The NetLetter
For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)
July 29, 2013 - Issue 1265
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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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Sponsors
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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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| Star Alliance News |
 Lufthansa Technik will provide component repair and pool access support for WestJet Encore's Q400s under a multi-year agreement. "Lufthansa Technik will maintain components removed from WestJet Encore aircraft and provide replacements from its extensive pool of Q400 stock." |
| Upcoming Events - Compiled by Terry Baker |
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 This gentle reminder from Ron Castelli and the System Golf Committee -
2013 Annual Air Canada (ACRA) System Golf
Tournament in Colonial Williamsburg, VA. from September 7th, thru 12th.
The dead line to add or remove rooms needs to be done by Aug 9th and time is running out. Please submit your registrations now and not at the last minute.
Full details at www.acra.ca.
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| 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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 Art Gillard has sent us this. It is the Home Journal cover dated Apr. 1939 which her daughter bought at a flea market a number of years ago.
She had it framed and gave it to me as a gift.
Art Gillard YYZ
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| 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 - February 1948
Some items gleaned from the "Between Ourselves" magazines.
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 The former staff at Kapuskasing.
Now reduced to three, as the station is no longer on the mainline, most of the group had dispersed to other TCA points.
Front row, left to right: Leo Clermont, G. Waite, A. St. Onge, W.Watt, J. York, B. Creighton, B. Hudon. Back row, left to right: D. Widney, B. McCormack, D. Calder, W. Baker, J. McIvor.
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 The Winnipeg TCA Ski Club established in 1947, enjoyed a most active and successful second year of existence. Never has a Club had a more hard-working and cooperative committee.
Most of the credit for the success of the Club goes to its President and Secretary. "Mac" as our President, Leo Mcintyre is known, is a wonder at making connections and establishing relations; and as an "emcee" he's tops.
Our Secretary, Jo Matthews, has been the "big gun" of the Club. working night and day to plan most of our socials and ski trips. But let us not forget the Instruction Chairman Heinz Heinrich and the Vice*President, Treasurer and Memberships, Social and Publicity committee members and the one hundred odd members who made up the Club. |
On December 23rd, 1947, the first combined "get together" took place at London Airport LHR to celebrate the first real Christmas together. Through the courtesy of the Airport Commandant, Sir John D'Albiac, we were granted the facilities of the M.C.A. Senior Mess at London Airport. With refreshments supplied from Montreal, the evening was thoroughly enjoyed by Staff members and wives. They were highly successful in keeping speeches down to a minimum, as one speaker said, " Like a woman's dress-long enough to cover the subject, yet short enough to make it interesting!" A special cake was built from the ground up by Bob Park, our Commissary Handler-in-Charge.
Here is the 1947 staff roster at London Airport LHR: Chief Mechanic, Bob Spafford; Air Engineers, "Mac" Caverhill and Murray Anderson; Crew Chief, Frank Matheson; Radio Technicians, "Geof" Fermor and John Marriott; Mechanic's, Maurice Kester, Peter Taylor, Percy Dormer, George Brodie; Agents-in*Charge Eric Stull and Dennis Mann; Agents, Jim Baudouin, Harry Berry, Bill Smithers, Fraser Millar, Jim Allen, George Weller, Cliff Campbell, Derrick Peacock; Commissary Handlers-in-Charge, Bob Park and David Kinnell; Station Manager, G. G. Minorgan; Accountant Arthur Boniface; Stockkeeper. Jim Galt; Station Stenographer, Geraldine Ahern; Rolls-Royce Representative, Bill Turner.
As less than one year ago we had a staff of two, you may well appreciate the expansion that took place during 1947. The above article was submitted by Gil Minorgan and concludes Effective February 1st, 1948, the writer will be established in Prestwick, a former haunt, and take the opportunity to welcome J. A. Ross, formerly at Prestwick. as the new Station Manager.
Issued March 1955. For the Vickers Viscount aficionado -
Ode to The Viscount
V is for Vickers who built our new planes.
I is the interest which this aircraft gains.
S stands for speed and that turboprop drive.
C means the comfort which you will derive.
O is the order for 22 of these "babies".
U is for upbringing, as gentile as daises.
N stands for notoriety which daily mounts.
T is tremendous TCA's fleet of VISCOUNTS
 This cartoon reprinted from Punch magazine with this comment - "They're only breaking these blasted records so they can do us out of complementary meals"
 Here are two photos of the Viscount production line.
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Issue dated - March 1974
Some items gleaned from the "Horizon" magazines.
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 Responsible for the company's bilingual program is the Bilingual Development group consisting of...
from the left: Alisson Giguere, Flight Attendant on special assignment at the Jonquiere school; Helene Rocheleau, Assistant Language Training Coordinator; Louise Lanctot, Receptionist/Typist; Johanne de Villiers, Translation and Terminology Coordinator; Dominique Pace, Language Training and Testing Coordinator and Lilian Rayson Manager, Bilingual Development (seated). Missing is Sylvia DeHoog, Secretary.
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| Alan's Space - by Alan Rust |
The CBC National show called "The Gimli Glider: 30 Years Later" which I covered in last weeks newsletter can be seen by following this link if you missed the live broadcast last week. Good show!
The Birth of the Israeli Air Force - (submitted by Thomas Heald)
In 1948, a group of World War II pilots volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of "Machal" - volunteers from abroad - this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth; they also laid the groundwork for the Israeli Air Force.
Above and Beyond is their story. The first major feature-length documentary about the foreign airmen in the War of Independence, Above and Beyond brings together new interviews with pilots from the '48 War, as well as leading scholars and statesmen, including President Shimon Peres, to present an extraordinary, little-known tale with reverberations up to the present day. Below is a Sample Clip, the movie is still in production and is planned for release in 2014.
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| The birth of the Israeli Air Force |
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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 - June 1979
Items from the "CPAir NEWS" magazine -
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 They work like caged tigresses to make the Toronto district sales office function like a machine.
The hard-working ladies are Beverly Bourne. Diane Rackham. Maria Silva, Cora Baron and Heather McMillan.
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 Lionel Ross, regional manager, maintenance and engineering, chats with the Toronto Ops Centre ladies who are from left his girl Friday Claire Kerr answering the phone; Phyl Kenney, industrial relations; Judy Wye, in-flight; Linda O'Brien, flight operations; Rosemary Laycock and Nancy Koach of Purchasing & Stores.
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| 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.
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Paul Tyrkus tells us that the retirees coffee klatch held at Boundary Bay Airport on the first Wednesday of each month is not a Pionairs event, but we mentioned it in NetLetter nr 1263.
Paul tells us - It's basically a 09:00 start but some start coming on around 08:30. They have the tables all in one long line, so as everybody lives in dif. areas, they straddle in until about 09:30. It is not a Pionairs event but a lot of them belong to it. This has been going on for probably 25 yrs. .... Paul
In NetLetter nr 1263, the photo of the two playing hostess, the "Between Ourselves" magazine had an incorrect name for Christine. John Cannemeyer tells us the names you showed under the picture of the passenger agents " Carol Thon and Christine Biberstelner" should read "Christine Biebersteiner".
Regards John Cannemeyer
Retired Cust. Serv. Supervisor at YYZ.
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| Seabee Photo |
Paul Gauthier has sent us this memory of his first flight -
As for my first flight, I did it on a Seabee, registration CF-GAA out of he Montreal Flying Club at Cartierville airport in August 1955, where a school friend and I, both interested in planes, used to go almost every weekend -there was no security then, we started helping the owner of this aircraft with some work he was doing, as much as two 13-year olds could and when he was finished, he offered us a flight on his aircraft and we even skimmed the waters of Rivière des Milles Iles in Montréal. Unfortunately, I have lost the picture of this aircraft. (photo shown is typical Seabee)
The owner of the aircraft was an Air Canada mechanic and his last name was Gauthier (no relation).
My friend got his pilot license at the age of 17. We used to go flying almost every weekend on Cessna 150, 170, 172, 180 and 182; he later became a Trappist monk; as for me, after working three and one half years as a ground agent for Air France - and six months at BOAC- at Dorval airport, I was hired as a flight attendant by Nordair in May 1968 and retired on March 31, 2007. What wonderful memories I still have. All the best.
Paul Gauthier
retired Service Director, Toronto
Note from Alan - it looks like CF-GAA is now being rebuilt in Florida. It's new registration is N9948C. You can find the info by clicking here. I also worked for Nordair in 1973 and we also had a Seabee at Peninsular Air Service when I worked there around 1969 - 1972. Can't remember the registration though.
 The photo of CF-TJB in NetLetter nr 1263 implying that it was being made ready for its final flight was not quite correct. Paul Gauthier sends his observation - in regards to the photos of AC's DC-8 CF-TJB preparing for it's last flight; the picture is dated June 1977, but there is snow on the ground! Wrong date or where was the picture taken?
Ken Pickford points out that it can't possibly be correct based on the original TCA livery. I expect that photo dates from around 1960 soon after it was delivered. Jim found a few later photos of CF-TJB, as it would have looked when retired.
Kenneth Collie recalls the dialogue prior to his first flight!!!!!
In an earlier Netletter you solicited stories of our first plane rides and I have followed these notes with interest. Here is my story of my first plane ride;
Silver wings outlined against the pale blue of the cloudless winter sky, Jacobs 225 L-4MB Radial engine purring contentedly, the little biplane cruised smoothly along in the calm minus twelve degree air over snow covered Northern Saskatchewan.
CF-BBQ's pilot, George Greening, smiled in amusement as he recalled his argument with the doctor at the Meadow Lake hospital just an hour or so earlier. The argument was about the dangers of flying as it pertained to a twenty-one day old baby boy. The doctor argued that the high attitude in flying could do serious harm to such a young child.
George pointing out that babies are born in Mexico City every day, and that city was situated at 10,000 feet above sea level. The doctor replied that they were foreigners and it was different. "Well, what about Denver, Colorado at five thousand feet, or Calgary, Alberta at three thousand six hundred feet?"
"Yea, OK but don't you dare fly above one thousand feet."
"There are hills en route that top sixteen hundred and seventy feet."
"OK, but three thousand feet is the absolute limit." That was Dr. Valems's final word on the subject. George looked across at Mrs. Collie sitting in the passenger's seat beside him. "Well Evelyn, how's little Kenny doing? (then sardonically) Is he taking the extreme high altitude all right? Is the noise bothering his ears?" "Oh George, don't be silly, Kenny's just fine. That altitude thing was kind of funny though. Look at him, I don't think the noise bothers him at all. He's sleeping as contentedly as a little baby, ah - I guess he is a little baby."
I opened my eyes to have another look around and to check on George's flying skills. He was doing all right and still on course. "Who's this Kenny guy, and Evelyn? I see only the three of us in the plane. There is George, whom I had met only that morning, Mom, whom I had known for three weeks, although it seemed that we had known each other for months, and me. So who are they talking about? Oh, I think I get it. Evelyn is what other people call "Mom," and Kenny is probably what they call me, even though I saw the doctor write down my name as Kenneth David Collie, I suppose that would be quite a mouthful, so "Kenny" was fine for now. And I was not sleeping, I was just checking the inside of my eye lids."
Soon we landed at the village of Buffalo Narrows and George taxied the plane in as close as he could get to our family's two story log house, where I was bundled into a dog sled with my mother for a short trip up from the lake to the house. So at just twenty-one days old I had my first plane ride and my first dog sled ride.
Many years later in 1972, I renewed my acquaintance with George when we both worked for Norcanair in Prince Albert. George was no longer flying but couldn't bear to be away from his beloved planes so he worked as a mechanic. George Greening believed all his later years that as of December 21, 1941, I was the youngest child to fly in an airplane. George passed away a few years ago still convinced of this even though Guinness World Records people refused his claim, not because they could prove differently, but that they and George could not prove his claim conclusively.
Only a short time ago I found claims that a baby had been born in a plane somewhere over the state of Florida in 1929, and another airborne birth took place above The Pas, Manitoba in October of 1931. However there are no available records to show that a child as young as I was that day had ever been embarked into a plane. Therefore I will maintain George's claim that as of that day in 1941, I was the first.
A great video of the restored CF- BBQ can be seen below along with Jack Greening, George's brother. Jack passed away on April 15, 2011 at 88 years old. George died in 1990. The video was made in 2008.
Kenneth Collie
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| 1937 CF-BBQ Waco Bi-Plane (2008) |
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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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Extracted from the "TCA Flight Horizons" issued April 1953 and donated by Robert Arnold - Though Still Under Construction London Airport Will Welcome Travellers in High Style.
LONDON AIRPORT- aerial gateway to Britain and the rest of Europe... focal point of almost every important airline in the world, daily source of employment for 14,000 people, will be known as "Coronation Airport" during 1953. A major technical puzzle is the planning of permanent air transportation facilities. That when completed, all main buildings, airport offices. restaurants and shops will be situated in the centre of the network of six runways. They will be reached from the perimeter of the airport by an underground highway.
Hangars and maintenance buildings are located around the fringes of the airport. Selected in 1945, is only partially completed.
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Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker
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 Interline offer from Caesar Hotel Interline -
Bonnie Scotland 7 Day Glasgow to Edinburgh
Escorted Motor coach Tour from us$1529
Begins in Glasgow August 29. Scotland is THE place to be in late summer. The weather is perfect with just a bit of chill in the air in the highlands and the scenery is absolutely spectacular. Scotland and Great Britain have been high on our most popular destinations this summer. Check out the full itinerary and give us a call. Confirmed airfare can be added on.
Irelan d in Fall 4 City 5 Star Package with confirmed air and rental car from us$1099*
Travel select dates in October and November.
This price is less than the airfare alone has been this summer! What makes this irresistible are the outstanding 4 and 5 star accommodations throughout. Don't wait to book, seats are limited. www.airwayvacations.com
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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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 This cartoon is from the "PWA Flightlines" magazine issued July 1984 and submitted by Ron Barker.
Found in the "Parts & Pieces" magazine issued September 1987 -
REGULATIONS FOR OPERATION OF AIRCRAFT -- commencing January 1920
- Don't take the machine into the air unless you are satisfied it will fly .
- Never leave the ground with the motor leaking.
- Don't turn sharply when taxiing. Instead of turning sharp, have someone lift the tail around.
- In taking off, look at the ground and the air.
- Never get out of a machine with the motor running until the pilot relieving you can reach the controls.
- Pilots should carry hankies in a handy position to wipe off goggles.
- Riding on the steps, wings or tail of a machine is prohibited.
- In case the engine fails on takeoff, land straight ahead regardless of obstacles.
- No machine must taxi faster than a man can walk.
- Never run motor so that blast will blow on other machines.
- Learn to gauge altitude, especially on landing.
- If you see another machine near you, get out of the way.
- No two cadets should ever ride together in the machine.
- Do not trust altitude instruments.
- Before you begin a landing glide, see that no machines are under you.
- Hedge-hopping will not be tolerated.
- No spins on back or tail slides will be indulged in as they unnecessarily strain the machines .
- If flying against the wind and you wish to fly with the wind, don't make a sharp turn near the ground. You may crash.
- Motors have been known to stop during a long glide. If pilot wishes to use motor for landing, he shouldn't open throttle.
- Don't attempt to force machine onto ground with more than flying speed. The result is bouncing and ricocheting.
- Pilots will not wear spurs while flying.
- Do not use aeronautical gasoline in cars or motorcycles.
- You must not take off or land closer than 50 feet to the hangar.
- Never take a machine into the air until you are familiar with its controls and instruments.
- If an emergency occurs while flying, land as soon as possible.
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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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