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From: Terry Baker <
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Subject: [The NetLetter] NetLetter nr 666 Feb 26/02 - The NetLetter
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 17:07:22 -0800
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T H E _| TCA |_
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N E T L E T T E R > CANADA <
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( For retirees of the new Air Canada family)
Number 666, Feb 26th, 2002. We first published in October 1995.
Circulation: 2200+
Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson - Co-pilot - Terry Baker
To get in touch with either editor/pilot our email address is
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. Need to know.
Speech Recognition And The Employee Travel Website Are Mandatory.
When listing for flights, all active and retired self-ticketing employees are
now required to use the Employee Travel Website (ETW) or Speech Recognition
(SR) applications. Unfortunately, there have been incidents where
employees/retirees have been verbally
abusive to Employee Travel Services (ETS) agents when reminded
to use these applications. This behaviour is unacceptable courtesy is not an
option, it's a must. ETS agents are instructed to refer employees/retirees back
to our self-service tools.
The only exceptions are for ID, ZED and Family Affair tickets, and
employees/retirees who don’t have access to ETW or SR.
Customer Service advise that:
Gov't issued photo ID is required when travelling transborder or
international. It is also required domestically; however if a
passenger does not have gov't issued ID for a domestic flight then
they can accept other ID, such as Air Canada's.
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. Rumblings from the Pionair Districts -
Calgary -
August 23 & 24, 2002
Reunion of ex PWA Employees in Calgary. Ex PWAers are
encouraged to visit the official reunion site at
www.pwareunion.com , and send in your registration
asap. They are expecting 1500-5000 people, and yes,
there's going to be a golf tourney , Ernie Caron is in
charge of that so you know it'll have to be good!
Please forward this to everyone you know who may have the
slightest connection to
a PWA'er.
New Brunswick
March 28, 2002 - Sugaring-Off party at the Maple Smith's.
Thursday,12 noon
Cost: $10 per person This includes: a wagon tour of the
sugar woods, a
sugaring-off with sampling encouraged, a lunch of
pancakes, sausages
and maple syrup, beverages and dessert.
Location: The Maple Smiths, 2430 Mapleton Rd, Elgin NB.
To attend call 756-8248, email David Livingstone
or call Lorraine McSwain in Moncton at 382-0303
or Frank Cogger in Saint John at 672-2159
by Monday, March 25.
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. In NetLetter nr 664, Billie Houseman-Wakarchuk supplied details of the
memorial cairn
for the TCA flight 3 and mentioned that the stewardess was not named with
the pilots but with the passengers. Billie Housemand-Wakarchuk sends this
follow-up message -
...., the stewardess killed in Flt 3 accident was Helen Saisbury. I must
have forgotten to mention her name when I mentioned she was included with
the passengers and I regret this.
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. Vern Swerdfeger sends some information on the CAIRE in the Okanagan -
We are just a social club now. The Feb. lunch was outstanding in that it was
a last minute deal after the original place went belly-up. We had 69 attend
with visitors from YVR.
Anyway here's the remainder of the current session.
-- March 20/02. YatZen in Vernon. 4011 - 32 St. Vernon. This one gets
crowded so
make sure your phoner knows your coming.
April 17/02. Shannon Lake Golf Club. The menu to follow but whatever it is
will be good. Directions Southbound: Kelowna, route 97 to traffic light at
Bartley Road (Byland Nursery) turn right to "Crystal Springs " sign then left
on Shannon Lake Road. Northbound: Thru Westbank to "Old Okanagan Hiway" light,
turn left and straight along to Shannon Lake Road. Keep left at junction. This
will be our AGM.
May 15/02. Grey Monk Winery to the west of Winfield. 1055 Camp Road,
Okanagan Centre. They have their own restaurant now called the "Grapevine Patio
Grill".
June 19/02. Zia's in Summerland. This is getting to be our June lunch every
year.
Vern
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. Found on the internet.
CHINO YEILDS FOSSILIZED WARBIRDS: A taxiway construction project at
Chino Airport has turned up a warbird graveyard -- it seems that Chino
was one of the nation's main facilities used for the disassembly of
aircraft following World War II, and now pieces of WWII aircraft are
being found in earth excavated for the taxiway project. Keenly aware
that there may be gold in them thar piles of dirt, San Bernardino
County has sealed off the piles until an assessment of their contents
reveals their value. Nearly 1,400 warbirds were dismantled on the field
and volunteers with the Air Museum Planes of Fame have so far collected
about a dozen parts ranging from gear doors to bolts.
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. Further to the North Star Saga, and there are thousands, noticed a small
input from my esteemed old friend Ray Bicknell, who has a catalogue memory of
performance details of the old girl. Flew as Ray's F/O quite a few times just
prior to the retirement of the Noisy Star.
Little known, but on Dec 1, 1960, Ray and I happened to be the first flight to
operate into the new terminal building at Dorval when it opened.
We were doing a Montreal-Toronto -Montreal turnaround flight late in the
evening of November 30,1960, scheduled to arrive back at Montreal after
midnight on Dec. 1st. Didn't give it much thought at the time as there was a
Viscount flight departing slightly ahead of us to Montreal with a stop at
Ottawa, being driven by another well-known polester, Jack Parnham.
To our surprise, as we trundled up to the new terminal, no Viscount!! Plenty of
Press and flashbulbs, and Ray and I made the front page of the Gazette next
morning. Rather fitting, the old girl (#206) shortly to retire, proverbially
chuffing her way up to the gate 23 area as the first one in.
Appears, during a rush turnaround at Ottawa, during startup, the old power cart
was positioned under the Viscount's wing flaps, and not removed before flaps
were selected as part of the after start checklist, resulting in a very
embarrassed crew. Not to mention Incident/Accident Reports.
Another fact is that the Canadair North Star operated under a special Flight
Permit with TCA, rather than the usual Certification. This created some
problems for subsequent purchasers of the fleet, details of which are now
getting shrouded in the mists and memory of time.
Following the retirement of the North Star, and a brief period with Nordair, I
ended up for a few years flying around the Med and North Africa in the RAF. Saw
several Argonauts operated by Air Malta, and sundry other carriers,
destinations into Africa, out of Brussels, cargo unknown!
Just another anecdote from - Ret'd Captain Joe Gulyes. Think I'll join Bick in
Mexico. My bones could use some of the warmth via Tequila/Lime.
And another memory this time from Ed Hill -
It is great to read all about this marvellous airplane from my fellow employees
and all of the memories that go along with it, however, let me share with you
folks something that maybe 5 or 6 people are aware of.
When I was working as a 16 year old in Airways Engineering my desk was just a
few feet away from the office of one of the most loveable person I have had the
privilage of knowing..that person is no other than Capt. Ron Baker who was
TCA's engineering test pilot. Every time Capt Baker went on a test flight he
always took me with him. now this is what most people don't realize..TCA was
probably the first airline in north america to be testing automatic throttle
combined with auto instument landing system.
On this particular flight the weather was no better that 100 foot ceiling
and he demonstrated how this system would work to everyones advantage..
so the bottom line I'm trying to make is that the old North Star was involved
in a lot more that just making fond memories for some people...
Best regards..Ed Hill(r)
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A "Call for Information" from Canadian aviation author Peter Pigott.
Be a part of recorded Canadian aviation history. - Tom Grant
My ninth book, to be launched this Fall, is a pictorial history in coffee
table size of aircraft used by Canadians from the 1920s to today. Unlike my
previous works it is photos rather than text. The plan is to have a photo
for instance of Spitfires or CF_18s or 747s in all their glory with one
page of the text opposite it.
I have gathered photos from the CF Photo unit and National Archives here in
Ottawa on planes used in the Air Force and Air Canada is sending me a
number of the best photos that they have. But while I can write of the
history of each aircraft I could not hope to know what it was like to fly
these planes.
I need from a crew member who remembers is a paragraph or two, something
along the lines of ".... she was a docile old aircraft unless you put her
in a spin and then...." I will acknowledge their help in the book.
My "Flying Canuck " series ensured that many of the aviation pioneers in
this country will be remembered. Hopefully this book will do the same for
the aircraft. Thank you.
Regards
Peter Pigott
Peter Pigott
1158 St. Jerome Crescent
Orleans, Ontario
K1C 2A8
Email:
Whatever I don't use in this book will help with the Air Canada history in
2004.
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. Terry's travel tips.
Dargal has these deals on offer -
*** ALASKA ***
May 22 & June 5 ~ 7 Nights ~ Carnival's Spirit
ITINERARY: Vancouver, B.C.; to Anchorage (Seward), Alaska
May 22: Inside $599, Oceanview $799, Balcony $899 June 5: Balcony $899
May 24 ~ 7 Nights ~ Celebrity's Summit
ITINERARY: Vancouver, B.C.;to Seward, Alaska
Inside $699, Oceanview $749, Balcony $849
May 29 & June 12 ~ 7 Nights ~ Carnival's Spirit
ITINERARY: Anchorage (Seward), Alaska; to Vancouver, B.C.
May 29: Inside $599, Oceanview $699, Balcony $799 June 12: Balcony $949
May 31 ~ 7 Nights ~ Celebrity's Summit
ITINERARY: Seward, Alaska; to Vancouver, B.C.
Inside $699, Oceanview $749, Balcony $849
*** BERMUDA ***
April 28, May 12 & 19, June 2 ~ 7 Nights ~ NCL's Norwegian Majesty
ITINERARY: Boston, MA; return
April 28: Inside $699, Oceanview $799
May 12 & 19: Inside $799, Oceanview $949
June 2: Inside $849, Oceanview $999
*** CARIBBEAN - EASTERN ***
March 2 ~ 7 Nights ~ Holland America's Veendam
ITINERARY: Fort Lauderdale, Florida; return
Inside $399, Oceanview $499
*** CARIBBEAN - SOUTHERN ***
March 4 & 24 ~ 10 Nights ~ Holland America's Zaandam
ITINERARY: Fort Lauderdale, Florida return
Inside $499, Oceanview $719
March 6 & 26 ~ 10 Nights ~ Holland America's Volendam
ITINERARY: Fort Lauderdale, Florida; return
Inside $599, Oceanview $719
March 14 ~ 10 Nights ~ Holland America's Zaandam
ITINERARY: Fort Lauderdale, Florida; return
Inside $499, Oceanview $719
*** HAWAII ***
March 31, April 7, 14, 21 & 28 ~ 7 Nights ~ NCL's Norwegian Star
ITINERARY: Honolulu, Hawaii; return
Inside $499, Oceanview $599
April 15 ~ 11 Nights ~ Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas
ITINERARY: Honolulu, Hawaii;to Ensenada, Mexico
Inside $699, Oceanview $799, Suite $999
*** REPOSITIONING ***
April 7 ~ 17 Nights ~ Holland America's Ryndam
ITINERARY: Valparaiso, Chile; to San Diego, California
Inside $799, Oceanview $959
April 15 ~ 21 Nights ~ Holland America's Volendam
ITINERARY: Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Vancouver, B.C.
Inside $1499, Oceanview $1799
*** SOUTH AMERICA ***
March 4 ~ 17 Nights ~ Holland America's Ryndam
ITINERARY: Valparaiso, Chile to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Inside $999, Oceanview $1199
March 21 ~ 17 Nights ~ Holland America's Ryndam
ITINERARY: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Valparaiso, Chile
Inside $999, Oceanview $1199
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Rates are quoted in U.S. dollars per person (based on
double occupancy) and are subject to change, availability
and eligibility. PORT CHARGES ARE INCLUDED. Government taxes/fees
are additional. Offers apply to new bookings only, are capacity
controlled and may be withdrawn without notice.
For more information on these and other specials, contact us at:
DARGAL Interline 1-800-690-3223 (North America)
International: (Country Code)-800-2832-7425 Fax: (250) 861-3283
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