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_| TCA |_ B E T W E E N Y O U R S E L V E S
_|\| AIR |/|_ N E T L E T T E R
> CANADA <
>_./|\._< for Air Canada retirees
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Your crew is: Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson
Co-pilot - Terry Baker
number 234 date Feb 6th 1998
Published since October 1995.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
. We welcome Aboard:
Patrick Leung:
retired Technical Specialist,
living in North York, ON.
Walter and Donna Moran
email them at:
Mary Wolf, still hard at work in the P & F
Dept, YYZ. email
G.A.Smith retired Manager Facilities, Western Canada
living in Calgary. email:
--=o0o=--
. NEWS FROM THE DISTRICTS.
From the Sentinel the magazine for the Montreal Pionairs -
Pionairs bowling league started Jan 20th and scheduled for every
Tuesday at the Valois Lanes, 62 Donegani in Pointe Claire.
Cost CA$5.50 for 3 strings, call Mary Timmons 626-3263 for info.
Apr 3rd is the Italian lunch at Lachine Curling Club.
Start at 12.00 for 1300. Cost CA$7.00 includes door prize draw.
Register with Russ Reynard 631-7165 or Bill Sim 631-1435 before
Mar 27th. Visiting Pionairs most welcome.
Apr 23rd is a planned Spring buffet at the Royal St. Lawrence
Yacht Club. Cost CA$18.00.
Jun 7/8th is a planned trip to Quebec City.
October is a planned trip to Paris.
From the London England monthly newsletter -
Planned events -
Feb 17th ACRA theatre trip 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' at the
Prince of Wales theatre. Cost UKP32.00 includes
coach which departs LHR 1800. Call Jack Morath
01276-500918 for reservations soonest.
Mar 29th Visit to Petticoat Lane in the morning and then
the B.B.C. headquarters to view the exhibition to
celebrate its 75th year. Cost UKP9.00. Coach leaves
LHR 0900 returns 1700.
May 2nd Visit the Spalding Flower Festival Parade in
Lincolnshire to see lots of floats and millions
of flowers. Cost UKP9.00. Coach leaves LHR 0830
returns 1730.
Oct 17/18th ACRA Belgian Beer Festival organized by the ACRA but
Pionairs most welcome. Cost UKP79.00 includes the
coach to and from LHR, shuttle/ferry across the
channel, one night in the hotel, continental breakfast
and admission to the beer festival. Deposit UKP20.00
required by May 31st to Jack Morath 01276-500918.
Nov 3/4th Annual trip to Boston - 'Boston Bonanza'
From the USA Pionairs -
We regret that we have no news from the USA Pionairs group on
their meetings or any report of their AGM.
(Hint hint - eds)
--=o0o=--
. Ron Munson of the UK Pionairs sends us this information -
A JOURNEY INTO THE PAST.
Last December Qantas celebrated 50 years on the London-Sydney
route known as the Kangaroo route. Today a B747-400 can fly the
12,000 miles non- stop in 20 hours 9 minutes, whilst a one-stop
service takes 23 hours.
In 1947 the journey time was 94 hours by prop-driven Lockheed
Constellation with the actual time in the air being 56 hours
cruising at 18,000ft. This first flight carried 11 crew, 29
passengers, 34,000 letters and food parcels, including 500 Xmas
puddings. The 60 seat, four engined aircraft had reclining seats.
bunk beds and, for the first time, a pressurized cabin. The 1st
class return fare was UKP525 - at a time when wages in Australia
were UKP7 per week and when a house cost UKP600.
The plane needed three pilots because of a 30 hour duty period, two
flight engineers, a navigator and radio officer who used Morse code
for all communications. Three cabin staff looked after the
passengers. Crews were 'slipped' between flights in Singapore and
Karachi, with others turning round at London. The staff staying in
hotels could wait for up to four days between flights.
The original route to London was Sydney,Darwin,Singapore (overnight
stop), Calcutta, Karachi (overnight stop), Cario (overnight) and
Tripoli. The Kangaroo route, the world's longest regular air route,
was first established as a link between Australia and the 'mother'
country. Symbolic of the relationship between the two nations at
the time was 2,000 lbs. of food parcels donated by Qantas for
Britain, which was still experiencing serious post-war shortages.
More than 1,000 people waved off the first flight from Sydney on
1st December and it arrived then, in London, on 5th December.
Today, if a Constellation and a B747-400 left Sydney at the same
time, the jumbo would be landing in Heathrow as the Constellation
was touching down in Bangkok.
Just think - if Airline staff wanted to spend just a week-end
shopping in London they would have to use up two weeks of
their annual vacation allowance.
From: Ron Munson E-mail
--=o0o=--
. Vesta found this schedule for you Air Show buffs -
--===Blue Angels - 1998 Schedule===--
-===1998 Performance Schedule===-
March 14 NAF EL CENTRO, CA Air Show
March 21-22 DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB, AZ Aerospace Arizona Days
March 28-29 NAS KINGS, TX Air Show
April 4-5 MCAS BEAU FORT, SC Air Show
April 18-19 BARKS DALE AFB, LA Open House
April 25-26 NAS NORFOLK, VA Air Show
May 2-3 FT. LAUDERDALE, FL Air and Sea Show
May 9-10 CHATTANOOGA, TN Air Show
May 16-17 ANDREW AFB, MD Dodo Open House
May 20 US NA, Annapolis Md. Air Show
May 22 US NA GRADUATION FLY-BY
May 24 NAS MERIDIAN, MS Air Show
May 30-31 NAS JOB FT. WORTH, TX Air Show
June 6-7 CONEY ISLAND, NY Air Show
June 13-14 EAT CLAIRE, WI Air Show
June 20-21 GRUESOME A RB, IN Air Show
June 27-28 NIAGARA FALLS ARS, NY "Thunder over Niagara"
July 4-5 TRAVERSE CITY, MI National Cherry Festival
July 11 PENSACOLA BEACH, FL Air Show
July 18-19 DAYTON, OH Air Show
July 25-26 LATRINE, PA Air Show
August 1-2 HANS COM AFB, MA Air Show
August 8-9 SEATTLE, WA SEA FAIR Air Show
August 14-16 MCAS MIRAMAR, CA Air Show
August 22-23 CHICAGO, IL Air Water Show
August 29-30 OUT AFB, NE Open House
September 5-7 CHESTERFIELD, MO St. Louis Co. Air Show
September 12-13 HALIFAX, CANADA Nova Scotia Air Show
September 19-20 WARNER ROB BINS AFB, GA Open House
September 26-27 READING, PA Redding Aero feast
October 3-4 STOCKTON, CA Air Show
October 10-11 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Fleet Week Air Show
October 17-18 HOUSTON, TX Air Show
October 24-25 NAS JACKSONVILLE, FL Open House
Oct. 31-Nov. 1 NAS NEW ORLEANS, LA Air Show
November 7 NAS PENSACOLA, FL Open House
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will perform at 35 events in 22 states and
Canada. The annual demonstration season begins in March and
concludes in November. Almost 200 requests were received for the
Navy and Air Force jet demonstration teams. The number of
supportable requests is limited by the length of the season, travel
and training requirements, operational considerations, and seasonal
meteorological conditions.
Demonstration sites are selected to support the objectives of the
Department of Defense and the interests of the Armed Services with
safety as the primary consideration. Performances greatly assist the
recruiting and retention goals of the Services, enhance esprit de
corps among uniformed men and women, and demonstrate the
professional skills and capabilities of the U.S. Armed Forces to the
American public and U.S. allies.
--=o0o=--
. F.Nelson-smith and G.A.Smith sends us this tidbit -
Being a new recipient of your newsletter, I'm not sure whether
you have heard of this wonderful web site related to travel for women.
It's jam-packed full of travel tips and advice; like safe cities for
lone travellers, what to wear, the best fish and chip shop in London,
shop til you drop, and why Rotterdam is a good place to travel in
winter.
You can even subscribe to a free newsletter.
This is the only travel magazine for women on the web.
http://www2.journeywoman.com/journeywoman
Try it out!
--=o0o=--
. FOUND ON THE INTERNET.
BACK TO THE FUTURE?
If you boarded a red-eye from LAX to JFK on the evening of December
31, 1999 your airplane would land 99 years earlier, on the morning of
January 1, 1900 -- at least that is how some fear that the FAA's
less-than-state-of-the-art computers might see it.
The New York Times reports that IBM, manufacturer of the antique main
frame host computers used by ATC, says there isn't enough time to
debug them before December 31, 1999. Nor will IBM offer software
upgrades, even though some Center computers are running 20-year old
programs. Meanwhile, the FAA says not to worry, they're making good
progress on their Y2K problems. Perhaps they'll finish work by 1900
-- oops, 2000.
SHADES OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK:
Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport will shut down every
afternoon between 1300 and 1500 daily as a result of thousands of
birds attracted by a nearby garbage dump. Ten to fifteen flights a
day will have to be rescheduled. The government has promised to move
the dump, but it has not yet found suitable site.
--=o0o=--
. INTERLINE STUFF.
The Air Canada schedule from their web page is effective Jan 24th
and is sized at 435k.
Rocky Mountaineer RailTours, contact 1-800-690-3223 for these
exciting rail tours through the Canadian Rockies.
From the LHR newsletter -
When filling out your 'trip pass', be sure to 'void' any unused legs.
Make sure you indicate the correct travel zone, or you will be
charged for the highest.
If you need to change your plans en route, use a 'stopover coupon',
obtainable from the checkin desk upon deplaning. Do NOT use another
'trip pass' as this will incur another charge. Ensure you cross
reference the original 'trip pass' ticket number on the 'stopover
coupon'.
Example:
'trip pass' routing London UK/Toronto/Vancouver/Toronto/London UK
On returning, you decide to visit Montreal; use a 'stopover' coupon
Toronto/Montreal. Avoid using a 'stopover' coupon on the final leg.
Remember though, if you reverse your direction, you will need a
second 'trip pass'.
--=o0o=--
. Smilie.
Approach: Beech 998, you're showing two thousand feet and
intermittent Mode C. Say altitude.
Beech 998: Beech 998 is intermittently at two thousand feet.
--=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.
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. GREETINGS FROM .
. Vancouver Island .
. BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA .
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