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Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter Since 1995

Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Since 1995

The NetLetter #1267

The NetLetter

For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)

 

August 14, 2013 - Issue 1267
 
First Issue published in October 1995!
(over 5,400 subscribers)
In This Issue
TCA/Air Canada People Gallery
Women in Aviation
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
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Greetings!
Terry Baker
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!

The Netletter

Terry Baker and the NetLetter Team

Air Canada News
Air CanadaAir Canada is launching weekly non-stop flights between Toronto and Vail, Colorado served by nearby Eagle County Regional Airport in time for the 2013-14 winter ski season. Our new seasonal Saturday service to Vail begins December 14, 2013 until April 5, 2014, with 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Weekly seasonal flights between Halifax and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, start December 14, 2013 and run until end of April, 2014. We will operate flights on Saturdays using 97-seat Embraer E190 aircraft.

Women in Aviation - Compiled by Terry Baker

Pilatus plans Earhart-inspired global flight.
We first heard of Amelia Rose Earhart - whose parents named her after a distant, and famous, relative - a few years ago, when she flew across the country in a Cirrus, re-tracing a famous flight by the original Amelia. This week at EAA AirVenture, Earhart announced that she plans to circle the globe in a Pilatus PC-12 NG, tracing (to some degree) the famous last flight of her namesake. In the last few years, Earhart, who works as a TV news announcer in Denver, has started the Fly With Amelia Foundation to provide flight scholarships to young women and offer programs to teach people about aviation and inspire them to fly. The round-the-world flight, sponsored by Pilatus and Jeppesen, is planned for June 2014.

Upcoming Events - Compiled by Terry Baker

header
Don't forget the 10th Annual Dreams Take Flight Golf Tournament on August 28th, 2013 at the Royal Ontario Golf Club. To join please contact: Josie Canning (905) 457-1847 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. In the package, it is stated that registrations are due June 21 and it should read August 21.


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 - July 1972
Some items gleaned from the "Between Ourselves" magazines.
An aerial view of the Air Canada complex at Dorval in 1972.
 
Issue dated - August 1969
Traffic ground to a screeching halt along Montreal's fashionable Sherbrooke Street
as the photographer assembled this group of 170 graduating stewardesses for a "class photo op" of the largest group of trainees ever assembled by the company at that time. (Sorry no identifications available - eds)


 These three photos appeared in the "Parts & Pieces" magazine issued August 1987 for the Stores people. (However, there were no identifications - anyone want to try - eds)

 pp-2 
pp3
Alan's Space - by Alan Rust
Alan's SpaceAlan is on vacation!
 
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 - August 1989
Located in the "Info Canadi>n" magazine -
Air BC suspended service to Whitehorse effective September 6th, as the route is deemed to be unprofitable. Canadian has been offering service since 1937 .
 
Last Ice Patrol
The following story was written on board Electra CG-NDZ during the seven and a quarter hour flight from lnuvik to Montreal and submitted by Denis Green, avionics mechanic, Montreal.

The arrival at Dorval of Lockheed Electra CG-NDZ from Inuvik, July 31, marked the end of the use of propeller driven aircraft by Canadian Airlines International and seventeen years of ice patrol operation, mainly through its predecessor airline Nordair. On the same day, Electra NAY also ended its service with Canadian and began a new career with Inter-Canadien on ice patrol service based in Iqaluit, NWT.

While NDZ ferried from Inuvik to Montreal, the navigator informed the crew that after 2,070 contract flights, NDZ had flown more than seven million kilometres and accumulated approximately 17,000 hours. Beginning in November 1972, the two Electra's operated in the remotest regions of the country. Staff from the Atmospheric and Environment Service Ministry of Environment (AES), who contracted the aircraft, have plotted the movement of ice flows and icebergs, FAXing maps to commercial shipping and to Canada's Coast Guard for years, long before FAX machines became popular. Recently activity has been directed towards supporting offshore oil exploration.

For the Canadian Airlines employees who shared in the operation, it has been both challenging and rewarding. Flying for an average eight hours, at seven to ten thousand feet, they have seen the highlights of Canada's North pass the Electra's large windows and observation bubbles. The glaciers of Ellesmere and Bylot Islands and the multitude of icebergs along the Atlantic seaboard have been the subject of countless photographs. During tactical support of ships isolated hundreds of miles from the nearest settlements, often trapped in ice, excitement could be felt on board the aircraft as it swept by the vessel at five hundred feet altitude, providing operational support. Not insignificantly, flying in the Arctic has symbolized Canadian sovereignty, the flag being vividly displayed on the side of the aircraft.

Participation in numerous scientific projects including coordination with the American space shuttle to compare remote sensing techniques, added an international flavour to some flights. During one patrol a downed aircraft was found via its emergency location transmission, north-west of Eureka, four hundred miles from the search area.

Everyone involved with the ice patrol operation has had a unique sense of being responsible for its success. Working in conditions varying from extreme cold to balmy twenty-four hour Arctic days, flight and maintenance personnel worked together to meet the requirements of AES. The powerful Electra's, manufactured in the late fifties, have enabled thousands of patrols to be flown safely and comfortably using the latest navigation equipment. While change has placed the aircraft operation with a Canadian

Partner, some things do not change - the annual return of ice during the long winter months and its disappearance during the few weeks of summer in Canada's North will continue in regular cycles.

Issue dated - December 1982
From the "PWA Flightlines" magazine -
hanger B767 Maintenance Centre opens officially November 23rd, 1982 in Calgary.






PWA opened an office in Brandon to support the permanent Calgary-Brandon-Toronto route which began as a two year experiment on June 1st 1980. In the photo From left to right are: ground handler Wrey Gilbert, agents Sherri Scott Wilton, and Customer Service Manager Al Gee, reviewing the application with Pierre Roy and Ernie Caron. (The identifications are rather middled for the people at nr 2 & 3 sharing the name Sherri Scot Wilton - eds)

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.




Kenneth Collie  found the story written by Ken Bjorge about the invincible Douglas DC-3 very interesting and well written. I might add that with all the noteworthy items listed he missed that more people have jumped out of DC-3's than any other plane. The DC-3 also has the best survival rate of any vintage plane built with something like 23% of all that were built still in service. The story reminded me of one of my favorite DC-3 stories; Tail Wheel Tale.

CF-TAT was late returning home. The DC-3 had left in the morning to do the Transair "Milk Run" from Churchill to Coral Harbour with stops both up and back at Eskimo Point, Rankin Inlet and Chesterfield Inlet. We had to put the plane to bed before we could go home for the night. The weather was turning ugly in Churchill; more the norm than unusual for this time of year, just before freeze-up. The ceiling had been obscured all day and was now getting lower, a bank of fog was rolling in from the Hudson Bay.  

Finally, overhead we could hear the music of the two Twin-radial Pratt and Whitney R-1830's. Were they overflying Churchill and heading for Thompson? No, soon we could hear the plane heading back north and then in a couple more minutes we could hear those big engines overhead again, but this time not quite so high. About three minutes later, we heard the DC-3 approaching once more at a much lower altitude; we just got a glimpse of her like a shadow in the clouds and could barely make out the landing lights perhaps about 200 feet overhead. One more try.

And then at long last, through the mist and fog we could see the landing lights and the beacon lights of TAT as she lined up between the runway lights of the 12000 foot asphalt runway of YYQ. At long last we would be able to go home for supper and bed. But NO!  The engines suddenly spooled up to full power, the propellers in full-fine pitch biting into the air as the old plane climbed slowly back into the murk.

Another long wait that seemed like an hour but was probably only five or six minutes, the landing lights and beacon appeared through the haze over the runway and the old faithful settled to the earth and taxied into the terminal area and parked, the engines slowed and stopped, a passenger ramp was placed up to the passenger door, wheel chalks put in place, and the external power plugged in. The flight was finished and we were almost done for the day. As soon as the passengers had disembarked and the baggage was off loaded we, Johnny and I made our way into the plane where we encountered a giggling flight attendant, a laughing first office and a red faced captain. "So what was that all about? Why the overshoot? Was there something on the runway?" More giggles, a loud guffaw, a knee slapping burst of laughter, and from the captain, "No it was nothing like that, it was, ah, just nothing."
Finally the story emerged: (to be continued in NetLetter nr 1268 - eds)


Jack Stephens responded to the information in NetLetter nr 1266 by Alan Evans regarding Camp Conolz;
Just received information from Norman Wells, that the former U.S. Army Canol Camp across from N. Wells, was
indeed leveled by Imperial Oil in 1977. They left a few Quonset Huts, and the post office building. The nose hangar was demolished too. I am so pleased I had the opportunity to visit the camp two years earlier and take photos. As a follow up to the barges used to ship material for the A bomb, S.R. Gage in his book, "A Walk On The Canol Road" writes: "Not all the barges that unloaded at Norman Wells and Camp Canol made the trip south empty. Some stopped to pick up loads of a black ore that had been mined at the government's Eldorado property on Great Bear Lake. The cargo was pitchblende, carried out on the Canol supply route and refined into pure uranium 235 for the Manhattan Project. The ore from Great Bear went to the University of Chicago's reactor, where the atomic bomb was being developed. Canol played an unexpected part in the birth of the nuclear age."
Here is Jack Stephens 
beside abandoned 1944, U.S. Army trucks at Camp.





  


John Roger sent us this regarding NetLetter nr 1265 - The story from Paul Gauther's first flight. The fellow he is talking about is J. P. Gauthier who flew the Seabee for many years out of his home where he had a hanger on the water in Two Mountains. I worked with him and heard all the stories about his experiences flying the aircraft. Some of them were good, some not so good. Close calls on some to say the least. He also said his friend became a Trappist Monk. My father used to sell cattle to the monks in Oka and I, as a young boy used to go with him when he went to see the head monk. They had quite a set up in Oka where the famous Oka cheese came from. The monastery is now closed but there is still a cheese factory there. Brings back lots of memories.
John

Adrien Vallieres sends this information: That Trans-Canada Air Line mechanic Seabee owners name was Jean Paul Gauthier. Over the years he reworked a number of Seabees, and his friends used to call him "Seabee Gauthier". He passed away a few years ago. Air Canada retiree, Adrien Vallieres

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!

Jim Griffith is seeking some help here: I am doing a little research on a short story I'm writing about the transport of Gold Bullion and came across a story about the Great Gold Heist in Winnipeg in 1966. The Free Press story mentioned that 4 robbers had stolen the bullion right off the plane dressed in TCA uniforms. The Gold had come in from Red Lake Ontario and was meant to be shipped to OW by TCA. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone on the NetLetter remembers any of the details. Jim GThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Please copy This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. any replies - eds)  

 

Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker

Terry BakerHerman Kuipers  has sent us this:
Ya Gotta See It Thru.....
Check out the below video.  If you've ever flown on Ryanair (a budget priced Irish airline that flies throughout Europe) you'll really appreciate this. 

It's fighting back as only the Irish can do it!  And it's very funny too.

 

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.

cartoon

This cartoon, by the Lockheed Aircraft Corp, was found in the "Between Ourselves" issued January 1954.  

 


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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