~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |\^/| _| 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 156 date May 11th 1997 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . Vesta sends us this article from her local bulletin board - The 1997 Abbotsford International Airshow promises to be the highlight of your summer activities here in B.C. We invite you to the Abbotsford Airshow - August 8th through 10th 1997 to view some of the best world-class aviation performers and static displays. Abbotsford is located just east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which is north of Seattle, Washington. See Patty Wagstaff, U.S. National Aerobatic Champion, along with Wayne Handley, Shockwave Jet Truck, John Mohr and for the first time on British Columbia soil, the German Tornado. Updated lists of performers, static displays and logistic information can be found at http://www.harbour.com/commorgs/airshow/ ~-=o0o=-~ Roger Carter wrote an interesting article about the Dreams Take Flight which appeared in the Montreal Pionairs 'Sentinel', Winter 1997. The following in a condensed version we hope is of interest - How many of us can remember their first flight? Well you can bet the 140 children who gathered in the early morning hours of October 16th 1996 at the Dorval Base for the Second Annual Dreams Take Flight, will long remember theirs. All children were disadvantaged, either through sickness or family circumstances and ranged in age from 5 to 14 years. They started to arrive shortly after 4 am and after registration, they were taken to be photographed and finder printed and a final check made to ensure that all documentation and instructions such as special medication requirements were recorded. After donning a Dreams Take Flight tee shirt and cap, they were free to enjoy free juice, milk and donuts. Each child was given $20 spending money, a camera to record their day, sun glasses, a fanny pack as well as sundry goodies. Once in flight each was given the opportunity to visit the flight deck and make a phone call. At exactly 6.07 am to shouts of 'open that door - open that door', the hanger doors slid back to reveal their magic carpet - a Boeing 767. After boarding and settling down, they were off to Disney World. Dreams Take Flight is not an official Air Canada Venture. The planning, organizing and fund raising is done on employees own time and on a volunteer basis. In addition, the flight itself is manned by pilots, flight attendants and a group of volunteers working together to make the childrens' dreams a reality. (This scenario happens thoughout the year at various Air Canada stations who operate their own Dreams Take Flight. Volunteers are most welcome, Pionairs do get involved as well. Why not call your local Pionair District Director and offer your time. - eds) ~-=o0o=-~ Air Canada has announced that financial donations by its employees for the Winnipeg Flood Relief Fund will be matched by the company. ~-=o0o=-~ . Alan Rust sends us - I found a WWW site that your subscribers may be interested in. It is a Canadian site for seniors called "The Seniors Computer Information Project" and it can be found at: http://www.mbnet.mb.ca/crm/ "The Seniors Computer Information Project maintains arguably the best clearinghouse for links to areas of interest for senior citizens, providing in its wake some amazing chances to see how the older half lives. The site features great selections of individual sites, and special areas for commercial sites that seem to be peer-reviewed. It's nice to be able to use a service like this and not have to wade through commercial sites hawking cremations and retirement homes." ~-=o0o=-~ . Found on the Internet. The first Boeing B737 celebrates its 30th anniversary this month. AirTran Airways, new US startup airline will operate out of Orlando. Every Wednesday, at 2 am, Northwest Airlines holds its own version of the K-Mart 'Blue Light' special on its web site, selling discounted fares to anyone who wants to fly from Minneapolis to places such as New York City that weekend for as low as US$89 return. Atlas Air is negotiating with Boeing for (10) B747-400's. Air Transat (Canada) plan to operate between Montreal and Paris commencing Nov 1st. Air Ukraine has ordered (2) B767-200ER for their trans-Atlantic routes and (3) Airbus A320-200 for its shorter range flights. Delta begins flying New York (JFK) to Instanbul with B767-300ER. ASIAN AIRLINES BEST IN THE WORLD SAYS SURVEY The 1996 Zagat Travel Survey found the Asian Airlines Best in the World. The imperative to stave off cabin fever on long flights means that the trans-Pacific carriers "almost have to be the best," according to Tim Zagat, co-publisher. "A flight of 10 hours or more is going to be remembered, for better or worse. The successful long-distance carriers make the passage something like a cruise, with wide-body planes, lots of amenities and an emphasis on personal service. Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific have become renowned for treating passengers like royalty." Swissair, on the other hand, was highly praised for its unmatched punctuality and clockwork-like performance. Not all Asian carriers performed so well however. First time entry China Airlines was awarded just 11.87 out of a possible 30, with a surveyor commenting that he prayed "that it stays together", speaking of the airline's old planes. Lower still were US airlines Tower Air and ValuJet, described as flying "cattle cars of the sky", with Russia's Aeroflot being ranked last for its "equipment older than Methuselah". ~-=o0o=-~ . Interline stuff. Recently, Central Mountain Air took over several routes previously operated by AirBC. The arrangement with this airline is a 'zonal' one i.e. minimum fare is US$23 plus tax. The 'zonal' fare from Nanaimo to Vancouver, for example, a distance of 44 miles, 10 minutes flying time, will be CA$40 one way! Canadi>n also operates 'zonal', not ID90, on this sector. ~-=o0o=-~ . Smilies. He was flying a 707 one miserable night in New York, in horrible weather, when he joined the "stack" at the top, and began a very long holding procedure. Some of those below, who had been going in bumpy circles for a very long time, were a bit testy. One irate captain was a little slow to release the mike button before barking at his copilot, and his clear, forcefull voice rang out over the airwaves with the single word, "Bullshit!". After a moment of complete silence, the controller keyed up and said, "Who said 'Bullshit?'" After a couple more moments of complete silence, Chuck just couldn't resist temptation. He picked up his mike and said, in his most professional deadpan baratone, "Ah, this is TWA flight 222. Negative on the "Bullshit". His brethren below caught on immediately, and continued "American 414, Negative on the "Bullshit", and so on, all the way down the stack! ~-=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 . ...................................................
