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MTU Maintenance Canada Reaches Milestone MTU Maintenance Canada has just celebrated its 20th anniversary. (Source: mro-network.com Aug 20/18) |
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CP Air to buy CP Hotels from "Horizons" magazine, November 1983. Canada Pacific Air Lines will buy Canadian Pacific Hotels of Toronto from Canadian Pacific Enterprises for $125 million before the end of the year. Dan Colussy, President of CP Air, has stated that this company was one of the several potential buyers of the chain of 16 Canadian and six international hotels which includes hotel restaurants and airline catering services. Colussy said this move signals recognition that the hotel and airline businesses are closely related. The companies will conduct joint marketing and promotion in the future. The hotel chain has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of CP Enterprises since 1963. |
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Lockheed Lodestar CF-CPA. Our Lockheed 18 Lodestar was one of those slated to join the Dutch East Indies Air Force in Java in 1940 where it was to have been given the serial number LT-926. However, when the Japanese overran Java, the Lodestar was diverted (seized, might be a better term) by the U.S. Government to the Army Air Corps as a C-60-LO and given the serial number 42-108787. The Army Air Corps never used the plane and released it to Canadian Pacific Air Lines in the early 1940's. Canadian Pacific Railways purchased ten bush airlines in a short period of time, finishing with the purchase of Western Canadian Airlines in 1942, to form Canadian Pacific Air Lines. In 1943, the first Lodestar was delivered to CPA and was named CF-CPA. In 1943 seven Lodestars were allocated to CPA by the USAAF especially for use on the WSR, Alaskan Highway & Canol Pipeline. CF-CPA was assigned fleet nr 261 and sold in June 1950. E.D. Bourque Aerial Photography of Ottawa quickly bought the Lodestar and placed it into service on photo contracts in Canada's north. August 20, 1960, while CF-CPA was performing aerial photography, it suffered from fuel starvation and belly-landed 100 miles north of Schefferville, Quebec. Here we have photos of various aircraft. (Source: CF-CPA.ca) |
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Bill Davidson shares this memory - Good afternoon from Toronto, I look forward to each issue of the NetLetter, well-done chaps. In the latest issue was a note about stories & photos. I have one for you. Around 1968, David Lloyd (VE3AW) a businessman in Toronto who helped the CNIB find used ham radios for the blind, heard that CP Air might have some funds to help a local hospital in Vancouver where the patients were not blind but were suffering from polio. I received my “Ham” license in 1966 (VE7BXO), and I turned into the contact man along with one of our Navigators, Harry Beardsal who was also a ham. The hospital was Pearson in south Vancouver, and most of the patients had polio. Many were in “Iron Lungs”. Others were more mobile, they had smaller lungs which hung on their chest. With the assistance of Ian Gray, President, we got funding and the cooperation of Vancouver maintenance (Ian was an engineer and headed maintenance as VP before becoming President). We needed equipment, so Harry & I went on a flight to Tokyo which landed at Haneda airport we went to Akihabara and bought a Yaesu multi-band ham radio. I went through my old radio log books and found Harry Beardsal’s call sign; he lived in Burnaby; VE7ZQ. Back in Vancouver, we bought a three-element Yagi antenna. The station was set up in a room in the hospital, and the call sign was VE7PAR (Pearson Amateur Radio). My first ham radio contact with VE7PAR was 21 July 1968 when living in Richmond. The next big step was figuring out how someone who could not move could operate “Morse code” using a “keyer.” Well, the guys in maintenance knew what they were doing. They made chest pads which fit on the outside of an iron lung with I think Velcro attachments to hold the equipment; they designed code keyers which could be activated with a mouth stick. They came in, rebuilt the room, installing all the equipment, antennas etc.
At that time I was living in Richmond. I transferred to Toronto in 1971, and I was reassigned VE3CQU. My last contact with VE7PAR was 3 June 1972 when I was living in Mississauga. It was a memorable couple of years, the different airline departments working together for a worthwhile cause. A few of their names: Brian, Chester, Orv and Curly. I was lucky to know and be a part of a super group of airline employees working on this project. As a result of this article, I’m wondering if any of the polio group are still alive. There was a graduation party, and Ian Gray came to the hospital to hand out the operating license to each graduate. Back in those days, CP Air had their own “ham” radio club. A chap named Mike Dukelow was running public relations, and he would arrange for each CP ham to get a supply of QSL cards with current aircraft (DC-8-63) on the front and also have printed on the back of each card the usual radio info including call sign and address of the ham. All for free from the company. Two photos attached, reference on the back of the card, “to assist handicapped.” |
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On the front are call signs of CP membership. Note a lot of two-letter calls. I would sometimes operate “aeronautical mobile” on the DC-8-63 and DC-10-30 and B747-400. Since there were two HF sets I had permission from Transport Canada to use one to operate in the ham radio bands as long as I did not interfere with regular communications. I wasn’t the only one, I know of one pilot at Air Canada who also did the same. The NetLetter "Gang" are doing a great service to us retirees in bringing back memories. 73 de VE3CQU Bill Davidson |
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