~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |\^/| _| TCA |_ B E T W E E N O U R S E L V E S _|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R > CANADA < >_./|\._< for Air Canada retirees | Our crew is: Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson Chief Navigator - Terry Baker number 139 date Mar 30th 1997 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . News from the Districts - The Ottawa District Newsletter, Bob Robbins Spring Luncheon, April 19,97 at THE MILL, Western Parkway CA$15 p.p. incl taxes. Prime Rib or Chicken/Grand Marnier sauce. Cheques payable to "Pionairs-Ottawa" to Al Martel, Treasurer, 50 Sheahan Cresc Nepean, K2H 8M2, by Apr 11. Also from Ottawa District Newsletter about the AGM 97 Montreal. "Every retiree has a least some strong bonds with other retirees - bonds which were forged as you worked together to build your part of the airline. Attending the '96 AGM in Ottawa, some bonds with many fellow workers were found to be as strong as ever, as the shared fun of talking with persons not seen for as much as 40 yrs! If you have not attended a Pionair AGM, go to Montreal 97 for 4 days of heart- warming times together! Many pleasant surprises will await you! ~-=o0o=-~ . Art Adamson sends us this poem to reflect on - NEVERMORE Once upon a midnight dreary, fingers cramped and vision bleary, System manuals piled high and wasted paper on the floor, Longing for the warmth of bedsheets, Still I sat there, doing spreadsheets: Having reached the bottom line, I took a floppy from the drawer. Typing with a steady hand, I then invoked the SAVE command But got instead a reprimand: it read "Abort, Retry, Ignore." Was this some occult illusion? Some maniacal intrusion? These were choices Solomon himself had never faced before. Carefully, I weighed my options. These three seemed to be the top ones. Clearly, I must now adopt one: Choose Abort, Retry, Ignore. With my fingers pale and trembling, Slowly toward the keyboard bending, Longing for a happy ending, hoping all would be restored, Praying for some guarantee Finally I pressed a key -- But on the screen what did I see? Again: "Abort, Retry, Ignore."> I tried to catch the chips off-guard -- I pressed again, but twice as hard. Luck was just not in the cards. I saw what I had seen before. Now I typed in desperation Trying random combinations Still there came the incantation: Choose: Abort, Retry, Ignore. There I sat, distraught, exhausted, by my own machine accosted Getting up I turned away and paced across the office floor. And then I saw an awful sight: A bold and blinding flash of light -- A lightning bolt had cut the night and shook me to my very core. I saw the screen collapse and die "Oh no -- my database", I cried I thought I heard a voice reply, "You'll see your data Nevermore." To this day I do not know The place to which lost data goes I bet it goes to heaven where the angels have it stored. But as for productivity, well I fear that it goes straight to hell And that's the tale I have to tell Your choice: Abort, Retry, Ignore. ~-=o0o=-~ . If you follow the Blue Angels team, Vesta sends this schedule - APRIL 5-6 MacDill AFB, FL Airfest 97 12-13 MCAS Cherry Point, NC Airshow 19-20 NAS Fallon, NV Airshow 25-27 MCAS El Toro, CA Airshow ----------------------------------------------------------- MAY 3-4 NAS Key West, FL Open House 10-11 Brunswick, GA Military Appreciation Weekend 17-18 Montreal, Quebec, Airshow Canada 21-23 U.S. Naval Academy, MD Commissioning Week 24 NAS Patuxent River, MD Air Expo 97 ~-=o0o=-~ . Found on the Internet PAN AM RETURNS Pan American World Airways last week received approval to begin scheduled service, slightly more than five years after the carrier's domestic operations shut down in bankruptcy. The new Pan Am will inaugurate its service between JFK and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) on April 6. Initial operations will use a Boeing 727. ALASKA AIR FINED FOR LANDING GEAR MOD An improper modification to the landing gear of one Alaska Airlines B-737-200 earned the carrier a $810,000 fine last week. According to the FAA, Alaska installed new wheels and brakes on the Boeing in 1992 without required replacement of a number of hydraulic components. The aircraft then carried passengers on more than 9,000 flights. NO BUTTS ABOUT IT: United and American Airlines last week both said they would eliminate smoking on all of their flights beginning July 1. Smoking on domestic U.S. flights has been illegal for several years. SOMETHING *IS* FISHY... Continental Airlines has a small problem on its hands with the passengers aboard a DC-9 from Houston to Denver recently. A shipment of fish packed into the cargo hold leaked, permeating passengers' luggage. SW CONVERTS COCKPIT PAPER TO ELECTRONS: Southwest Airlines last week received preliminary FAA approval to install tablet PCs with VGA displays in its entire fleet of 250 Boeing 737-series jets. The units will eventually replace the carrier's current performance computing system, based on paper charts. (No word on whether the devices have a joystick port or will run Microsoft Flight Simulator during those slow periods in airspace.) ~-=o0o=-~ . Interline stuff In Netletter nr 137 we advised you of the discontinuation of several AirBC flights which are being operated by Central Mountain Air. The question of pass privileges comes up, and Saville Hambleton - Director of Vancouver Island Pionairs sneds us this information - Your inquiry on the Air BC/Central Mountain Air situation is timely. This morning I talked to Linda Kwan in Employee Travel in Montreal and she advises that an Interline Pass Agreement with "full exchange of passes between CMA and Air Canada will be signed shortly"....so you heard it from the horses mouth. The only question is how shortly is "shortly"? ~-=o0o=-~ . Smilies - SHORT FINAL... During a cross country flight, a new private pilot began looking for an airport where he could refuel. As his fuel condition worsened, he added gas stations with suitable landing areas to his search list, and he finally spotted a gas station, right alongside a straight highway with remarkably few obstacles. As he taxied up to the pumps, old man in the rocking chair near the doorway seemed totally unaffected by the sight, and the young pilot finally had to ask: "I don't suppose you get many airplanes here at your station, do you?" "Naw," the old man said, gazing idly into the distance while he pumped. "I reckon most of 'em gas up over yonder," he continued, pointing, at th' airport across th' highway." ~-=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. _____(~)_____ ! ! ! <<<>>> Air Canada Pionairs ~Between Ourselves-Netletter~ http://www.mortimer.com/acra mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ................................................... . GREETINGS FROM . . Vancouver Island . . BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA . ...................................................
