J.York, T.Haslett, H.Meikle, B.Henderson. A quintet of five year veterans at Toronto From the left: Mary Elliott, Rita Thompson, Jack Robinson who made the presentations, Dorothy Scott, Edith Sovereign, Dorothy Pearsall. Who's who at Dorval Airport. (No identifications were given - any offers - eds) Metal Shop personnel Foreman is Stew Daniels. Electrical and Instrument shop staff. Foreman Jack Hughes. Vulcanizing, Upholstery & Paint Shop. Foreman J.Douglas.   Service Crew Nr 2 Hangar. Aircraft Inspectors. Gleanings from "Horizons" magazine Issue dated February 1976 Norm Skinner of Winnipeg Finance receives his suggestion award. This photo records the event. From left: Ken Britton, N.Michie, L.Shackell, Norm, Dale Atkinson. Cubana crews trained. January was a busy time for Flight Operations and In- Flight Service. Under the terms of a lease agreement signed by the company and Cubana Airlines, Flight Operations trained eight Cubana front end crews while In-Flight Service prepared some 20 Cubana flight attendants to work a DC-8-40. Two such aircraft were leased by the company to Cubana in preparation for the inauguration of service between Canada and Cuba. Pictured is George Roper refueling a Lockheed L10A (circa 1940) in the quiet country surroundings of Winnipeg Airport. During the war years this team of horses replaced the ramp vehicles to save money and fuel. Issue dated August 1976 New Load Verification program reduces delays by confirmation of belly loads. Here we have Claude Charbonneau and Bob Cheam reviewing the results at Dorval. Remember when? The board approved a 7% increase in pensions. C & SS  Toronto golfers played at Rolling Hills Markham, and here we have the "Most congenial foursome" receiving their trophy from Bob Haywood. From the left: Dawn Lewis, Marsha Robinson, Francine Cormier, Pernet Foster.

Star Alliance news. The Brazilian carrier TAM was delivered the 4,000th A320 family aircraft recently. On the ferry flight from Hamburg to Brazil, the aircraft, an A319, carried a consignment of goods donated for handicapped children in schools, donated by Aviation without Borders Germany, facilitated by Air Bus Foundation.

Alan's Space Charles Lindbergh's Flight This is a very special (and long) video presentation (25 minutes total in four parts). If you are interested in Aviation History and Charles Lindbergh then you will appreciate this collection of four videos submitted to us from George Brien, one of our subscribers.  (Thx George!) (Here's the story) Win Perkins, a real estate appraiser who specializes in airport properties, has posted on his Web site a video he created of Charles Lindbergh's famous and risky takeoff in the Spirit of St. Louis. According to Perkins, this is unlike any other presentation of the takeoff footage. Perkins said he "painstakingly assembled news footage from five cameras that filmed Lindbergh's takeoff from Roosevelt Field, Long Island" and "mixed it with enhanced audio from the same newsreel sources." This is one of the more interesting videos I've seen coming from the Internet. I recommend you first click on "Contact" to the left and select #1, then watch them in order, #1 through #4 by hitting the play icon. I was glued to the screen through all 4. After pressing play on each video, you can make the video full screen by pressing the button in the bottom right corner of the video screen. It shows the fortitude it took for Lindbergh to overcome the odds against him and accomplish this amazing history making feat. Click on image above for video

Canadi>n/CPAir/PWA, Wardair, etc. Events & People Over the past months we have been publishing various photographs from earlier in-house magazines, should any photos prompt a memory in seeing one of them, feel free to send us your comments and thoughts. Here we have some information taken from the final edition of "Expressions" which was the in-house magazine for Nordair issued December 1986. Nordair's people: Its greatest asset Celebrating 25 years plus of service! Standing, from left to right: Richard Leduc, Peter Knox-Leet, James McLarnon, Erwin Weismuller, Terrance Keenan, John South, Raymond Barbejat, Brian Turriff, Lionel Desjardins, Patrick Rock, Leo Frigon. Seated left to right: William Pearce, Clive Turriff, Gerard Kochman, Roland G. Lefrancois, Margo Russell, Jose Sakillarides, Doug McCracken, James Dawes, Gerald Goudreau. Standing, from left to right: Jean-Paul Levesque, Harry Grosser, Gordon Girvan, Frank Dolha, Bob Wright, Keith Campbell, Nelson Langlais, Art Hale, Les Rogers, Alphonsio Galland, Ron Andrews. Seated, in the same order: Normand Duchesne,  André Chadourne, Jules Sesia, Leo Jodoin, Roland J. Lefronçois, Jean Berube, Jean E. Douville, Laurier Delisle, Fernand Morin, Steve Alichos, Pierre Vialette. This is the Hall Beach control tower in 1956. This is a photo of a Skyvan SC-7 landing at Hall Beach. CF-IQM DC-4 in 1962 at an unknown location. Transporting Her Majesty and Prince Philip for the opening of the Montreal Olympics in 1976. Here is the flight crew from the left: Danielle Raymond, Suzanne DuPerron, Carol Boucher, Beverley Biborosch, Marcel Laurin, F/O Bernie DuPerron, Capt. John Smith.

This n that. DC-3 MASS ARRIVAL SET A total of 35 DC-3s and C-47s have been registered for the mass formation arrival at AirVenture Oshkosh to mark the 75th anniversary of the design. The goal is to have a formation of at least 25 aircraft fly over Wittman Regional Airport on the opening day of the show but organizers allowed an extra 10 registrations to allow for the inevitable scrubs. Some airlines name their aircraft after famous people, others after towns or rivers, but not Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish carrier. Their interesting concept is to name any newly delivered aircraft with the name of the newest born daughter of a Pegasus workforce. It started in November 2007. A record number of 1,357 airports represent 98% of global airport traffic movements for 2008. In the top 30 airports listed, Toronto was the only Canadian airport listed at nr 27th. Top three were Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas/Fort Worth. In the top 30 airports covering passenger traffic, no Canadian airport was listed. Top three were Atlanta, Chicago and London Heathrow.

Don Edwards has this comment. Regarding the piece about the Viscount picture and Jim Bruce .... Jim also worked in the Dorval Engineering office for a few years before leaving the company. He is still living in the Montreal area. I have many fond memories of working with Jim in YWG and YUL  and am pleased to have, in my home,  a print of one of his original works .    The Viscount  "At the Blast Fence" was a Jim Bruce classic. Cheers, Don Edwards The photo of "At the Blast Fence" we had in NetLetter nr 1102 should have included some information about the artist Jim Bruce, and we apologize for this omission - "At the Blast Fence' depicts the TCA - Trans-Canada Air Lines Viscount CF-TGQ doing an engine run-up at TCA's Winnipeg overhaul and maintenance facility c.1957. Jim Bruce was born and raised in Calgary, has lived in Winnipeg, and presently works from his studio in Baie d'Urfe, (Montreal), Quebec, Canada. Examples of his aviation and wildlife art are in private and corporate collections in many countries. Five of his works are in the permanent collection of the Canada Aviation Museum, Ottawa, Canada. As an aviation artist he has been awarded First Prize in the Canada Aviation Museum Artflight competition three times - in 1993, 1996 and 1997. He has designed two coins for the Royal Canadian Mint's Aviation Heritage Series. As an illustrator and graphic designer his work has appeared in many national and international publications including Reader's Digest. He was awarded a special commendation from Parks Canada for a series of paintings of Quebec historical sites. Jim is a founding member of the Canadian Aviation Artists Association and a member of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society, and Canadian Aviation Heritage Centre. Please visit the Jim Bruce web site Stuart Russell has sent this observation. I was just looking at the photo of the A320 in 1991 in Calgary. I believe that is one of the ex Wardair A310 aircraft with Canadian painted on the fuselage not the A320's that came in CDN colours. All the best for a happy and healthy 2010. Stu (Included in the email was a comment made to "Dennis") Dennis - What do you think?? Does that look like a 310 to your eagle eye?? Do you have a photo to share that shows a better shot of the WD A310's?? In Scheduling we liked the A310's in the fleet while the 767's were being built. Very reliable and efficient on flights up to 10 hours like YYC/LGW & YYZ/CDG. Stuart Russell Ken Pickford also spotted the difference and sends this comment. The last photo in the Canadian Airlines/PWA/Wardair section of Netletter #1102, identified as being an A320 in the Calgary hangar, is not an A320. It's an ex-Wardair A310 in Wardair's colours, except for the Canadian name on the fuselage and deletion of the Wardair name on the tail. The 12 Wardair A310s were operated by Canadian briefly (a year or two) after Canadian's acquisition of Wardair in 1989. They were sold as soon as possible so they were never repainted in the full Canadian livery. It surprising they'd make that A320 caption error in an annual report. Whoever put the report together obviously wasn't a confirmed plane spotter! Thanks, Ken Pickford Jim Macfarlane adds his comments. There's a picture title 'A320 in YYC hanger', with the comments probably in delivery colours.....I could be wrong, but I think it's an A310, and those are Wardair colours? They later went on to the Government/Military for transport. Jim Macfarlane (We have the full article from "Canadian AirCargo Annual Report 1991")

Terry's Trivia & Travel Tips Here is the fourth installment of the - Eastern Mediterranean Cruise October 22nd to Nov 3rd 2009 Our cruise was with Oceania Cruise Lines on the MS Insignia. Started in NetLetter nr 1099 Tuesday October 27th Today is our "at sea" day, the only one. Our next stop will be Corfu. The storm has been left behind and we have sunny skies with a temperature of  75 F. We spent the time lazing around the deck reading and socializing in the afternoon. This cruise differs from those others we have been on. The complement of crew is 450 and the passengers number 650. There are five restaurants, and we favour the more relaxed one instead of the formal ones. Only one sitting, and the entertainment in the theatre does not start until 21.45 and is not the usual variety type but usually just one act either a singer or magician, nothing which encourages us to stay up late. Several bars have entertainment with a small musical group playing jazz or popular music for dancing. Wednesday October 28th. We are at Corfu with the temperature at 73F and the sun rose to an opaque sky. We have no optional tour planned here. The island is quite beautiful, with foliage and regular coloured homes rather than all white like at Santorini. We strolled along the quay to the entrance to the docks about ½ mile, there was a shuttle bus in operation actually. Upon our return to the ship, we settled down on the upper deck and watch the ferry activity in the harbour and generally lazed about. We leave later this morning for Sarande in Albania, and had to put our clocks back one hour at noon. Docking in Sarande at 13.30 we were tendered to the dockside. Our tour was to the Roman ruins at Butrint, about a ½ hour coach drive away. Our guide had been in charge of the excavations in the national park for several years previously, and was intimately knowledgeable with the area. And provided a very interesting guided walking tour. It was obvious from his earlier comment as we drove through the town into the countryside how ashamed he was of the town. It was a mixture of half built concrete buildings. Some built by the communists, which were falling apart and looking extremely shabby, and the newer structures which the owners had run out of money and would continue later when they had more funds. There were no bank loans available here. The infrastructure was almost non existent. The main road through the town was full of pot holes and, where the road had been cut to place sewers and communication lines had been filled with earth and gravel and tamped down - only to become loose with the weather, consequently we were in for a very bumpy ride. The roadway to the national park, which was originally earthen, had been paved for a visit by Russian President Khrushchev. The road was just wide enough for one and ½ vehicles, and twisted along the shore of the lake, so you can imagine what happened when you met vehicles from the other direction - very gentle maneuvering required. However the Russian President visited the park by boat and did not use the road. Before we arrived at the entrance to the park, we passed through a village which also had half built structures of concrete, some with rebar protruding skyward waiting for the next level when funds permit. Quite a few of the lower levels were occupied, with the lower floor just a shell, presumably for a retail store. There was garbage all over the place. Our guide told us that Sarande realized that tourism was the way to go to get revenue to complete the buildings, but there did not seem to be any cohesion with town planning. Thursday October 29th Today, in sunny weather 73F we dock at Kotor in Montenegro. Kotor is at the end of a fiord and we had to weave our way through small islands, very isolated, with towering mountains on each side. The water was so still that we had excellent mirror images of the small villages we passed. When we reach the port it is like a fairyland, with a walled town with towering mountains hovering as a background. Way up in the mountain is a monastery which required 1,000 steps to reach and, on the very top of the mountain is a castle. Needless to say we stayed at sea level. Our tour was a leisurely walk around the walled town with our guide Bruno. We were all equipped with a radio receiver to hear the talk by our guide. In the evening, back on board, they arranged a Canadian meet in one of the lounges/bars. There are reported to be 75 Canadians on board, but only 6 turned up, very disappointing, but we had good time exchanging experiences.. (More next time eds)

Smilie Laszlo  Bastyovanszky sends this smilie from the Ottawa Citizen... on the latest security scanner.