~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |\^/| _| TCA |_ _|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R > CANADA < B E T W E E N O U R S E L V E S >_./|\._< for P I O N A I R S | Your crew is: Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson Chief Navigator - Terry Baker tm number 78 date Aug 12th 1996 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . News from the Montreal District Pionairs 'Sentinel' quarterley - Items of interest from the AGM - The fees for our travel insurance will be reduced 10% for those under 60 years of age, and by 5% for those 60 and over. Our present pension fund is valued at C$3,590,000,000.00 with a 14% return on asset. At the upcoming Air Canada Pionairs' Day at the Montreal Olympic stadium, Air Canada President Lamarr Durrett will throw out the first ball, Pionair Leo-Paul Rodrique will sing the National Anthems. All on August 11th. Plans have been finalized for the Halloween Lunch on Thursday 31st Oct, all Pionairs are invited to join for a casual lunch at Casa Grecque Restaurant at 1459 St.Martin Blvd West in Laval. Call Real Henri at 697-5405 for details. Bill Sim led a group of Pionairs through the Dorval Base recently to visit various shops and hangers and to catch up with old friends still working. Sept 17th is set for the Autumn Walk and Picnic in the Park at Bois de l'Ile Bizard. Call Real Henri 697-5405 or Bill Sim 631-1435 for details. ~-=o0o=-~ . Found on the Internet Continental MD80 with 127 passengers landed safely at Houston after fire broke out in the galley. Those hamburgers again! A passenger fought the crew forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing with no injuries reported on the United Airlines flight. ValuJet aims to be airborne by month end. North Korea is to open its skies to allow overflight by the worlds airlines. A Japanese trading company has ordered 22 Boeing B737-800 jets. ~-=o0o=-~ . More interline tours - Airline employees, retirees, parents & companions sharing - Starting Sept 1st to Dec 14th Ho Chi Minh City - 7 days from US$1249 Bali, Indonesia - 8 days from US$759 Bali, Yogyakarta & Jakarta from US$1399 Departs Los Angeles, includes positive space Garuda International price pp dble. US Customs and departure tax extra. Visa for Ho Chi Minh at US$55. Call 1-800-422-3727 for details. ~-=o0o=-~ . Vesta sends along this information about visiting the Smithsonian - If you enter the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum by the front door, it seems entirely appropriate that the first thing you see is the Wright Flyer, suspended directly above you. Unlike Canada's National Aeronautical Collection, which has a pristine replica of the Silver Dart, Canada's first powered flying machine, the Smithsonian's Flyer is, apparently, the actual machine which lifted off the sands that 1903 day at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, launching us into the era of powered flight. The same entrance gallery - Milestones of Flight - also showcases the Apollo 11 command module which brought Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins safely back to Earth. Wrapped in a clear plastic bubble, the capsule is sitting on a floor display stand and provides a superb view of the atmosphere-blasted heat shield. The Voyager, the first aircraft to circle the globe non-stop without refuelling, is there. Slim and slender, her dimensions stretch forever, it seems. There's a video display nearby which shows Voyager in flight and her wings are so light, they actually bow upwards, a deliberately planned design feature to gravity-feed fuel from every square inch of the wing's interior to the aircraft's engines. Directly above Voyager is the Gossamer Condor, the bicycle with wings, wrapped entirely in Saran Wrap, whose incredibly athletic pilot completed the difficult requirements laid out to stake successfully his team's claim to the "first fully man-powered flight." Far overhead is Glamorous Glennis, the bright red Bell X-1 that Chuck Yeager was flying the first time a human being broke through the sound barrier. And right next to her is the Spirit of St Louis, Charles Lindbergh's Ryan monoplane. Lindbergh's only forward view was through a periscope, a requirement created by the need to accommodate the enormous gas tank required for his flight. When you get up to the floor where you can stand level with the cable-suspended Ryan, you can almost, but not quite, touch it. Of all the aircraft there, Lindbergh's - perhaps because so much tragedy followed his aviation milestone - seems to exude the most mystique. It's such a frail-looking thing that I found myself wondering not only how this machine accomplished the task of carrying a man across the Atlantic in 1927, but what in God's name would possess someone to commit his body and soul to its claustrophobic cockpit confines for so long. The Museum pays a lot of attention to space exploration. There's a full-scale model of Robert Goddard's first rocket; an actual V-1 and V-2 captured from the Nazis at the end of WWII; an unapologetic account of the process by which Wehrner von Braun was brought to White Sands after the War to develop the US Space Program; a full tour through Mercury, Gemini and Apollo; and a docked Apollo/Soyuz combination that exemplifies the links between the US and Soviet programs. Skylab 1 apparently had a fully functioning back-up, Skylab 2.When 1 managed to find a stable orbit, 2 was shipped to Washington for incorporation into the Smithsonian's exhibit. Even the Arms Limitation treaty gets a nod with a side-by-side exhibit of a US Pershing and a Soviet something-or-other missile, both of which were stood down as a result of the Treaty. If you're an aviation buff of any era, you'll find something to love in this Museum. World War I's exhibit includes a Sopwith Snipe, a SPAD (favoured by Eddie Rickenbacker) and a German Albatros. The Museum also acknowledges the populism which arose around the Red Baron with a wonderful display of Red Baron merchandise going all the way back to when Snoopy was first wrapped in WWI flying ace goggles in the Schulz comic strip, Peanuts. Many of the hundreds of games, toys and books which have since borne the name are featured in this sideshow. More next time - ~-=o0o=-~ . That's it for this time, please we need your input, send comments and email addresses of any others who may be interested to Vesta with a copy to Terry. -!- Landing on an Island in the Pacific. _____(~)_____ ! ! ! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. <<<>>> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ................................................... . GREETINGS FROM . . Vancouver Island . . BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA . ...................................................
