The NetLetter
For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)
June 15, 2013 - Issue 1259
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First Issue published in October 1995!
(over 5,400 subscribers)
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NetLetter Past Issues
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Donation Information
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Send cheques payable to "ACFamily Network" to:
ACFamily Network
#800 - 15355 24th Ave, Suite 523
Surrey, BC V4A 2H9
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Greetings!
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Welcome to the NetLetter!
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
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 The folks at ACRA are all very excited to announce that they will be bringing the 2013 Annual Air Canada (ACRA) System Golf Tournament to Colonial Williamsburg, VA. from September 7th, thru 12th. Full details at www.acra.ca.
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| ACRA News |
 The folks at ACRA are very excited to announce that they will be bringing the 2013 Annual Air Canada (ACRA) System Golf Tournament to Colonial Williamsburg, VA. from September 7th, thru 12th.
Full details at www.acra.ca
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| Star Alliance News |
 London Heathrow's upgraded Terminal 2 to open June 2014. United Airlines will be the first airline to arrive at London Heathrow's revamped Terminal 2 (T2) when it reopens June 4, 2014, following a £2.5 billion ($3.8 billion) upgrade. |
| Reader Submitted Photos - Compiled by Terry Baker |
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 Reader Submitted Photos - The photos and information below have been submitted to us by our faithful readers.
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 Allan Gray has sent us several photos -
His playing card collection.
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And two photos of post cards issued by Air Canada.
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 The "Wings Across Time" was a folder given out at the 40th Anniversary presentation as it traveled across the country.
Creative House was the company that presented the program. |
 And finally - Remember the FIRST CLASS menu - Fresh Russian Sevruga Caviar?
We, at the NetLetter, asked Allan what date the menu was used.
His response: The number on the menu doesn't seem to refer to a date as most AC documents do. It was a white AC logo embossed menu and I have Executive Class and Wine List menus that are the same. The number is LHR2 16-10.3-219. The wine list has bottles as late as 1990. |
| TCA/Air Canada People Gallery - Compiled by Terry Baker |
 Below 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.
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Issue dated - November 1946
Some items gleaned from the "Between Ourselves" magazines.
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 Under the heading "The North Star tries distance", Captain Ron Baker gave pertinent details of the trip.
Departing Cartierville Montreal, its home airport, on Saturday September 14th, the experimental Canadair North Star CF-TENX left home for the first time in an experimental long Range flight to California. The first cross country flight was planned to give the North Star its first long range test with the object of obtaining performance data of the DC-4M to Canada at large and the Douglas Aircraft Company at Santa Monica, USA.
The plan was to fly from Montreal to Vancouver in one day, with stops at Toronto, Fort William, Winnipeg and Lethbridge. Thirteen passengers were on board.
No attempt was made to establish any speed record, if they had they would have chosen a different day as they encountered head-winds all the way. The average speed was 280 mph. Staying at Vancouver over night, the flight continued to Santa Monica the next day for an inspection by the Douglas people. The aircraft returned to Vancouver on September 18th. The following day the aircraft departed for Cartierville, Montreal, the factory of Canadair. The flight took 8 hours 39 minutes.
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 Here we have the Cleveland Traffic roster -
Back row from the left: Jane Mahon, Agnes Galik, Peggy Pitman, Marjorie Crawford, John Sinden, Dorothy Scott, Irene Rich, Nellie Alberding and Don Richardson.
Front row from the left: Peter Mellon, Lola Gibson, Jessie Hunt, Helen Horton, Byllye Drage, Dolores Ferenz and Barbara Payne.
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 As many of the Goose Bay staff as could be found at one time were rounded up for this photo.
Reading from the top left side: Padre Rose, Carl Werbisky, Cab Cole, General Hamilton, Fatboy Tribe.
The other row, from the top: Swifty Millar, Baldy Affleck, Cam Brown, Pop Farmer and Flatspin Irwin. Jet Cotton was at the camera controls. (We are not sure about some of the christian names here - eds)
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 THE SKIRL Of BAGPIPES greeted our Viscount CF-TGK and some of our Company "brass" on arrival of the first scheduled flight into New York.
From left: D. E. McLeod, Assistant Director Public Relations; W. G. Wood, Vice-President Traffic: G. R. McGregor, President; D. C. Bythell, Director Sales and Advertising;
Piper at the right is TCA's own Jane Buchanan of the Traffic department.
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| Alan's Space - by Alan Rust |
SPITFIRE 944
In October 2005, filmmaker William Lorton inherited two suitcases of 16mm home movies which his great uncle, James R. Savage, MD., shot while serving as a Flight Surgeon for the US Army Air Corps during World War II . The most compelling shot in the three hours of war footage was the crash landing of a Spitfire Mk XI fighter plane at Mount Farm Airbase in Great Britain. Being the flight surgeon at the base, Captain Savage was alerted to the impending accident and had the presence of mind to bring his movie camera to the landing strip.
Within 30 seconds of entering the Spitfire's tail number into Google, the filmmaker was able to ascertain the date of the crash, the location of the crash and the name of the pilot: John S. Blyth.
The filmmaker sent a letter to the pilot requesting a general interview about World War II aviation and received a positive response. He did not reveal the existence of the 16mm footage until the interview took place about two weeks later near Tacoma, WA. At the end of a three-hour interview about the pilot's World War II exploits, the filmmaker asked the pilot to review "about one minute" of footage. John S. Blyth was quite surprised to suddenly be watching his death-defying landing of 61 years earlier.
Please take a look. If you like aviation history and genealogy, you'll enjoy this video and the look on John's face as he discovers that it is his "gear up" landing he is looking at after all these years. - Alan
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| SPITFIRE 944 |
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Canadi>n/CP Air/PWA, Wardair, etc. People & Events
- Compiled by Terry Baker
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 News and articles from days gone by gleaned from various publications from C.A.I.L. and its "ancestry" of contributing airlines. |
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Issue dated - November 1978
Items from the "CPAir NEWS" magazine -
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EMPRESS OF JAPAN, was completely stripped down for its '"D' check. and spent a total of six weeks in the dock at Vancouver Ops centre hangar before going back into service again. "D" check, most thorough of the four check rated "A" through "D" on the maintenance schedule, is required on Boeing 747 after 20,000 hours. This was CP Air's first 'D" check on its Jumbo jet fleet, which was introduced five years previously.
 Here, Tony Schofield and Mickey Chung install floor panels.
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 Seats are being refurbished by upholstery maintenance men Philip Lee and Ron Seligmann.
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 Checking the avionics in the cockpit are Othmal Kagl and David Bowen.
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 Checking the avionics in the cockpit are Othmal Kagl and David Bowen.
From the left, corrosion is being checked out by Paul Baumann and Steve Leggatt, Joe da Silva makes sure the door works, zone corrosion is corrected in the lavatory by Manfred Bonn and the avionics in the planes nose section radar dome is being checked out by Cliff Lee and Alf Neale.
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Issue dated - December 1978
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 This advert had the following caption -
"Egg your clients on to Hawaii this winter"
EGGSTRA good value on CP Air flights was part of the winter advertising message to travel agents in this eggceptional winter promotion. Eggciting news, no? Eggsactly right. |
| Reader's Feedback - Compiled by Terry Baker |
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. Ken Pickford picked up on this article in NetLetter nr 1258 regarding the SST's at Halifax. Ken writes: re the "2 Concordes in Halifax" item in 1977. It mentions that another Concorde arrived with a replacement engine and to pick up the passengers. I don't think the reference to carrying a spare engine could be correct. Concorde had very limited cargo/baggage space and I can't believe it would have enough room for a spare engine (the Olympus engine used on Concorde was one of the largest jet engines). And Concorde had no "5th pod" capability to carry a spare engine under the wing like some other aircraft (DC-8, B747 etc.). I expect the spare engine would have had to be delivered on another aircraft type. (The NetLetter gang checked the original copy of the "Horizons" and the article was as printed - we checked several following issues, but there was no correction - eds)
Caz Caswell sends this message with reference to NetLetter nr 1257: Nice to see Heather Johannson include my photograph of CF-FUN on finals to Gatwick in 1970 in her interesting article. Caz Cazwell's Aviation Photographs, Caz. You can check out his website by clicking here.
In NetLetter nr 1257, we published a photo and article - A plaque commemorating the first trans-Atlantic flight of a company L1011 was presented by A. M. Scott of Rolls Royce, right, to Ian Macdonald, Director, Fleet Planning for President Taylor. The flight crew in the background are, from the left: Captains S. W. Bredt, R. M. Dubreuil W. O. Hoglund, G. W. Reid, and First Officer W. McKenna. Anyone know the contents on the plaque, or even where it is now? Michael Reid sent us this information - Sorry can't help with the contents of the plaque but I thought you would like to know in the above picture the Captain third from the right is my father J. W. ( Joseph Wendell) Reid (now deceased). At that time I believe he was Chief Pilot B747. Keep up the great work. I always enjoy the Netletter. Thanks. Captain C Michael Reid B777 Ret.(Michael pointed out the correct name for his father which was erroneously printed in "Horizons" - eds)
We have been asking our readers to tell us about their first flight, Cliff Cunningham tells us: A sure sign of being retired. I recently went through my little log book and transcribed everything into an Excel spreadsheet. From this I was able to extract the number of aircraft types, number of landings at various airports, and came up with two "firsts" :
First Flight: I am not sure if this referred to first commercial flight or first time in the air so here are both of mine.
 First time in the air: RCAF Harvard 15 minute spin from YXX (Abbotsford) while in High School and a summer member of the RCAF Reserve. We all had this opportunity during our 2 month training stint.
 First Commercial flight: DC-3 - YVR-YKA-YWL-YQZ-YXS Mar 11, 1957 following completion of Initial Traffic Training at Canadian Pacific headquarters in YVR. Continued same day from YXS to YXJ on a CV-240 to connect to the YXJ-YQU-YXD flight but this was delayed so spent the night at the Condill Hotel in YXJ. (Yes, that's right - YXD. YEG had not been built then). Since that time, I have kept a log of all commercial flights that I have taken which now has reached 3062 hours on 24 different types of aircraft.
Cliff Cunningham, North Saanich, B. C. |
Dave Welham was recently catching up on his NetLetter reading, and sent us some of his observations.
 Here is one of the them from NetLetter nr 1186 issued November 5th 2011 referring to this photo.
Photo from Paul Goodman YVRAP. Not sure of date, sometime in the seventies. Paul Goodman, passenger agent showing passenger the dimensions of carry on baggage.
Dave's comment: Is that the early-1970's orange vest that Paul Goodman is wearing? When the lads went for a pint after work they had to be careful to take them off first, otherwise punters would hold a hand up to order a refill. Those awful garments truly resembled beer parlor waiter vests! |
In  NetLetter nr 1188 under the "Alan's Space" banner, there is a photo of a bride going through security with this caption:
From Aisle to Runway.
Going through security check in a wedding dress today would prove to be a nightmare, but back in 1965, a newlywed London couple wastes no time heading off to their honeymoon after tying the knot.
Dave's comment: I can't imagine a bride starting her honeymoon in her wedding dress! I mean, didn't she also want to show off her "going away" outfit? Looks like a bit of a stunt to me! |
 And this article in the same NetLetter nr 1188 -
Roomy! On a 1968 Boeing 747, passengers could stand tall without ducking, have decent legroom, and sink into plush seats.
Dave's comment: The 747 was not yet in service in 1968, but I believe somebody has already corrected that. Fond memories of visits to my Seattle cousins, who drove past Boeing so I could see the partially-completed B747's. I believe that was in 1969 or 1970. Sorry, I didn't take any photos.
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Odds and Ends.
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 Sometimes we receive articles and information that just doesn't fit in our other areas. This is where it goes!
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Continental launches US's first scheduled biofuel flight.
United Continental Holdings (UCH) said its subsidiary Continental Airlines (CO) operated a Boeing 737-800 on a scheduled flight from Houston Intercontinental to Chicago O'Hare using a fuel blend partially comprised of algae-derived biofuel on June 3rd, 2013. It marked the first scheduled, commercial biofuel flight operated in the US. "Roughly four months since the approval of hydro processed renewable fuels in commercial use. |
TA LES FROM THE LAKEVIEW by Robert S. Grant - Now shipping! The new, limited edition Aviation History Series - Book 1
Many of the "Tales" published during the last 14 years in Aviation Quarterly, Aviation Canada and Canadian Aviator magazines are finally gathered together in one attractive book. More than 20 working airplane types-including Canadian classics such as the de Havilland Beaver, Otter and Twin Otter-are profiled from the early beginnings of Canadian commercial aviation in the 1930s through to recent times.
THIS CAPTIVATING COLLECTION of aviation short stories by Robert S. Grant offers the reader an intimate view inside the world of Canadian wilderness flying, along with vignettes from his own 45-year career as a commercial pilot.
* 192 pages* 32 chapters; 50,000 words* 6 x 8-inch landscape format * 67 rare photos; 56 in colour* Full colour throughout* Gloss paper stock * Extra strong notch binding $19.95 (no extra tax) Shipping is additional. ISBN 978-0-9684688-1-4. Information available from www.canaero.ca or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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 Jack Stephens has sent us this information and photo: Here is a rather rare photo.
This nose hangar was located at Camp Canol, circa 1944, across the Mackenzie River from Norman Wells, N.W.T. An airstrip close by, was long grown over with willows. "In 1942 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and their contractors threw millions of dollars and thousands of men into an effort to move petroleum products from Norman Wells in the Northwest Territories to Whitehorse, Yukon and beyond.
This was the Canol Road and Pipeline one of the biggest construction projects of World War II. From "A Walk On The Canol Road" by S. R. Gage. I took this photo in June 1975 and in 1977 most of the Camp buildings were plowed under by Imperial Oil. I was amazed at the good condition it was in after sitting for some 31 years. Jack
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Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker
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 Here are just a very few of the picks by Greg Bennett of KVI Interline Travel:
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1. Oceania Regatta (5*+) - 7 nights Seattle, Cruising the Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Cruising The Tracy Arm Fjord & Sawyer Glacier, Wrangell, Prince Rupert, Cruising The Outside Passage, Seattle
- Jun 28 - Inside $1549, Outside $1749, Balcony $2469
- Jul 5 - Inside $1399, Outside $1699, Balcony $2339
2. Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas (4*) - 7 night Seattle, At Sea, Juneau, Alaska Inside Passage, Skagway, Tracy Arm Fjord, At Sea, Victoria, Seattle
- Jun 21, 28 - Inside $549, Outside $750
3. Holland America Oosterdam (5*) - 7 nights Seattle, Puget Sound, At Sea, Scenic Cruising Tracy Arm, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria, Seattle
- Jun 23 - Balcony $699, Suite $1399
- Jun 30 - Inside $549, Outside $699, Balcony $799, Suite $1399
- Jul 7, 14, 28 - Inside $549, Outside $699, Balcony $799, Suite $1399
4. Holland America Amsterdam (5*) - 7 nights Vancouver, At Sea, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, Scenic Cruising The Inside Passage, Vancouver
- Jun 21 - Suite $1999 Jun 28 - Suite $1499 Jul 5 - Inside 449, Outside $499, Suite $1699
- Jul 19 - Inside $449, Outside $499, Balcony $1099, Suite $1999
- Jul 26 - Inside $449, Outside $499, Balcony $1099, Suite $1699
- Aug 2, 9 - Inside - $699, Outside $749, Balcony $1499, Suite $3199
- Aug 16 - Inside $649, Outside $699, Balcony $1299, Suite $3199
- Aug 23 - Inside $649, Balcony $1299, Suite $2999
- Aug 30 - Inside $649, Outside $699, Balcony $1199, Suite $2799
- Sep 6 - Inside $599, Outside $649, Balcony $1199, Suite $2249
Note: Holland America interline rates are available to North American residents only and Holland America reserves the right to bump interline passengers at any time. Call Greg Bennett toll-free at: 1-877-760-2583.
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| Smileys - Compiled by Terry Baker |
As we surf the internet and back issues of airline magazines we regularly find airline related jokes and cartoons. Below is our latest discovery.
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Our cartoon by Dave Mathias is from the "Between Ourselves" issued November 1953.
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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
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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.
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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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