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Story by Wayne Albertson (with additional details by Ken Pickford) - It's always a treat when we see a familiar name as a new subscriber to 'The NetLetter'. So I was pleasantly surprised to hear from Eunice Robinson (pictured below), who's name brings back memories of the Air Canada / Canadian Airlines merger back in 2001. Eunice was working within Corporate Real Estate at Canadian's YVR Ops Centre at the time while we were a small group working in the Air Canada 'Stores' warehouse. I remember Eunice (who cannot ever be considered shy) coming into our warehouse to introduce herself and welcome us before our move over to the Ops Centre. My next surprise (though it should not have been) was finding out what she has been up to since her retirement. She has been involved with the Sea Island Heritage Society since its beginning back in 1995 (an eventful year) and is currently serving as the president. For those who may not be familiar with British Columbia's 'Lower Mainland", Sea Island in the 2nd largest island (after Lulu Island) that make up the city of Richmond (south of Vancouver). Sea Island is also the location of Vancouver International Airport. One of the most fascinating historical facts is that Boeing built a manufacturing plant (pictured in this issue's header) on Sea Island, to support Canada's involvement in the war, in 1939, initially employing 175 people. The plant most notably produced PBY Catalina flying boats and amphibians. The Catalina was known as 'Canso' by the Royal Canadian Air Force and subsequent commercial operators in Canada, which included Canadian Pacific Airlines. After World War II the former Boeing Canada plant became the maintenance base and home of many other departments of Canadian Pacific Airlines. Part of the Boeing plant also became the maintenance base for Pacific Western Airlines. CP Air began moving in stages to the current (now Air Canada) Ops Centre on its completion in 1969/70. The only part of the former Boeing plant still standing is a separate hangar structure at the east end which was once the PWA maintenance base. A new hangar built by CPA adjacent to the ex-Boeing facilities for the new turbo-prop Bristol Britannia, 8 of which were delivered in 1958/59, is also still standing. It held two Britannias. Long after the DC-8 replaced the Britannia starting in 1961, the hangar was still referred to as the "Britannia hangar." Boeing also built a community on the island to house its employees. 'Burkeville' was named after Stanley Burke, the then President of Boeing Aircraft in Canada, and still exists as a landmark today amid the constant growth of YVR. Sea Island's rich history is far too vast to chronicle here so we strongly recommend visiting their web site (click the image below) where you can get lost for a while. Additional information at: See 'Wayne's Wings' below for some personal memories of Sea Island. |
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Editors' Note: The Sea Island Heritage Society was set to hold its first Sea Island reunion on May 30, 2020. They had rescheduled to May 2021, but unfortunately Covid-19 had other ideas. In the hope that 2022 is a better year, the reunion has been tentatively rescheduled for May 28, 2022. Click Here for up to date info: |
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