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Vesta's Corner
 Why not allow the NetLetter to be your platform and opportunity to relive your history while working for either TCA, AC, CPAir, CAIL, PWA, AirBC etal?
Share your experiences with us!
Blaise Russaouen sends this observation from my item in NetLetter nr 1044... Just a slight correction with regards to BA having the first woman to fly the British/French Concorde when it was in service. Air France had at least two and Braniff, the American carrier which leased the airplane to fly the New York - Dallas segment perhaps had another one. This latter point is to be verified.
Best regards, Blaise Russaouen (My article was from the "Airliner World" current edition - Vesta)
Sri Lankan Airlines recently appointed its first female Captain. Anusha Siriratne who has served as Second Officer on L1011, and as First Officer on A320, A330 and A340.
She and her husband Captain Hermantha Siriratne made history as Sri Lanka's first husband and wife pilot duo.
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Air Canada - our first 70 years
Where are they now.
BAe146-200 C-FBAB c/n 2090, C-FBAE c/n 2092 and C-FBAF c/n 2086 are now in operation with Air Congo of Kinshada Zaire, Last revenue flight for A340 C-GDVW fin 909 was YYZ-YUL November 19th 2008.
Final revenue flight for the A340 fleet was flt 865 LHR-YUL on November 20, 2008.
From "Between Ourselves" during 1966
Here are some of the headlines -
 Inaugural DC-9 flight to Miami Aug 1st 1966 by Capt's Leek and Gale.
 Nov 1st 1966 inaugural DC-8 to Copenhagen/Moscow with Capt. W.R.Bell, Stewardesses G.Vilstboll and V. Bjolseth.  Here is a photo of CF-TJP fin 816 c/n 45679 in front of the terminal atReciprocal service same day by Aeroflot Tupulov TU-114 registration CCCP-76490.
Nov 1st 1946 TCA DC-3 service Victoria to Seattle inaugurated the first flight between the B.C. capital and the American city.
Sept 16th 1946 TCA Lancaster landed at LHR from Prestwick which marked the start of regular service from Canada
to London, England. Air Canada news.
Weekly flights between YUL and St. Lucia with A319 equipment planne to commence Feb 2nd 2009.
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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. Albert Siegmann sends us this picture of a DC8 overhaul crew in Dorval, circa 1967-68. Unfortunately I could not get more names.
 A lot of people remember the faces but not the names. Maybe you could get a few more names with all the peoples you reach with Your Netletter.Regards. Albert Siegmann Musings from the "Horizons" Issue dated January 1998 was full of photos celebrating our 60th anniversary. Here is a selection of them.
 Here is a variety of different uniforms worn over the years.  The staff in Antigua with their celebration cake.  At Ottawa three of the staff sport their TCA colours.  Our staff in Paris,  and at Kingston. |
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Star Alliance News
 Australian Competition and Consumer Commissionrejected a transpacific Air New Zealand/Air Canada code share pact. ACCC issued a draft determination denying authorization for the two airlines to code share on AC's Sydney-Vancouver services and ANZ's Auckland-Vancouver flights, claiming it would lessen competition.
The airlines argued that neither operates on the other's routes and both would promote each other's services, bringing more tourists to Australia and New Zealand.
Bmi will discontinue long-haul operations from Manchester next year and transfer the two A330s currently based at MAN to London Heathrow. It will stop flying from MAN to Chicago O'Hare on Jan. 14 and to Las Vegas, Barbados and Antigua following the mid-April Easter holiday.
Lufthansa announced that it would be taking control of BMI in January 2009, they already have a 30% share and this will rise to 80% with SAS holding the remaining 20%.
Lufthansa opted not to wait for a decision on a foreign partner for the restructured Alitalia and will be launching its own subsidiary at Milan Malpensa, called Lufthansa Italia, in February. |
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Bytes and Pieces
 YWG to YEG Airmail Re-enactment, Dec 1-3, 2008I would like to pass along this info gathered from John Chalmers, Board of Directors, Alberta Aviation Museum As a member of the Board of Directors of the Alberta Aviation Museum (AAMA) I am writing on behalf of the AAMA and the Edmonton Aviation Heritage Society (EAHS). We have some exciting news regarding the Centennial of Flight in 2009! We have just acquired a vintage-style open cockpit biplane, to be flown from Winnipeg to Edmonton on December 1-3, 2008. In 2009, Canada will celebrate 100 years of aviation, beginning with the flight of the primitive "Silver Dart" at Baddeck, Nova Scotia on February 23, 1909. We will use our biplane at a number of special events throughout 2009 to celebrate 100 years of aviation in Canada. However, even before that, we have another anniversary to celebrate. On December 10, 1928, air mail service between Edmonton and Winnipeg was inaugurated with flights between both cities. This weekend we will take delivery of our biplane, a Kelly-D model, and it will be flown from Winnipeg to Edmonton, carrying special letters from civic officials. It will mark the 80th Anniversary of air mail between the two cities. The flight from Winnipeg to Edmonton will make several stops en route, including locations of former wartime stations of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan where airmen of the Royal Canadian Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces received training during the Second World War. To commemorate the air mail service, the biplane will also carry letters from civic officials, recognizing the early days of air mail service and the importance of aviation heritage in Canada's history. The flight in the biplane, shown above, will be made in the pioneer spirit that typifies the development of aviation in western Canada. On Friday, November 28, two representatives of the Alberta Aviation Museum Association and the Edmonton Aviation Heritage Society will drive to Winnipeg to take possession of the Kelly-D biplane which will be flown back to Edmonton. They are Dr. Rod Macleod, president of the AAMA, and Mr. Art Breier, president of the EAHS. They will be accompanied by the two pilots who will fly the biplane back to Edmonton. They are Tom Hinderks, executive director of the Alberta Aviation Museum and co-pilot Curtiss Peters. Rod and Art will drive back to accompany the pilots as they fly. The flight from Winnipeg to Edmonton will take place on December 1-3. Attached is a schedule of the flight. We hope to see you at the start, finish, or at a stop along the way of the flight from Winnipeg. We realize that we are giving you short notice of this, however, the opportunity itself to acquire the aircraft has arisen with little advance notice. Furthermore, with the present good weather we are enjoying and the impending approach of winter conditions, we have had to move quickly. I welcome your inquiries for more information at any time, by phone or e-mail. My contact information is below. Sincerely, John Chalmers, Board of Directors, Alberta Aviation Museum. Res. phone 780-435-8194, Cell phone 780-453-8194  At left, pilot Paul Calder receives the mailbags from postmaster Fred Smith, prior to flying with the mail to Winnipeg on December 10, 1928. Edmonton Journal photograph was shot in the early morning using a flashlight for proper exposure. At right is a Fokker Super Universal, the type of aircraft used in a flight bringing the mail from Winnipeg to Edmonton, later the same day, on December 10. This aircraft was restored and flown by Clark Seaborn of Calgary, then placed in the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg. Photo by John Chalmers.  This is a photo of the plane being used to recreate the flight.More information about this historic flight can be seen at: http://spirit.aviation.ca  PDF File describing the 1928 flightPDF file with the Schedule for the recreated flight |
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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. Pickings from the "CP Air News" magazine
Issue dated November 1979 At a dinner held in the Vancouver Ops Centre employees representing 700 years service.
 Presentations of 25 years pins were made. Here is a photo of the employees. Issue dated December 1979 Under the heading "Good time gambling junket" are details of a fun-packed week-end on the employee charter to Las Vegas, Jan 25-28. From YVR includes return airfare, transfers, two nights accommodations,all meals and more.
(An opportunity never to be seen again! - eds)
 Here we have a photo of the Passenger Agents, Cargo and Res groups in Amsterdam. From issue dated March 1980  Final flight of DC-8 fin 602 "Empress of Buenos Aires" after logging 38 million miles, she is being retired and flown to Miami area scrap yard on March 17th. This aircraft has the distinction of being the first commercial air carrier to exceed the speed of sound in 1961 whilst with Douglas Aircraft Company prior to delivery to CP Air.  Here we have this photo of the Data Entry Group in YVR.From issue dated June 1980 Just 10 days before the inauguration of the service between YYZ and YHZ planned for July, the government withdrew permission.
 Raul Cifuentes sent us a scan of "Info:Cargo" dated June 1990. We extracted this photo from the article "Capt.Kirk & Space Control"providing an insight to the C4 Cargo Control of the CP Cargo Department.
and from the issue dated August 1989 we have this photo of three agents in the cargo department Calgary.
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Readers Feedback
Jim Griffith made this comment regarding the article on CF-TFD North Star in "NetLetter nr 1044 "Our first 70 years"
The book you mentioned re: TCA flt 810 09/12/56 , still leaves the cause of the crash as a mystery. I have been researching this event for four years and have found just about every document published on the subject except for two items
If anyone knows of the existence of either of the voice tapes from either TCA or Air Traffic Control of the flight I'd be very interested in reviewing them.
I have three transcripts of the conversations from various investigations and they all differ slightly but enough to cast doubt on just what went wrong.
I feel that there was such a mix up that night in communications that only listening to the tapes would resolve the issue.
If anyone knows where those tapes might be I'd be obliged if they could let me know
. Jim can be reached at
Fred Coyle has sent us an update on the "Connie" project -
 Bob Bogash sent me the attached pictures of the restored TCA Super Connie that I thought your readers might be interested in seeing.Bob told me a couple of weeks ago when I visited him and Dot in their home in Washington that when the restoration is completed, it will be given a place of honour beside the JFK/LBJ Airforce One (707) that is there on the ramp outside the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.
There is also, on the same ramp, the first 737 and 747 ever built as well as a 727 and a BA Concorde which was flown in and donated to the Museum of Flight at the request of Bob Bogash.
He is a remarkable man.
He also took me to Paine Field in Everett to see a B247D which was one of Carl Burke's original three aircraft that made up Maritime Central Airways' fleet when they began operation on December 7, 1941, a familiar date for other reasons as well.
Seeing that airplane was the primary purpose of my visit to Bob and Dot. I started out my career with MCA in Charlottetown. (Dot had worked with MCA and Nordair away back when).The airplane is now painted in UAL livery of 1934 and is still airworthy. It is a beautiful sight! The web site on the Connie starts here:
http://www.rbogash.com/connie.html Fred Coyle The Nordair Convair 990 was mentioned in NetLetter nr 1038 and we asked for any information -
Leslie Bovell sends us this information:
 Here is some info on the ND Convair 990. Nordair leased three CV990's from Modern Air of the USA, Nordair used these aircraft on long haul routes including Caribbean and European charter flights. Nordair was established in 1957 by a merger of Mount Laurier Aviation and Boreal Airways (founded in 1947). Nordair operated from the Dorval International Airport in Montreal Canada and had a fleet of Boeing 737-200s, Fairchild Hiller FH-227s, Lockheed Electra L-188s and some leased aircraft including this Convair CV990. Canadian Pacific Airlines acquired Nordair and Nordair Metro in January, 1987. Canadian Pacific Airlines (Canadian Airlines International) was acquired by Air Canada.
Nordair played a huge part in helping build the "DEW" line (distant early warning radar) in North Eastern Canada. Sizes and weights
L Bovell
Ken Swartz has sent us this information -
Many members of the Air Canada family began their aviation careers with airlines that flew de Havilland Canada aircraft produced at Downsview since 1929.
This past weekend, the Toronto Aerospace Museum honoured
DHC pioneer George Neal on his 90th birthday. George Neal completed the float plane certification of the famous DHC-2 Beaver in 1949 & 1948 and made the first flight of the famous DHC-3 Otter in 1951.
You might be interested in reading about George's career on our museum web site at http://www.torontoaerospacemuseum.com
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This & That
Here is a continuation of the information from NetLetter nr 1044 by William J Cameron
Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame was originally established in Edmonton, Alberta in 1973, and remained there for eighteen years; until finding a permanent home in 1992, within the aviation hangar at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. The aviation hangar features large display panels describing the lives and aviation achievements of every Inducted Member including J.A.D. McCurdy; Gordon McGregor; Grant McConachie, "bush pilot with a briefcase"; Max Ward, founder of Wardair; Mel Knox; Rex Terpening; Claude Taylor; S/L Len Birchall - "The Saviour of Ceylon", and Rosella Bjornson - the first woman to be promoted to Captain with a major Canadian Airline; and the names and stories of more than two hundred other outstanding people of Canadian Aviation. The contributions made by Canada's flying elite are preserved in the Hall of Fame through the display of personal biographies, records, artifacts, and aircraft. Along with the member's panels there are twenty significant aircraft on public display within the Aviation Hanger, and a further eighty historical aircraft not currently on display in the collection storage facility of the Reynolds-Alberta Museum - including one of two full-scale mock-ups of the CF-105 Avro Arrow. Unfortunately, the existence of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame is all too little known by the general public of Canada; and even more regrettably is almost unknown to many of us who worked with, and whose lives were touched by some of those who are honoured in Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame today. Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to preserving and publicizing the names and deeds of those people who have made a significant contribution to Canadian Aviation. Some grants and corporate contributions assist in the financial operation of the Hall of Fame, but to ensure the future long-term viability of the Hall of Fame there is a great need for a wider participation by all Canadians - especially those of us who have been fortunate to have directly participated in Canada's 100 years of Aviation history. The Board of Directors of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame invites you to become a "Friend of The Hall" - for a one-year donation of $50.00 CDN, and receive a one-year subscription to The Flyer, Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame newsletter. Contact: Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame P.O. Box 6360 Wetaskiwin, AB T9A 2G1 Telephone (780) 361-1351 Ext. 241 Email - (submitted by William J. Cameron, Okotoks, AB - AC Retiree) |
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Terry's Travel Tips
 Information from the U.K.Pionairs newsletter for British tourists Tony Etheridge has sent us a newspaper clipping which advises that British tourists will soon have to get permission to enter America at least three days before they leave home. Travelers will have to apply online to the US department of Homeland Security from 12th January 2009. The measure is to combat terrorism. You will need to give name, passport number, birth date and destination. Mike Judkins has advised that you can pick up the details on www.cbp.gov/esta. Confused by the different carry on sizes by different airlines?
The U.K.'s Department of Transportation has their guide lines -
56cm x 45cm x 25cm. With that in mind here is how some of the
U.K. airlines line up.
Weightwise
Ryanair is 10kg EasyJet has no restriction as long as the pax is able to stow the piece in the overhead bin without assistance by the cabin crew.Virgin is 6kg Air Canada 10kg for each carry on.
Moral is - check the web site of the airline(s) prior to traveling.
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 "Remember no one is perfect except the captain!" anon |