Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

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! EARHART' STAR SWANK TO COMPLETE PILOT TRAINING The mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance over the Pacific in 1937 is a familiar story, but outside of aviation circles, her other accomplishments are less well known. A new film that opened recently, Amelia, starring Hilary Swank, explores Earhart's life as a pilot, leading up to that famous final flight. The Ninety-Nines, the women's pilot association that Earhart helped to launch, is holding events around the country to celebrate the opening of the film, in hopes that it will help spark interest in general aviation. Swank spent about 19 hours learning to fly after she agreed to take on the role and said that she hopes to complete her private pilot training. "It takes all of your senses; you're completely immersed," she said at a news conference in New Jersey, where she met with pilots from the Ninety-Nines and displayed one of the Lockheed Electras that flew in the film. "It was exciting to learn something new that really was challenging." Check this web site for more information. www.foxsearchlight.com/amelia/

What's Happening New Coffee Club Meeting in the Fraser Valley - As most of you know (I hope), the Pionairs have regular monthly meetings for Coffee across the country. There is a new one just started and their second (ever) meeting is on Monday, Nov 16, 2009 in Abbotsford at 9:30 AM For complete information see: www.pionairs.ca/en/fraser-valley.html Check the Pionairs new web site at: www.pionairs.ca for other meetings in your area. Quarter Century in Aviation Club The Quarter Century of Aviation Club (Vancouver) is having it's second Meeting/Dinner of the year on Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 starting at 5:00PM. It's a real deal at $20 for roast beef, schnitzel, salad, dessert, coffee and tip included. Their web site has just been updated with all the meetings for this season (October to April) and they'd love to see you there. Full information can be found at: www.quartercenturyclub.ca

Air Canada News Hamilton Sundstrand has been awarded a 10 year Comprehensive Accessory Repair/Exchange for (18) B777 aircraft. The Pionair's Newsletter sent out the following invitation for volunteers to work at YVR during the Olympics. Air Canada is looking for volunteers from within Air Canada's retiree group to help them deliver the best possible experience for their customers. From February 9 to March 3 and March 12-21, 2010  bilingual volunteers are needed to provide French language support at Vancouver (YVR) Airport. If you are interested in volunteering please download the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Volunteer Application Form which is available on the Pionairs Website. The notice included a number of photographs of the Olympic Torch Relay. Fred Coyle sends this information - I was there and had my picture taken with the Torch. I am with my good friend Roger Skillings, the number 11 Torch Bearer for Canada. This picture was taken in Esquimalt, where Roger did his run.

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. Musing through some older "Between Ourselves" magazines Issued November 1946 Here we have a photo of as many of the Goose Bay staff as could be assembled. Reading top to bottom: Padre Ross (standing), Carl Werbisky, Cab Cole, General Hamilton, and Fatboy Tribe. The other row, top to bottom: Swifty Millar, Baldy Affleck, Cass Brown, Pop Farmer and Flatspin Irwin. Jet Cotton was at the camera controls. Issue dated December 1946 The personnel of Staff Records in Winnipeg. Sitting, left to right - Hannah Rea, Millie McManus, Grace Horrocks, Vera McGrath Standing, left to right: Alf McGowan,  Don Hunter (Chief Clerk), George Gilbert. The 19th Passenger Agents class graduated from Winnipeg. Here they are at a dinner in the Fort Garry hotel which accounts for those satisfied expressions. Back row, 1 to right: Chuck Gobson (instructor), Ron McLeod, Armandi Lalande, Bill McNutt, Geo. Walker, Flo Perkins (Instructress), Pete Turecki, Ross Kimmerly, Bob Henderson, Don Westman (Instructor). Middle Row, left to right: Sedura Wickstrom, Marg Gallagher, Jackie Kennedy, Dale Veitch, Vera Budnikoff, Peggy Paxton, Peggy Ferguson, Mary Fitz-James, Donna McLeod,Roberta Arklie. Sitting, left to right: Bob Kerr, Roy Oliver, Bill Donaldson, Ron O'Brien. Missing: Gloria Mullholland, Phil Bogue, Jack Balfour, Jack McLeod. On November 1st, the inaugural flight between Victoria and Seattle took place with DC-3 equipment. Here we have this group of stewardesses assigned to this service checking out the route. Kneeling are: Doreen Wilson and Betty Matthews. Behind then are: Helen Saisbury, Irene Sheehan, Rita Wiggins and Monica Giles. September 15th, the overseas service was extended from Prestwick. Prior to this date passengers continued on from Prestwick via Railway Air Services to Northolt airport. This photo is of the Lancaster on the ramp at LHR. Prior to the DC-4M's (North Star), begin services, the staff consisted of two. Here we have their photo - l to r; Bill Wilkins and Gil Minorgan in front of the "office". From "Horizons" magazine issued May 1972 In this issue was the announcement that the "Horizons" will replace the "Between Ourselves" employee magazine which has been in existence since 1941. With a new format, 11 x 17 instead of 8 x 11 size, as being issued twice a month. Company employees were used for the company's advertising. Here are the three advertisements In the illustrations Stewardesses Carole Beaulieu and Christine Fahrenbruch. Purser Bernard Chalmel in the centre with Christine in the background. Passenger agent Russelle Gardiner is shown on the right. The 747 First Class lounge is getting a new look by personnel at Dorval. The Finishing and Upholstery Shop is putting the finishing touches here. Left to right; Pierre Aquin, Gerry St-Georges, Lyle Lafleur and Gerard Michon. Station Attendant Dougall McCormich presents a bouquet to Ground Hostess Allison Chase at Toronto, while Passenger Agent Gail Lenehan awaits her turn. Many new services were inaugurated with the North Star aircraft including Prestwick, Shannon, London, Paris, Dusseldorf, Florida and the Caribbean. Here is the crew on the inaugural service to Shannon prior to departure. (Unfortunately they remain anonymous - unless you can help - eds) A junior" with 25 years Company service? That was the situation for Station Agent Bob MacDonald of Victoria when he received his pin recently. All the other seven agents at Victoria have at least 25 years service, in fact two of thorn have 31 years, one 29, and one 28. Bob is shown being congratulated by District Manager Stan Mooney, right. Others in the photo are, from the left: Station Agents Alan Hopkins, Harvey Currie, Ron Matthews, Alvin Clayton, and Art Brown; Customer Service Manager John Innes; Agents Charles Mackie and Bob MacDonald and CSM Alan Wilson. And a similar ceremony for Cargo Agents at Dorval, but only a five year pin here. A mass presentation of five year pins was made by Len Tardif, Cargo Service Manager, Dorval recently to a number of Cargo Agents who reached the anniversary. From the left are: Cargo Agents R. Archambault, Claude Loiselle, Gaetan Lavoie, Gerry Shore, Bernard Morel, Richard Leroux, Jim Gervais, and Fernand Bujold; Tardif; and Cargo Agents Charlie Davies and Andre Pelletier.

Where are they now, Air Canada has sold three B747-233B to Hartford Aviation Group for part out. These aircraft have been in storage at Marana since October 2007. C-GAGA fin 306 c/n 20977 C-GAGC fin 308 c/n 21354 C-GAGA fin 307 c/n 21627

Star Alliance news. Aegean Airlines expects Star Alliance membership to take effect next May. Brussels Airlines is "set and ready" to enter the Star Alliance, with the formal accession scheduled for Dec. 9 in Brussels, October 27th Continental Airlines joined Star Alliance and becomes the 25th member.

Alan's Space Retirement from the Airlines & Pan American Slideshow I have a double whammy for you this week (no extra charge) first a very funny joke posted on the ACFamily Network from "Kenway" and then a slide show compilation for PAN AM. Retirement from the Airlines We have a cockpit mock-up in our house: When I mention to my wife that I miss flying, being retired, she puts me in the mock-up around bed time for 8 hours. She has a chair in a closet, puts on the vacuum cleaner to simulate cockpit air noise, has a dim nite-lite to simulate cockpit lighting, serves luke-warm chicken with cold vegetables on a tray. When I get sleepy and attempt to doze off, she knocks twice loudly on the door to simulate the F/As entering the cockpit. Then after 6 hours she turns on a flood light directly in front of me to simulate the sun coming up when approaching 20 west. I then get a cup of coffee that has been in the coffee maker all night. Finally she lets me out and I have to get in the back seat of her car while she runs morning errands to simulate the bus ride to the hotel. When we get home I tell her I am ready for bed and the bedroom door is locked for an hour to simulate the hotel rooms not being ready. When I promise to never "complain" about being retired, I am allowed to enjoy my "layover" and go to bed. Oh, and one more thing, she talks to her friends loudly outside the bedroom door to simulate the hotel maids chattering in the hall in their native language. After two hours of sleep she calls the phone next to the bed from her cell and says this is crew scheduling. (from Kenway) PAN AM Slide Show Click on image for slide show

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. Noorduyn Norseman On December 21, 1945 this aircraft type was registered to Canadian Pacific Airlines as CF-BHU. subsequently it was registered to Territories Air Service, Edmonton, Alberta on November 26, 1949. August 2, 1951 registration was to Associated Airways Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta. 1955 found it registered to Pacific Western Airlines. December 12, 1958 registration was passed on to Ontario Central Airlines, Kenora, Ontario. This is the version shown below. Unfortunately this craft cashed and was destroyed at Sachigo Lake, Ontario on June 19, 1974 . The pilot had selected an empty fuel tank. The pilot and one passenger were injured and one passenger killed.

For the Vickers Viscount aficionados - Jack Stephens sent us this information and photos which he received from a contact - Subject: Information Regarding Fate of PP-SRN Hopefully this email will help complete the story of Vickers Viscount PP-SRN. We're  residents of Pedreira-SP, the last location of this formidable aircraft. On May 16th, 1993 a group of some young men decided to "burn" the plane to have some fun. Before that, on a unknown date of 1979, the plane was put on display on a hill, known as "Christ's Hill", available for tours and open to population. As you may see, on the first picture , it was a beautiful location. This photo was taken in the mid-80's by a friend of mine. After the fire (Pedreira does not have fire brigade), the wreckage was sold to a local junkyard, and it's engines were sold by the equivalent of 250 US Dollars to an unknown person.. Thanks Clovis Cassiani / Tiago Magalhaes Herman Kuipers has sent us this information - Someone has done a great job of compiling vintage airline and aircraft pictures and showing them to a perfect soundtrack by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli. Check this web site -  www.funstufftosee.com/goodbye.html Harvey Bergen shares this memory. Your article (NetLetter nr 1092) on the Piper Cub being held together with duct tape reminded me of a flight from Montreal to Vancouver in a 727. There was an air leak around the Captain's window (which was a plug type window - the window was larger than the hole so the window would seat against the rim) so the mechanic taped the window edges of the hole with duct tape. When finished, I noticed a piece of tape projecting forward onto the forward window with the leading edge of the tape facing toward the front of the aircraft. I watched that piece of tape all the way to Vancouver as a very small piece ripped back, but the rest of that duct tape stayed fastened against the 400 knot wind generated by the motion of the aircraft. Red Green may be onto something when he recommends duct tape - it is some tough tape. Cheers Harvey Bergen Capt (ret'd) Barney O'Connor sends us this correction to a name in the photograph YEG Jun 1961 printed in NetLetter nr 1091 - Under  TCA/AC People Gallery YEG 1961.The name spelt as DELORES DePowa is spelt wrong. It should be spelt as "Dolores dePaiva" who now lives in Richmond B.C. Regards Barney O'Connor; her brother in law. Also A retired AIR CANADA employee. (Sorry Dolores, the names had been hand written, and eyesight not what is was - eds)

This n That. Montreal readers might be interested in the activities of the Montreal Chapter of CAHS; thus the following news release: Everyone is invited to attend the  regular meetings of the Montreal Chapter of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society, which meets on the third Thursday of each month (except December and summer months), at 365 St. Louis Ave., in Pointe Claire.  Meetings begin at 11:00 AM and a light lunch is available, for the voluntary landing fee of $5.00.  This month the meeting is on Thursday November 19 and the speaker will be Frank Henley, who will explain the logistics of moving staff and materials to the James Bay Hydro-Electric Project.   For further information This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 514-481-8786. DRUNK PILOTS ESCAPE DISCIPLINE An Indian newspaper, the Mail Today, is quoting an unnamed retired airline pilot as saying that senior airline pilots commonly turn up for work drunk and almost never get disciplined because they are too "precious." The newspaper points out that there is no law against flying drunk in India, although pilots suspected of drinking are prevented from getting into the cockpit. An Air India flight from Mumbai to New York was delayed Monday when one of the four pilots checked in tipsy. A replacement was found, and the flight took off 45 minutes late. The unnamed source told the newspaper the pilot will probably be back in the left seat as soon as he sobers up

Terry's Trivia & Travel Tips New and improved ZED agreement signed with Continental Airlines (CO). This ZED agreement is now effective, which means that you will be able to process your ZL paper tickets for yourself, spouse, dependent children under 24 and ZM for your parents directly on the Employee Travel Website. ZED Fares Pricing Changes Effective October 2, ZED Fares have changed, representing a decrease in the pricing of most zones, as shown in the Table below.  For full details, please go to the Employee Travel Service website at www.travel.aircanada.com and click through to News & Policies > Policies > ZED-Personal Travel on OAL > General Guidelines, Rules and Pricing. The following is reprinted from the National Pionairs Newsletter U.S. TSA Secure Flight Program. As of October 31, 2009, all airlines flying to, from or within the USA including Air Canada are required under U.S. Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Secure Flight Program, to collect certain mandatory Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) 72 hours prior to departure, for new reservations for all flights to, from or via the United States. For all bookings made within 72 hours of departure, the information must be collected at time of reservation. These mandatory SFPD items are: full passenger name as it appears in the official travel document, date of birth and gender. A redress number (unique number that may be obtained from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for passengers that share the same of similar name as someone on the US watch list), must also be added to each PNR if provided by the customer. The purpose of the Secure Flight Program is to facilitate watch list matching and enhance the ! security of domestic and international commercial air travel. The Secure Flight requirement also applies to non-revenue bookings - please ensure that if your travel plans include flights to/from the United States, the Advance Passenger Information form located on aircanada.com and on the Employee Travel Site is completed with the required information at least 72 hours prior to your departure. (Note: Passport information must be included with the current online APIS application until November 5). Effective November 6, the application will accept partial information and redress number. This means that after November 6, you will not be required to enter passport information 72 hours prior to departure. If SFPD is not collected on time, the airline is subject to significant fines.

Smilie Vern Swerdfeger has sent us a string of smiles which we will have in subsequent NetLetters. Here is the first one - From the Midsummer edition  of  "Between Ourselves" magazine issued 1945. The Trials of a Stewardess In civilian air circles a "short" is a non-priority passenger who must be removed from a flight if a priority passenger comes along. If possible, what is known as "protection" is given him. Arrangements are made to continue the journey by a later flight, by train, pony cart or whatever is available. Recently a young Stewardess, unfamiliar with flight vernacular, went to work for TCA. An hour out of Winnipeg she received by radio the following instructions: "Prepare to remove shorts at Toronto. No protection." For awhile she was quite unhappy about it all.