We are very happy to introduce a new sponsor for the NetLetter, "Explore China Tour".
Presenting the ultimate in China touring adventures, vacation opportunities and accommodations from Explore China Tour, exclusively for ALL airline employees, dependents, spouses, parents of employees, retirees, families, partners and friends
Upcoming Tours:
- The Spellbinding Cities - Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi = 10 days
- The Past against the Contemporary - Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Suzhou - 10 days
for more information.
Please read what Harry Sulley had to say after a recent trip to China. Harry is an Air Canada retiree and operates the Airlines Travel Club in YOW.
BEIJING, ZIAN, SHANGHAI, SOZHOU & HONG KONG
NOVEMBER 2007
We finally returned from our extended tour of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China. What a tour!! What a country!! Although we were not prepared for the millions of people in those cities we were blown away by the hospitality, culture, beauty and, yes - the shopping... It gives a whole new meaning to "Shop 'till you drop!!"
We flew into Beijing November 8th. and were immediately met at the airport by our hosts from Explore China Tour after which we proceeded to our hotel, checked in and took a well deserved rest before savoring the night life and fantastic shopping of this amazing city of fifteen million people.
The first few days were spent sampling the sumptuous foods of China, such as the Peking Duck at the famous 'Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant'. (Did you know that the duck must be roasted in a doorless oven, using non-smoky hardwood fuel from Chinese date, peach or pear trees to impart a subtle fruity flavor to the skin, and that the chef at your table must carve the duck to exactly 100 slices of meat which you wrap in a small wheat wrapping with vegetables, dipped in a special sauce (delicious)?? The highlight of our Restaurant hopping was a visit to a Tibetan restaurant, where we experienced traditional Tibetan foods and enjoy a wonderful 'folk' type floor show.
The fact that we arrived a few days earlier than the others allowed us an excellent opportunity to view several fine hotels (one of which we will be using on future tours in April and November 2008.) I settled on the 'Tiantan Hotel', a lovely 4-star in the centre of downtown Beijing, adjacent to the 'Temple of Heaven', directly opposite the 'Pearl Market' and only about a 10 minute walk from 'Tiananman Square', the Summer Palace and the 'Forbidden City'.
Our next adventure was a visit to the magnificent 'Great wall of China'. 'Magnificence' aptly describes this awesome site which stretches from east to west, winding over mountains, across grasslands and through deserts in numerous twists and turns. Spanning a total of 5,600 kilometers, it starts from the banks of the Yalu River in the east and meanders toward the Qilian and Tianshan mountains in the west. Its gigantic proportions of construction and long history have brought it the reputation as 'one of the world's seven wonders' in medieval times. American astronaut, Neil Armstrong notes that he could see it clearly, even from Space!
The following days were spent visiting the 'Hutongs' where we were transported by rickshaw and enjoyed more of the Chinese cuisine with the 'real' people. Then, it was off to Zian by train to see another spectacular site - the 'Terra Cotta Warriors'-wow!!
We finally took the overnight train to the 'City of Lights, - Shanghai, where we enjoyed a most beautiful river cruise complete with a live band. What an, exciting, vibrant, city!!
Next day was spent visiting the lovely city of Suzhou, which has been described as a "Paradise, on earth". We took a boat through the canals by night with just lanterns guiding the way. Suzhou reminded us all of the canals of Venice, only more beautiful. Before leaving, we couldn't resist a visit to the Silk factories of Suzhou, learning how silk was actually made, and purchasing some beautiful silk duvets and covers on site.
The remainder of our trip went by so quickly we were soon on a flight heading for Hong Kong and back home. I am truly looking forward to our return visit to this amazing country and hope many of you will join us on our 'Discover Beijing' tour in April and/or a more extensive tour, our 'Modern China' (10 day tour) in the fall of 2008 (to do your Christmas shopping, of course)!! Remember our motto, "Fly, while you still have wings".
Air Canada News
Starting May 1, 2008, Air Canada, through its regional affiliate Jazz, will add non-stop flights between Ottawa and four new markets:- Ottawa-Washington (National Airport) - Ottawa-Saskatoon - Ottawa-Thunder Bay - Ottawa-Charlottetown In addition to these flights, Air Canada will also launch additional service involving the following cities: - Calgary-Chicago - Toronto-Austin, Texas - Toronto-Richmond The Gimli Glider retires to the desert - On Thursday, January 24th, fin 604, the Boeing 767-200 better known as the Gimli Glider, undertook its final voyage from Montreal to Mojave Airport (MHV) before it is retired to the desert. Employees and retirees were invited to say goodbye to the aircraft which has now become part of Canadian aviation history. Fin 604 departed as flight AC7067, at 9 a.m. from the Montreal Line Maintenance hangar - Air Canada Base, Captain Robert Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal, the flight crew who landed the aircraft to safety in Gimli on July 23, 1983 were expected to be on hand for the aircraft's departure.
"Gimli Glider" article in pdf format (click on image) Wikipedia Article on the event which goes into a lot of detail and also contains some very good links at the bottom. An amusing side-note to the Gimli story is that after Flight 143 had landed safely, a group of Air Canada mechanics were dispatched to drive down and begin effecting repair. They piled into a van with all their tools. They reportedly ran out of fuel en-route, finding themselves stranded somewhere in the backwoods of Manitoba. |
Tetraphobia
There's an unusual discussion going on in the Forums of the ACFamily Network that I found intersting and thought I'd share with you. I don't think that most people have heard of the term "tetraphobia", I hadn't until recently. Tetraphobia is an aversion or fear of the number 4. Well, it seems that all this talk about aircraft 604 in the last few weeks (better known as the Gimli Glider) brought forth a post by one of our members on the ACFamily Network. As the "thread" evolved it became apparent that there were quite a number of aircraft that had been involved in "incidents" that had the number 4 in their registration. Here is the list so far... 774 - B-707 PWA crash Edmonton 384 - C-130 PWA crash Africa 734 - B-737 PWA crash Cranbrook 754 - B-737 PWA Burned after engine failure on T/O Calgary 744 - B-737 PWA off runway Kelowna 724 - AC DC9, burned in hangar Montreal 604 - B-767 AC Gimli Glider 904 - DC-10 CAIL off the runway Vancouver 204 - A-310 Ex CAIL/ DND crashed into building Vancouver 104 - RJ gear collapse Jazz Do you have any others to add? If you do, we're waiting 4 your response...
Note 2: My house number ends in 4 and there is 2 "4's" in my phone number. (I don't own a 4X4 though) |
TCA/AC Events & People Gallery
Jan Wegman sends us this information - Subject: Last Vanguard to Jamaica NetLetter nr 1006 - I had a look at the picture to see if I could identify any of the crew as they must have been yyz base crew. No names, however I noted that the crew consisted of 7 that is seven folks, fa,s and 2 incharges which makes a 9 inflight crew.!!. How lucky we were, later we had a crew of 9 on a 747. Where did we put them all to work? FC was in the end of the Aircraft one step up from the Galley. The forward crew had to sit under the galley units inside the galley! Part of our ART training consisted of recognizing a "run away" prop. I bet there are still a few ex FAs that can recite the identifying signals of a "run away" prop. Lets hear it Eh. Jan Wegman Musings from the "Horizons" magazine - Issue nr 621 May 1983 - Pictured are the Vancouver retirees - then and now . Pictured the retirement party for Billie Houseman, who retired after 38 years. Her colleagues arranged a group parade wearing the different uniforms. Issue nr 626 Aug 1983 - The La Guardia terminal during the 1940's Staff at Charlottetown in 1983 |
Canadi>n/CPAir/PWA, Wardair, etc. Events & People
May 1984 - CPAir closes Flight Attendant base in Montreal and moved 85 flight attendants to YYZ and YVR. Don Saunders sends us these pictures - Perhaps the enclosed picture would be of some interest for the Netletter ongoing histories of the various constituent airlines. A picture of three of Wardair's B747's at Gatwick Airport, London. The airline had five B747's during the 1980's. C-FDJC, C-FFUN and C-FTOB (an ex AC aircraft) were 747-100's powered by JT9D-7 Pratt and Whitney engines. C-GXRA and C-GXRD were 747-200's powered by GE CF6 engines. Capt. Don Saunders, retired. Note: (CF-TOB with Wardair had a varied life - 18/03/1971 Air Canada Fin 302 CF-TOB sold to GPA in May 1985 and the following airlines operated this aircraft - Iberia, MEA , Olympic Airways, Egyptair, Nigeria Airways, Wardair Canada Federal Express , Nationair, Air Atlanta Icelandic, Saudia, ATASCO Last flown by Atlantic Icelantic as TF-ABR. Broken up Marana Jan 2001 - eds) Dawn Shannon sends along this memory - Subject: RE: The NetLetter #1006 Your piece about the last flight of the CPA Convair 240 brought back some memories for me. Prior to joining TCA - I was a flight attendant with CPA. That was in 1961. I was based in Edmonton. There were only three crews in YEG and our schedule was to fly every 3rd day. Our duty day consisted of two round trips per day - Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Fort St. John. If my memory serves me correctly - on the morning flight we had to connect with a DC6B flight which was going to Whitehorse. On the afternoon flight, we had to connect with same a/c which was flying from Whitehorse to Vancouver. We often had to wait in Fort St. John because there were always passengers connecting. Our passengers were predominantly male. We had a lot of men coming back from duty on the DEW Line (Distance Early Warning System for those who don't know - it was a very important part of North America's defense against attack k from the Russians). We'd also had men from the mining and lumbercamps! Also, because Edmonton was where most medical emergencies were sent, we often had stretchers, babies in incubators etc.. We never knew what to expect! One of the most memorable for me was bringing a bad burn victim out. He was not expected to live. Sometime later I had a passenger ask me if I had worked a flight with a bad burn victim on such and such a date. When I said yes, he said "Well, I'm that person - I made it"! The crew consisted of Capt, F/O, F/A and an engineer - the engineer travelled in overalls because he could be called on to do many different things to the a/c if the need arose. The other two f/a's based in YEG were identical twin sisters. That caused a lot of confusion! I believe their first names were Diane and Shirley, but, I can't remember their last names. I thought you might find this interesting. I left YEG and CPA early in 1962 and joined TCA on May 21, 1962. I retired on January1, 2001! p.s. I just thought about an incident you might find interesting. I don't remember the date but it was the winter of 1962 not long before I left CPA. Shortly after we landed in Grande Prairie the a/c did a funny sort of turn. The landing gear on one side had collapsed and we ended up coming to rest in a snow bank. As I recall, we evacuated everybody with no injuries sustained. Of course, we had to spend that night in Grande Prairie and we went to a local dance where we were treated as celebrities!! I enjoy your letters - particularly the "old" stuff and Terry's travel tips. Thanks for all your hard work. Sincerely, Dawn Shannon In 1965 Air Canada and Canadi>n Pacific Air Lines were in close cooperation at YVR. Shown in a DC-8 engine intake is Ann Kassoff (Air Canada) and Sarah Baker (CPA) |
Readers Feedback
Kerry Collins sets the record straight for us regarding the picture "A two-timer winner" -Subject: issue 629 excerpt (NetLetter nr 1006) F/O pictured name is misspelled as he is Jim Morwick. Kerry Howard Malone also spotted the same error - Subject: Re: The NetLetter #1006 Hi folks, A quick correction to a name given in a photo from Issue 629 of Horizons September 1983 as shown in your Netletter 1006 January 19th, 2008. The First Officer shown in the photo is Jim Morwick not Norwick as shown. I enjoy the nostalgia,. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Howard Malone, retired B747 Captain, Air Canada Note: (There doesn't seem to be any correction in any following "Between Ourselves", so this error has taken over 20 years to be spotted - eds). Further information from John Rodger regarding the Silver Broom - From the comment in NetLetter 1006, that the trophy had been lost, we asked if it had been lost, to which John responds -. No it was not lost Jamie Hays thinks someone connected with the Silver Boom stored it there after AC dropped the sponsership. Jamie being a curling buff took on the responsibility of taking care of the broom. It has three shipping cases and comes apart in three different sections. The actual broom is what they used to present and the stand where it rests have all the winners names on it. Then there is a base that had a motor in it that kept turning when on display. This one was a back up. The original did disappear but not due to AC. Jamie told me it went missing after a party in an apartment in Switzerland. Mr Taylor also told me the first time he made the presentation of the broom he was not President or Chairman. Yves Pratte one of our government appointed Chairman was in Switzerland for the Silver Broom but did not like doing public appearances so told Mr Taylor to come over a do the presentation for him. I left out the first time we got the Broom to show. It was in Kelowna when Bernie Danis ran the National Bonspiel 2004. There were two winners living in Kelowna as well as Jim Usler so there was quite a buzz around the rink. Attached is the photo we took when it was on display there. In the Kelowna Curling Club office I noticed a large poster of 25 years The Silver World Regina 1983 With all the images of the Winners of the Scottish Cup and the Silver Broom . Bernie and I tried to get a copy made of it but to no avail. We started asking around were the Artist's came from, we knew his name as it was on the poster William Argan. Jamie Hays found out he was from Regina. Bernie made a call and he got in touch with Mr Argian who happened to be in his eighties. He told Bernie to give him a couple of days and he would see if he had any around. A few days later he called back and told Bernie he had seven in his basement would we like them. Long story short we got them all and had some laminated and made a couple of presentations one to AC, another to Mr Taylor, one to Jamie Hays, Bernie and I kept one each. I also gave one to Fred Lamont YYC who donated a trophy for the Pionairs National Curling. So as you see we have had some fun with it. Long story Regards, John To complete this story, we have three photos - L to R - John Rodger and Bernie Danis Silver Broom poster for Regina 1983 - its 25th anniversary. And the Canadian champions in 1983 (Full story in "Horizons" nr 621 - eds) Terry Denny sends this follow up to the pictures published in NetLetter nr 1006 - As a faithful reader of the Netletter it was with some nostalgia that I perused the article and photo of the Silver Broom staff circa 1978. The photo was taken in Winnipeg during the 1978 World Curling Championships and the names of the individuals (with titles as accurate as my old memory will allow) are listed below: Left to right back row Kneeling in front L to R - Ted Morris, Manager, Special Projects; Jim Ursel, Administrative Manager, Finance I was saddened to learn from the article of the recent passing of Doug Maxwell who was the point man for the planning, administration and operation of the Silver Broom from 1967 until 1980 and who was one of the driving forces behind curling in Canada for many years. Keep up the good work as it is much appreciated. Terry Denny |
Terry's Travel Tips
Subject: Alamo Car Rental A word of advice re Alamo Car Rental. Just back from holiday in Florida and unfortunately experienced "Bait and Switch" tactics by Alamo. We were a family of six promised a 7 passenger GMC Envoy XL capable of handling 4 large bags and 2 medium bags or similar (the Bait). On arrival Alamo claimed they only had a jeep vehicle similar, which would barely hold 1 bag. Alamo insisted the jeep was similar and proceeded to sell an upgrade (the Switch) to the tune of $200.00 additional suggesting "take it or leave it". In addition, Alamo charges $10.00 per day for an additional driver where other Rental Agencies charge $10.00 but a maximum of $50.00 regardless of rental duration. Conrad Karsen < PEI Some travel deals which might interest you - ALASKA May 23 ~ 7 Night Alaska Northbound ~ Radiance of the Seas Vancouver, Cruise Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Cruise Hubbard Glacier, Seward Inside $569 May 23 & 30 ~ 7 Night Alaska Sawyer Glacier ~ Rhapsody of the Seas Seattle, At Sea, Juneau, Skagway, Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Prince Rupert, Cruise Inside Passage, Seattle May 23: Inside $549 May 30: Inside $559 May 30 ~ 7 Night Alaska Southbound ~ Radiance of the Seas Seward, Cruise Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan, Cruise Inside Passage Vancouver Inside $499, Oceanview $749, Balcony $1249 HAWAII May 3 ~ 10 Night Westbound Hawaii ~ Radiance of the Seas Ensenada, At Sea, Lahaina (Maui - Overnight), Kailua Kona, Evening Cruise of Mount Kilauea, Hilo, Honolulu Inside $699, Oceanview $899, Balcony $1299, Junior Suite $1999, Grand Suite $2599 May 13 ~ 10 Night Eastbound Hawaii ~ Radiance of the Seas Honolulu (Oahu), Nawiliwili (Kauai), Lahaina (Maui), Kailua Kona, Evening Cruise of Mount Kilauea, Hilo, At Sea, Vancouver Inside $1079, Oceanview $1199, Balcony $1549 Usual terms & conditions apply, including these are all per person - based upon at least two in cabin, USA funds, government fees & handling & service charges (none to us) are additional. Prices & availability are NOT guaranteed to last, and can and do change fast and without notice. However, your price is guaranteed once you book & pay. JAME F. C. ROSE - YOUR Cruise Expert e-mail: web site: http://members.shaw.ca/jamesrose information: (204) 889-3885 fax: (204) 889-3885 reservation: (204) 889-3885 & (800) 414-8091 |