The NetLetter
For Air Canada Retirees
(Part of the ACFamily Network)
November 4, 2013 - Issue 1279
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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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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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| Upcoming events- Compiled by Terry Baker |
 VICTORIA AND AREA PIONAIRS CHRISTMAS TURKEY BUFFET LUNCHEON
Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2013.
Time: Social at 11:30 a.m - 12:30 p.m.
Luncheon at 12:30 - 13:30 p.m.
Place: Gorge Vale Golf Club, 1005 Craigflower Road, Victoria BC
Menu: Hot Turkey Buffet.
Cost: $28.00 per person.
There will be Door Prizes and a 50/50 Draw.
Send your cheque to Marjorie Thorpe, 1769 Astra Road, Comox, BC V9M 4B6, payable to Air Canada Pionairs, no later than Nov. 15, 2013.
 The next meeting of the Montreal Chapter of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society will be attended by Lewis Poteet and Martin Stone, co-authors of a book on aviation slang, where they will describe their research.
The November 21st., meeting is at 365 St. Louis Ave. in Pointe Claire and starts at 11:00 a.m. 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 or see: www.cahs.ca/chapters/montreal
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| Star Alliance News |
 Air Canada voted Best North American Airline by Asia Pacific travel trade. The 24th Annual TTG Asia Travel Awards 2013 Ceremony & Gala Dinner was just held in Bangkok, Thailand, honouring the best of the best of Asia Pacific travel trade. Air Canada was voted Best North American Airline by the readers of the various TTG Asia publications! Singapore Airlines, Air China and Thai Airways International were also honoured with awards for Travel Hall of Fame, Best China Airline and Best South-East Asian Airline respectively.
 Last Flights For Longest Nonstop Routes
Singapore Airlines holds the distinction of flying the world's two longest nonstop flights, but that's about to change. On October 22nd, 2013, the airline flew its last nonstop to Los Angeles, which takes about 17 hours to fly 8,800 miles across the Pacific. The longest route, 9,500 miles to Newark, a 19-hour flight via the polar regions, will end November 25th, 2013. The airline is selling off its fleet of five long-range Airbus A340-500 four-engine aircraft that served the routes, as it upgrades to the more fuel- efficient new A350. The older airplanes are fitted with just 100 wide, fully reclining business-class seats, a configuration that was popular with travelers, even at a cost of $8,000 and up for the round trip. The non-stop routes, which have been operating since 2004, saved about five to six hours of travel time. Airbus has agreed to buy back the A340 airplanes as part of an order for new types from the airline, according to the CAPA Centre for Aviation. The type has not proved competitive on shorter routes with more fuel-efficient aircraft, according to CAPA. "The aircraft could end up with a government or VIP operator or be scrapped despite being less than 10 years old," CAPA said. |
| Air Canada News |
 Air Canada Rouge will offer Toronto-Barcelona from May 8 - Oct 19, 2014, Toronto-Dublin beginning May 1st 2014 and Montreal-Rome starting May 23rd thru Oct 19th 2014. Plans to begin Montreal-Las Vegas on March 13th 2014, following launch of Toronto-Las Vegas this October 2013 (767).
GTAA signed new 5-year commercial agreement with Air Canada to develop Toronto Pearson as a global hub. |
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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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 Sheila Stone found a couple of items while cleaning out and sent them to us. Here is an advertising folder c1962 which contained photos of six different aircraft in our fleet of the day.
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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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In NetLetter nr 1265, we printed some photos and articles extracted from "Between Ourselves" issued March 1955 for Viscount aficionados. Roger Slauenwhite has sent this information along regarding the original cost and the used price of our Viscounts.
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Issue dated - December 1944
Some items gleaned from the "Between Ourselves" magazines.
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 This plaque, which was presented annually by the Aviation Magazine for airline maintenance excellence, was awarded to T.C.A. in 1944. No company representative was able to attend the ceremony in Chicago. However, somehow, the plaque turned up and was hanging in the office of the Superintendent of Engineering and Maintenance at Winnipeg. (Anyone know where this is now? -eds) |
 To accompany the photo, Ted Moore had sent this report - On November 29th 1944, the T.C.A.R.A. held its Annual Fall Dance at the Roof Gardens of the Royal York Hotel. This was the BIG EVENT of the year. The largest crowd they had ever had at any TCA social function in Toronto turned out and had a wonderful time.
The responsibility for this might well be laid to the hard work put in by our social committee and its energetic chairman, Art Stapells. We had a serious competitive threat in the current showing of Ice Capades at the "Gardens," but despite this and some "heavy precip" weather, over 300 attended.
Sitting, left to right: Betty Rickert, Earl Johnson (president), Art Stapells and Ted Moore. Standing; Art Beck, Neil Hepburn, Dave Clake, Clare Moorhouse, Jack Scott and Jim Burritt.
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| Alan's Space - by Alan Rust |
 Oops! - Forgot a washerLuckily, no one was seriously injured in the incident below. The loss of the B737-800 aircraft by China Airlines was on August 20, 2007 at Naha Airport, Okinawa, Japan and was found to be the result of a washer left off of a slat downstop. See videos #1 for an explanation of what caused the incident and video #2 showing the resulting fire and loss of aircraft.
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| Slat Failure Animation |
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| Fire and Evacuation |
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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 - July 1982
Items from the "CPAir NEWS" magazine -
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 B-737 pilots were using a new log book to report mechanical faults for compilation in Orbit, CP Air's computerized maintenance system. About 200 pilots were briefed by Watt McGregor (right), technical instructor, publications and training over a period of two weeks as they reported for flights at Vancouver Ops Centre.
Pilots, from left, F/O Gordon Furgeson, Capt. Bill Brooke, F/O Garth Harrison, and Capt. Wolf Poepperl.
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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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Continuing the story of "The encounter over the Hudson" by Jim Griffith, started in NetLetter nr 1278 -
North Stars had no weather radar and lightening seen day or night signaled nearby thunderstorms. He was right to be concerned about thunderstorms they could swallow even a large airliner, chew it up and spit the bits out below.
"No! No!" I said, "it's a "Lockheed" lightning. You know; a P-38, a fighter plane."
"Where is it?" he asked worriedly, squirming, to try and see out my side window.
"Down at 9 o'clock... Oh wait a minute looks like he's sliding back to six o'clock." I casually replied.
Even I knew the six o'clock position was the favoured position for a fighter attack explaining why the Captain seemed a little edgy. He virtually had seven million bucks' cash in his back pocket for which he was personally and totally responsible. As for me, I hadn't considered the audacious risks criminals sometimes take for much less booty than we were carrying, including murder, to abscond with such an easily fenced commodity as gold. In other words, I was too dumb to be worried. He couldn't see it so asked again, "What's it doing now?"
"I can't see it anymore." Said I. "Call ATC and ask if there's any traffic in our area" he curtly ordered.
So I did. "New York Centre Trans Canada Charter 15 have you got anybody else around Albany?"
"Negative Trans Canada yours is the only target I'm painting in the Albany area. Turn right 30 degrees for radar identification." replied the controller.
No transponders in those good old days.
Following ATC's instructions the captain quickly cranked the cantankerous old bird into a 30 degree bank right turn which safely engulfed us in grey woolly cloud again making us invisible... or so we thought, but it got real dark and I knew we'd jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Suddenly... a bright flash and a simultaneous loud, "Whump!", followed closely by another flash "Whump!". The "Whumps" were loud enough to be heard over the clamorous din of the four Merlin engines. We were struck twice, not by canon fire from the Lockheed Lightning but by shafts of lightening from Thor, the god of thunder. So instead of being sky-jacked by a war-surplus WWII fighter we'd blundered into a thunderstorm.
For the thirty minutes of watching the captain heroically wrangling this cranky bucking bronco bouncing around in the violent air currents of the storm, I was silently praying that the restraining tarps were tough enough to make the bullion stay put. I had visions of 454, twenty seven and half pound gold bricks becoming misguided missiles ricocheting around the inside of the cabin.
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Finally we broke out into smooth air. I went back to check the cheese and was relieved to see nothing had stirred not, even a mouse. I couldn't wait to get on the ground and get this stuff off and head home but alas our troubles were not over.
 Upon arrival in marginal weather we were unloaded in the reverse of the procedure in YOW except this time the minders unlike the dowdily dressed Brinks guards were Wells Fargo Express Agents in smart fatigue jackets complete with Stetsons and carrying pearl-handled Colt 45's in open holsters. The only difference between these guys and the express riders of the old west was that these cowboys drove armored vans instead of stage coaches.
(Concluding in NetLetter nr 1280 - eds)
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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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 Val Frost (far left in photo) has sent us this appeal -
Just wondering if any of your readers would possibly have any photos of the Dorval Base, back in the '40's, when it was the HQ for the RAF Ferry Command.
TCA at the time volunteered its maintenance crews to work on servicing all of the bombers - everything from a little wee Hudson to a gigantic Lancaster - my father was one of these men. The Ferry Command was so busy training commercial pilots to fly bombers, and also training radio operators, weathermen, navigators and air traffic controllers, it forgot about the aircraft maintenance department for the bombers, and so... TCA came on board by handing the responsibility over to its aircraft mechanics.
It would be wonderful to have some snapshots from that era, and particularly of the mechanics actually working on the bombers at that time, if at all possible.
Val Frost (daughter of David Harry (Archie) Archibald (1916 - 1993) - Line Maintenance Dorval from 1940's onwards +25 yrs)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Val Frost did send in these photos: |
Dorval Airport in 1940. |
An assembly of Venturas, Mitchells and Liberator aircraft waiting to fly over to Britian on May 13th, 1942. |
An aerial view of Dorval airport during the summer of 1941. |
Hudsons and Mitchell B25 waiting at Dorval airport in 1941 to be ferried to Britain. |
Remember, the US had not entered the war in Europe, so the lease lend aircraft were delivered to ferry command after being pulled by horses over the US/Canada border. |
At Dorval in 1940, cats were encouraged to destroy rodents from damaging canvas. covered airframes. |
After reading the article in NetLetter nr 1277 regarding the Bomber Command clasp, Carol Stevens sent us this information - A family friend, Dave Edward, suggested I submit to you a brief outline of the process I went through to acquire a Bomber Command Bar for my late father.
Last week Veterans Affairs posthumously awarded my father, Frank Bond, his Bomber Command Bar. Frank Eugene Bond was Fl. Lieutenant of a Lancaster Bomber during WWII. He also flew the Lancaster as a Pathfinder. After the war, he enjoyed a long career with the airlines that included stints as Chief Pilot of the DC9, check pilot on various aircraft, and his eventual retirement on the L1011. He passed away on September 25, 1999.
In May, 2013, it was brought to my attention that Veterans Affairs was honoring the service of all bombers with a new Bomber Command Bar. I filled out the on-line application at this website: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/cmdp/bomber.
I indicated that my mother would appreciate receiving this award on Dad's behalf, and included her address and contact information. After months of hearing nothing about our application, I e-mailed Veterans Affairs. The next day, I received a reply that asked me to phone Veterans Affair with my inquiry, and I did. Their phone number is: 1-866-522-2122.
A very pleasant gentleman explained that they had only begun passing out the clasps in the past few weeks as there had been a delay waiting for the Minister to return from cross-country travels before the bars were distributed! Living veterans were given priority, and there was a back-log of applications, but he said my mother should be receiving the award in the mail shortly.
Just one week later, a FedEx parcel arrived at my mother's door. It included the Bomber Command Bar on a ribbon, directions on how to mount the bar on the CVSM, and a lovely letter expressing gratitude on behalf of our country for her loved ones efforts. She was very touched by the sentiments and appreciates the acknowledgement.
I wish my father was alive to receive this well earned award, but am thankful that our country is taking the time and effort to extend the award to surviving spouses and family members. I encourage all AC retirees who are veterans or family members of vets who have died, to apply for the Bomber Command Bar. The process is easy and rewarding.
Sincerely, Carol Stevens
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Terry's Trivia and Travel Tips - by Terry Baker
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For the past few years, UK nationals residing in Canada had to obtain or renew their British Passport through a foreign country (US) that doesn't even belong to the Commonwealth. Now the policy has been changed and applications must now be sent to England.
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Renew or replace your adult passport
You can renew or replace your passport at any time. It costs £72.50 by post or £81.25 through the Post Office's Passport Check & Send service. Time left on an existing passport is added to your new one - up to a maximum of 9 months.
You can get or renew a British passport for free if you're a British national and were born on or before 2 September 1929.
Full details at https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports.
 Interline rates offered by Perx -
Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific
Crystal Cruises - Crystal Symphony
14-night Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific - Auckland to Sydney
* Feb 02, 2014 - Out/ Bal/ Dlx $ 3150/ 9210/ 15105 [Tauranga, Wellington, Lyttleton, Dunedin, Milford Sound, Dusky & Doubtful Sounds, Tasman Sea, Hobart, Bass Strait, Melbourne]
Princess Cruises - Diamond Princess
12-night Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific - Sydney to Auckland
* Jan 28, In/ Out/ Bal/ Dlx $ 799/ 899/ 1599/ 4999
[Melbourne, Hobart, Fiordland National Park, Dunedin, Akaroa, Tauranga] or 12-night Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific - Auckland to Sydney
* Feb 09, In/ Out/ Bal/ Dlx $ 799/ 899/ 1599/ 3239
[Tauranga, Akaroa, Dunedin, Fiordland National Park, Hobart, Melbourne]
Seabourn Cruise Line - Seabourn Odyssey
18-night Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific - Sydney to Auckland
* Dec 23, Out/ Bal/ Dlx $ 3600/ 8899/ 16999
[Melbourne, Hobart, Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park, Oban, Port Chalmers, Timaru, Akaroa, Wellington, Picton, Queen Charlotte Sound, Kaikoura, Tauranga]
Silversea Cruises - Silver Shadow
15-night Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific - Sydney to Auckland
* Dec 20, Out/ Bal/ Dlx $ 3750/ 4150/ 14750
[Melbourne, Burnie, Milford & Dusky Sound, Stewart Island, Port Chalmers, Akaroa, Picton, Tauranga, Bay of Islands]
All rates listed are per person ($USD). For cruises, government taxes & fees are additional. All rates listed are for new bookings only. Proof of employment and/or relationship to employee is required.
GET YOUR PERX ON by calling us @ 800-200-7170. We're here M-F 8 to 8; Sat 9 t o5; Sun 9 to 2 (All Central Time) or 24/7 http://www.perx.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 was from the local "Nanaimo Daily News" - October 12th, 2013.
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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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