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Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter Since 1995

Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Since 1995

The NetLetter #1242a

The NetLetter

For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)

 

February 19, 2013 - Issue 1242a
 
First Issue published in October 1995!
(over 5,400 subscribers)
In This Issue
Star Alliance News
TCA/Air Canada People Gallery
Women in Aviation
Reader Submitted Photos
TCA/Air Canada People Gallery
Alan's Space
Canadi>n/CP Air/PWA, Wardair, etc
Reader's Feedback
Odds and Ends
Terry's Trivia
Smileys
NetLetter Past Issues

Past Issues
Web Site Information

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Greetings!
Terry Baker
Welcome to the NetLetter!

I'm sorry that I erroneously numbered the NetLetter issued February 10th. This should have been nr 1241.

Bill

We welcome you to allow the NetLetter to be your platform and opportunity to relive your history while working for either TCA, AC, CPAir, CAIL, PWA, AirBC, Wardair, etal and share your experiences with us!

Terry Baker and the NetLetter Team

Star Alliance News
Star AllianceBrussels Airlines to launch direct flights between Brussels and Washington. Starting June 18, Brussels Airlines will operate direct flights between Brussels Airport and Washington Dulles.

Air Canada News
Air Canada
Air Canada introduces Q400 service in Western Canada; increases capacity with the next-generation of aircraft. With departures on February 1st of Air Canada Express flights AC8371 from Calgary to Fort McMurray, AC8430 from Calgary to Regina and AC8586 from Calgary to Saskatoon, Air Canada introduced new Q400 service in Western Canada. Concurrent to rolling out new, state-of-the-art Bombardier Q400 Next Generation aircraft in these markets, Air Canada announced it is boosting capacity on key regional routes this spring and summer in response to demand. (source: The Daily)
 
Air Canada to introduce international Premium Economy Cabin; adds five new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to mainline fleet. On February 7th, we announced that we will introduce a new International Premium Economy cabin for customers seeking enhanced comfort and service on international flights as we continue to modernize our wide-body fleet with the addition of five new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Complementing our Economy and Executive First options on international flights, our new Premium Economy cabin will offer customers a wide range of benefits including a dedicated cabin featuring larger seats that are wider, providing more recline, with seven more inches of legroom than Economy and are never more than one seat from the aisle (due to a 2-4-2 configuration). Customers will also be offered premium meals with complimentary bar service and priority check-in and baggage delivery at the airport. More information on our new Premium Economy cabin is available at www.aircanada.com/premiumeconomy.
Our Premium Economy cabin will be introduced on Montreal-Paris flights effective July 11, 2013. Additional routes offering Premium Economy will be added over time as new aircraft enter our mainline fleet. (source: The Daily)

Women in Aviation - Compiled by Terry Baker
woaw-week-2013
Women of Aviation week March 4th - 10th, 2013.


Canadian Aviation Historical Association (CAHS) Manitoba will be sponsoring and participating in the Women Fly! event on March 9, 2013 at St Andrews Airport. The event, which is supported by a number of aviation organizations, will offer free flights to women of all ages who are interested in any aspect of aviation! Feel free to pass this along to any woman you think might be interested. Register on line at: http://www.womenofaviationweek.org/rsvpmaker/winnipeg/ or email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In 2011 and again in 2012, the Springfield Flying Club, Recreational Aircraft Association, COPA, 99s and Women in Aviation worked together with flying clubs and flight associations in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to introduce a record number of women to the thrill of flying: 210 women in 2011 and 264 women in 2012. Many actually had an opportunity to handle the controls! And several have gone on to become pilots - a dream they had never imagined! One woman who flew for the first time in 2011, now helped with the 2012 event as a pilot and another helped as a student pilot! Thank you to all the volunteer pilots, marshallers, registration officers and helpers. Over 40 volunteers donate their time, energy, money, and planes to make these events a success!!

Check out http://womenairborne.blogspot.ca
for photos!

Kirsten Brazier This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (877) 728-4033 sends us this information: I am a former Air BC employee (Kirsten Brazier) and daughter of an Air Canada retiree (Wayne Brazier).
 
Last March, I organized a huge outreach event at the Yellowknife airport for Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, and it was so successful I am doing it again on March 9: www.girlsfly2.ca.
 
About last year's event: Many local sponsors teamed together to give over 400 eligible girls and women the gift of first flight, with the aim to inspire more women to explore aviation as a vocation. Last year's event, attended by about 1500 people from Yellowknife as well as surrounding communities was wildly successful and earned the Yellowknife Airport a trophy award for Most Female Pilot Friendly Airport in the World, and because of our success we have many more contenders for the title this year - this is a good thing!

 
Reader Submitted Photos - Compiled by Terry Baker

Readers PhotosReader Submitted Photos -  The photos and information below have been submitted to us by our faithful readers.  


 

Here is an exchange of emails with Dave Peters, Robert Arnold and Brian Burrage, co-founder and photo archivist of www.vickersviscount.net, residing in the U.K.


Dave Peters has supplied this information regarding the photo: The photo is of GXK while on lease to TCA in 1955 - my understanding is the aircraft was used to free up other Viscounts for crew training. The reason GXK was not used directly for training is the fact it was non standard to the fleet it had many of the features of the 724 but used English instrumentation and had an auto pilot installed. (This aircraft c/n 70 was leased to Trans-Canada Air Lines from March 29th 1955 to October 12th 1955 - eds)

Brian Burrage added this: Thanks (Dave) for clarifying the role of CF-GXK as an extra operational aircraft rather than as a training aircraft. This is certainly borne out by the passengers seen in the cabin. I will change the www.vickersviscount.net website history accordingly. Any ideas for a location anyone? We don't currently have a photo of CF-GXK at the time of delivery to see if it differs from Ed's photo. Regarding the 'Airlines' rather than 'Air Lines' it was probably just an error by the sign writer.

TCA/Air Canada People Gallery - Compiled by Terry Baker
 
TCA/Air Canada  LogoBelow we have musings from the "Between Ourselves" and "Horizons" magazine, Air Canada publications from years gone by, as well as various in-house publications.

The NetLetter has been fortunate enough to have our readers donate vintage Trans-Canada Air Lines and Air Canada publications from as far back as 1941 to share with you. These have been scanned and are being prepared for presenting in a special area of the ACFamily Network for archival and genealogy research.

Issue dated - October 1945
Drafted from the "Between Ourselves" magazines -
Here we have the group of employees in Atlantic Control based in Halifax. Back row from left: Gladys Vincent, A. F. Devenish, Jean Ewell, Alyce Swola, Fran Smith, Peg Wilson, Joe Duprey, Doris Colp, Helen Blair, Shirley Dickson and Stubb Davies. Front row: Bruce McHardy, Peg Cornelius, Hazel Ritchie, Mary Beatty, Doss McMaster, Izadore Gilbert, Winnie Phillips, Basil McLeod and Peg Holland. Those who couldn't make the photo op were Marie Buchanan, Ruth Goldman, Verna Harnish, Phil Harnish, Fran Harris, Marg Hirtle, Clare Taylor and Helen Weimer.

Issue dated - November 1945
Members of the annual TCA Traffic Meeting held in Winnipeg September 17, 18 and 19th, 1945. During the meetings the group resolved some of the airline's problems, tripped the light fantastic and played some golf. In the photograph, left to right, back row: Herb Harling (Winnipeg), Harp McNeill (New York), D'Arcy McLeod (Edmonton), Gord Wilson (Montreal), Wally Courtney (Toronto), Jack Robinson (Vancouver), Gordon Wood (Assistant Traffic Manager), Ted Deyman (Field Asst. to Traffic Manager) and Tom Moore (Calgary). Front Row: Jack MacLean (Regina), Garry Gray (Moncton), Stew Sime (Halifax), Vic Fulcher (Assistant to Traffic Manager), W. F. English (Vice-President), Jack Dalby (Traffic Manager) Reg Campbell (Ottawa) and Stan Blowes (Windsor).

Issue dated - December 1972 
From the pages of "Horizon" magazine -
1952 - November 5th - Introduction of scheduled service to Germany. This was by extending the Montreal-London North Star service to Dusseldorf.


1954 - Introduction of Super Constellation service replacing the North Star on the Dusseldorf route.

1960 began DC-8 jet service replacing Super Constellation service to Germany.

1966 The company moved from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt to facilitate non-stop flights between Canada and Germany.


In NetLetter nr 1236, we had a photo of CPA CARGO AGENT Norie Handa, in Tokyo, who uses a bicycle to carry air cargo documents between the airport post office and the offices of other airlines. Here we have found that Air Canada's Cargo Agent Jeannine de Alwis of Copenhagen performs a similar duty. In this photo, Jeannine is about to rush last minute documents to flight AC881.






The biggest ticket office for the company opened at 388 Bay Street, Toronto in the fall of 1972. It was business as usual  following the official opening, but agents and management took time to record their participation in the ceremony. On the left of the counter, from the left are: Supervisor Jim McFarland; Reg Brewster, Sales Office Manager; Don Stanbridge, Reservations Duty Manager; Doug Powell, Regional Passenger Sales Manager; and Supervisor Sandy Mcintyre. Reservations Agents shown are, from the left: Judi McKinnon, Mary Doherty, Peter Robinson, Georgina McConaghy, Jean Bilanski, Marilyn Reynolds, Kay Rooney, Martin Barry, and Jim Halls.

Alan's Space - by Alan Rust
Alan's Space
Alan is on holiday. 
 
Canadi>n/CP Air/PWA, Wardair, etc. People & Events
- Compiled by Terry Baker
CAIL TailsNews and articles from days gone by gleaned from various publications from C.A.I.L. and its "ancestry" of contributing airlines.
Issue dated - March 1999
Drawn for the "Canadi>n Flyer" magazine -
Customer Service Directors were given a first hand look at the important role they and their ln-flight colleagues will play within the oneworld™ alliance during a well attended seminar February in Vancouver. The training I intended to introduce CSD's and Flight Attendants to the improved level of service and benefit that we are offering our oneworld customers. This photo of Marina Phillips, a Customer Service Director, acted as a facilitator at the oneworld CSD training in Vancouver.


Oneworld training for Canadian Plus was held at Hong Kong's new Chek Lap Kok airport from Jan. 19-22. Left to right: Catherine Hong, Hong Kong Airport; Robyn Hsu, Taipei Reservations Supervisor; Maritte Encarnacion, Manila Reservations Supervisor; Janet Lawrence, Reservations and CTO Instructor/Developer; Nongyolo Lapsrivat, Bangkok Reservations Supervisor; and Masaharu Yamada, Tokyo Lead Customer Service Agent. Missing: Christine Hong, Beijing.
(The article has only six names identified, if anyone knows the sixth, we will correct the information - eds)


It was a mission so secret that even James Bond would have been impressed. Using secure sites both in Canada and abroad often working under the cover of darkness, the high-stakes effort to keep our new image a secret before launch day had all the elements of an international spy thriller. After all it's one thing to keep a new logo and redesigned uniforms under wraps, but how do you hide a B747? The interior and exterior transformation of aircraft fin 881 was done under our close supervision by Ameco Beijing, a maintenance-engineering firm that deals primarily with Air China. On January 13th, aircraft fin 881 touched down at Vancouver airport following a 10 hour flight from Beijing and pulled into gate D50 watched by scores of employees, media and the public. The enthusiastic homecoming was the culmination of months of work, including a nerve wracking two weeks Representing Canadian throughout the project in Beijing were Frank Wolfenber, Dennis Garvey, Al Burns and Mark Larssen.

Here is a photo of the new livery.





All systems are a go after a successful utilization of Qik-Chek in Vancouver. Qik developer Scott Tucker (right), along with Vancouver Customer Service Lead Curt Alden (left) and Toronto Customer Service Agent Anna Brunetti marvel at the enhanced system's efficiency. By the way, the flight to Whitehorse left on time.


Reader's Feedback - Compiled by Terry Baker
Reader's Feedback
Every week we ask our readers for their stories or feedback on what they have read here in previous issues. Below is the feedback we have received recently.

Brian Walsh sent us this: Here is an online game provided by LH - I thought NetLetter readers might enjoy this: Cheers,  Brian Walsh
(Your chief pilot scored 20,817, but LH denied my application for navigator - eds)

Odds and Ends.

Image Blank 200pxSometimes we receive articles and information that just doesn't fit in our other areas. This is where it goes!

Don Baird has sent us this information:
The following is news of the next meeting of the Montreal Chapter of the
Canadian Aviation Historical Society: Fred Deveaux, retired Air Canada pilot, will speak at the February 21 meeting of the Montreal Chapter of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. His topic will be the retrieval and fly-out of a Cessna which had sunk in a Northern Quebec river. The meeting starts at 11:00 AM and is at the Royal Canadian Legion, 365 St. Louis Ave., in Pointe Claire. A voluntary contribution of $5.00 is requested to cover the light lunch provided. Anyone interested in the history of civil or military aviation is welcome. For further information call 514-481-8786.  

 

Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker

Terry BakerAir Canada Summer schedule changes:
Montreal-Barcelona seasonal 2 weekly cancelled
Toronto-Istanbul new 3 weekly service effective Jun 4th using 767-300ERs.
Toronto-Seoul new 3 weekly service with 777-300ER effective Jun 2nd.
Calgary-Seattle operation begins from May 13th to Oct 13th.
Toronto-Portland OR service cancelled for summer 2013.
Vancouver-Anchorage seasonal daily service operates from May 19th to Sep 18th with an Airbus A320.
Toronto-Portland ME (PWM) route will see its 2 daily service cancelled from Mar 1st.  
Toronto-Providence 2 daily service also cancelled from Mar 1st.  Vancouver-San Diego route cancelled for the summer schedule period.
Frequency changes for various routes are also being introduced. (source yyznews Feb 8/13)

Some specials from Dargal Interline:
18 Night South America ~ Carnival Cruise Lines ~ Carnival Splendor
Mar 05th Buenos Aires; At Sea; At Sea; Rio de Janeiro; At Sea; Salvador; At Sea; Recife; At Sea; Fortaleza; Crossing the Equator; At Sea; At Sea; Barbados; At Sea; Grand Turk; At Sea; At Sea; New York; "Must Have or Obtain Valid Brazilian Visa"  From:  Inside: $399 Oceanview: $499  Balcony: $799

18 Night Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific ~ Oceania Cruises ~ Marina
Apr 18th Tahiti; Huahine; Bora Bora; Bora Bora; Cruising; Fakarava;  2 days Cruising; Adamstown; 2 days Cruising; Hanga Roa; Hanga Roa; 4 days  Cruising; Callao; Callao; From: Inside: $1537  Oceanview: $1897 Balcony: $2527  Suite: $3247
Cruises: Rates are quoted in U.S. dollars per person (based on double occupancy). PORT CHARGES ARE INCLUDED. Taxes & fees are not included. Fuel supplement may be applicable. All rates are subject to change, availability and eligibility. All offers apply to new bookings only, are capacity controlled and may be withdrawn without notice.
For more information on these & other Dargal Interline specials:
Call Toll Free: 1-800-690-3223 International Toll Free: (country code)-800-2832-7425
Suite 200-1632 Dickson Ave Kelowna BC V1Y 7T2   


Effective July 1st 2013 -
Issuance of a passport to a person at least 16 years of age, other than a passport issued for official purposes, as follows:

 

(a) if the request is made in Canada and the passport is to be delivered in Canada 


        (i) for a passport with a validity period of 10 years    ca$135.00
        (ii) for a passport with a validity period of 5 years     ca$95.00

(b) if the request is made outside Canada or the passport is to be delivered outside of Canada


        (i) for a passport with a validity period of 10 years  ca$235
        (ii) for a passport with a validity period of 5 years   ca$165  


Trials of a trip by your Chief Pilot - Terry.
We had booked a week in Honolulu from Vancouver with AC Staff Vacations. Due to leave on Jan 28th, so we went stand by (new rates) from Nanaimo overnight on Jan 27th, to avoid a long day traveling.
The rate at Airport Travelodge was $61.70. The Travelodge Shuttle picked us up at YVR. In the hotel lobby there was a local paper which had a 2 for 1 coupon for the "Pantry", the restaurant attached to the hotel, so that was a bonus right there. During the night my wife suffered acute toothache in a tooth on which her bridge hangs and was very concerned. We decided to cancel our trip. I went down to the lobby to beg the use of a computer. We were on the 7th floor, but the elevator stopped on the 5th floor and I had to nip down the stairs. The front office clerk kindly allowed me into their office and use of the laptop. I booked for a flight YVR-YCD, and got boarding passes and checked-in for a flight departing in an hours time. Back up stairs, elevator working now, but by the time we left the room, the elevators were showing a definite lack of enthusiasm, so we had to walk down the stairs, fortunately we travel light with carry-on luggage.  

 

We checked out of the hotel and got the shuttle to YVR and scooted to security "C" to join a huge crowd of fellow travelers. We were never going to make our flight, but a security person spotted us and probably decided were a couple to check for explosives. We got pulled out of the queue and they checked our hands and shoes, no breach of security and we joined an even shorter queue for the luggage security. Just before it was our turn to place our luggage on the x-ray belt, the next security area opened and we were invited us to go there. Boy were we saving time here. Got through security OK and hustled along the long corridor to area "C". When we got to the escalators, they were u/s and we had to drag ourselves down more stairs, but then we were used to that method by now. At the foot of the stairs was an Air Canada golf car with several staff standing by. I enquired for a lift to catch our flight, but they told that they did not have the keys! We finally got to gate C34 only to be told the flight was delayed for an hour. It happens. We therefore had time to have breakfast at "Timmies", and to visit the AC Customer Service desk where we arranged for the agent to cancel our flight to HNL, and the return flight standby YVR-YCD at the end of our planned trip. Unfortunately, the agent took us off the flight we had just booked to get back to YCD, and we did not find this out until we offered our boarding passes at the gate. The agent took us over to Customer Service, explained the problem, and two new boarding passes were issued. Got to YCD, and found that there are no public phones in the arrival area, probably because most people have cell phones now. We checked with a security person who took us to his "WELCOME" desk, and let us make our phone call to our dentist - a saving of 50 cents. The dentist suggested we not travel and, after an x-ray, prescribed penicillin and booked a root canal for when the infection has cleared up.
We do appreciate the help the check-in agent at gate C34 and the Customer Service agent to resolve our problem, unfortunately, we did not get any names. 

 

We are now in "Claim" mode with the insurance people.
Better to be sick at home than overseas.

 

Smileys - Compiled by Terry Baker
Smileys
As we surf the internet and back issues of airline magazines we regularly find airline related jokes and cartoons. Below is our latest discovery.

Our cartoon for this issue is by Jake Visser, Canadian Regional Airlines, Calgary which appeared in "Canadi>n Flyer" issued March 1999.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


  Alan Evans in South Africa sends us these cartoons.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The NetLetter is an email newsletter published (usually) once a week and contains a mixture of nostalgia, current news and travel tips. We encourage our readers to submit their stories, photos and/or comments from either days gone by or from present day experiences and trips. If we think that the rest of our readers will enjoy it, we will publish it here.

We also welcome your feedback in regard to anything we post here. Many readers have commented with additional information, names and personal memories from the photos and articles presented here.

The NetLetter, which is free, is open to anyone that wishes to subscribe but is targeted to retired employees from Air Canada, Canadian Airlines and all the other companies that were part of what Air Canada is today. Thanks for joining us!

We hope you have enjoyed this issue of the NetLetter, see you next week!  
Sincerely,
Your NetLetter Team

Disclaimer: Please note, that neither the NetLetter or the ACFamily Network necessarily endorse any of the airline related or other "deals" that we provide for our readers. We would be interested in any feedback (good or bad) when using these companies though and will report the results here. We do not (normally) receive any compensation from any companies that we post in our newsletters. If we do receive a donation or other compensation, it will be indicated as a sponsored article or link.

 

E&OE - (errors and omissions excepted) - The historical information as well as any other information provided here is subject to correction and may have changed over time. We do publish corrections when they are brought to our attention.
First published in October, 1995
  • Chief Pilot - Terry Baker, Nanaimo, B.C.
  • Co-pilot - Alan Rust, Surrey, B.C.
  • Flight Engineer - Bill Rowsell, Londesboro, Ontario 
  • Stewardess - Lisa Ruck, Brooklin, Ontario 
To contact us, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 

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