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( For retirees of the new Air Canada family)
Number 547 Jan 2nd, 2001, We first Published in October 1995
Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson - Co-pilot - Terry Baker
To get in touch with either editor/pilot our email address is
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. Need to know.
Partner ticket reminder for international travel.
Partner tickets issued to a specific Asian destination should be accepted
to/from any other Asian point.
This means, a return ticket that has been issued for travel from
Montreal-Toronto-Vancouver-Hong Kong is also valid if the partner decides
to use their ticket for travel to Shanghai, Osaka, Tokyo, Taipei, Seoul, or Beijing.
The same routing policy applies for European destinations as long as no additional tax collection is involved.
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T'was the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp,
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were fastened to tie downs with care
in hopes that come morning, they all would be there.
The fuel trucks were nestled, all snug in their spots,
while peak gusts from three two zero reached 39 knots.
I sank behind the fuel desk, now finally caught up,
and settled down comfortably upon my butt.
When over the radio, there arose such a clatter,
I turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice clearly heard over static and snow,
asked for clearance to land at the airport below.
He barked out his transmission so lively and quick,
I could have sworn that the call sign he used was "St.Nick".
Away to the window I flew like a flash, Sure that it was only Horizon's late Dash.
Then he called his position, and there could be no denial,
"This is St. Nicholas One and I'm turning on final."
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
A Rutan sleigh, and eight Rotax Reindeer.
Cleared for the ILS down the glide slope he came,
As he passed all fixes, he called them by name:
"Now Ringo! Now Tolga! Now Trini and Bacun!
On Comet! On Cupid! "What pills was he takin'?
Those last couple of fixes left the controllers confused,
they called down to the office to give me the news.
The message they left was both urgent and dour:
"When Santa lands, could he please call the tower?"
He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Then I heard "Exit at Charlie," and "Taxi to parking."
He slowed to a taxi and exited Three-Two,
as he came down the taxiway the sleigh bells' jingle grew.
He stepped out of the sleigh, but before he could talk,
I had run out to him with my best set of chocks.
He was dressed all in fur, which was covered with frost
and his beard was all blackened from Rotax Reindeer exhaust.
His breath smelled like peppermint, gone slightly stale
and he puffed on a pipe, but he didn't inhale.
His cheeks were rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a crop dusters belly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old fool,
and he kindly informed me that he needed some fuel.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his toes,
led me to know he was desperate to powder his nose.
I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
and I filled up the sleigh, but I spilled like a jerk.
He came out of the restroom with a sigh of relief,
and then picked up a phone for a flight service brief.
And I thought as he silently scribed in his log,
that with Rudolph, he could land in eighth-mile fog.
Next, he completed his preflight, from the front to the rear,
then he put on his headset, and I heard him yell "Clear!"
And laying a finger on his push-to-talk,
He called up the tower for his clearance and squawk.
"After departure fly heading three two zero," the tower called forth,
"and watch for an "RV3" inbound from the North."
Then I heard him exclaim, 'ere he climbed in the night,
Merry Christmas to all, I have "RV"-traffic in sight."
------- Gary (a.k.a. AJ), INDY "RV Flyout" Director
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" ' "
. Remember when?
Canadian Pacific Air Lines operated a f;eet of 8 Bristol Britannia aircraft known
as the whispering giant.
Unfortunately none have survived -
CF-CZA fin 521 c/n 13393 owned by African Safari broken up Biggin Hill UK Dec '71
CF-CZB fin 522 c/n 13394 written off at Honolulu July 22/62
CF-CZC fin 523 c/n 13395 International Aviation broken up Gatwick UK Mar 1984
CF-CZD fin 524 c/n 13396 International Aviation broken up Biggin Hill UK Jun 1972
CF-CZW fin 525 c/n 13456 Caledonian Airlines broken up Gatwick UK Oct 1970
CF-CZX fin 526 c/n 13428 International Aviation broken up Biggin Hill, UK 1974
CF-CPD fin 527 c/n 13526 Airline Engineering broken up Coventry UK Oct 1971
CF-CPE fin 528 c/n 13517 Airline Engineering broken up Coventry UK Oct 1971
When visiting the UK, there are two Britannia's still in existance -
c/n 13237 G-AOVF is preserved by Cosford Aerospace UK at Cosford.
c/n 13427 G-AOVT is preserved by Duxford Aviation Soc UK at Duxford.
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. Star Alliance news -
United Airlines announced on the 28th that they will be terminating the
non-stop service between Chicago and Honolulu effective February 15, 2001.
This service has been offered since 1969 and the airline blames the retirement
of its DC-10 fleet for the demise.
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. More Vanguard stories from the RAPCAN eMailNews issued by Duane Frerichs -
From: "Mike Hart" <
It's really heartwarming to see the old girl getting so much attention!
I personally never encountered an engine problems while on the Vanguard,
but I think AC did not do those engines any favours when they used it on all those
short-haul, full-power flight legs to the Maritimes.
It was a medium range [2500-3000 mi] aircraft so all those full powers must have
been hard on it. When it was used as a freighter on the longer legs out west it
seemed to be much happier. The same engine was used on the CL44 and the
YUKON where the flight legs were up to 15 hours. I seem to remember also that
AC did not heed Vickers recommendations concerning hydraulic fluid, which soon
caused us some grief and delays. But still, what a machine!
From: emil maslak <
How many remember the Vanguard hydraulic systems were prone to failure
and leaked like a sieve? Seems some wise guy at Trans-Canada decided to use
a fireproof hydraulic fluid, Skydrol, which was totally incompatible with the seals
in use. Skydrol ate them away resulting in endless hydraulic power loss. We even
went to selecting hydraulic pumps to idle in cruise to try alleviate the problem.
TCA had a few people in flight ops who devised some questionable procedures
on their own. Luckily, nowadays the aircraft manufacturers' operating manuals
are followed diligently and prevent good intentioned but misguided foolishness on
the part of some individuals..
From: fkyle <
I remember
(a) Hydraulic oil seals;
(b) the "synchrophase" switch (kept RPM within 8deg!) ?;
(c) the first cabin-controlled temperature selector;
(d) leave 100 whatevers on the inboards for round out and fly the approach
with the outers......?;
(e) best for last - three legs on the Rock with a WG alternate!
Yogi's favorite - he said.
One other memory. Jenny and I were in UK making skeds to see her far flung
relatives. One was a cousin who she said worked at Vickers - on the Vanguard!
"So we would have a lot in common". We met for dinner in a pub in the west end.
He strolled in late and somewhat dishevelled (not uncommon for the day).
Jenny introduced us and I asked what he did there. "I'm in the design team,
old boy - Electrical Power". It immediately brought to mind the poster diagram
I think Glen unrolled -
I believe we called it 'Dynamite at the Franco-American factory'.
There was every conceivable device there but Marconi's ear piece.
I asked, "How did you devise the power supply system?"
"They gave me eight weeks to plan the basic circuit", he said.
"I went out for six weeks and got plastered. The final fortnight were a breeze!"
I believe him.
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. Surprise visit to Sweden's Jukkasjaervi Ice Hotel.
A recent visit by David Morath from LHR, here is his impressions -
We tried to get on a SAS flight to Stockholm but got there right on closeout
and they wouldn't let us through!
Never mind, went to terminal one for the next BA flight which was no
problem, arrived in Stockholm for the night.
Next we dragged back to Stockholm airport and to another SAS flight
up north to Kiruna which is inside the arctic circle!
We got a cab to the Ice hotel! It is a large hotel ( about sixty
rooms when complete) all totally made of ice!
We had a wander round before checking in, they were then kind enough
to explain what the procedure was for staying there that night. We were
given a huge sleeping bag and with a few other people, shown the ropes,
as it were. We entered the Ice hotel and it was pretty cold, about -3 which
for them is apparently almost summer! As we walked through they were
still building. This we knew before we went because its only the start of the
season, and they build this place from scratch every year because
it obviously melts around May!
Anyway, we were shown our room of ice and all it had was a huge
slab of flat ice in a large igloo-ish room ( room number 401!).They had
then put a thin mattress on top and covered this with reindeer skins.
I think there was a bit of Prancer and Dancer that I slept on that night!
We were advised to put all the clothes we were wearing in the bottom
of the sleeping bag so they will not be frozen stiff in the morning.
After this short tour we were shown around the rest of the hotel, again
all completely ice, where they were almost finishing the Ice Bar, and
also the Ice Chapel. Then we saw the Ice Cinema and also saw some
ice sculptures being made. All very cool...
The restaurant is thankfully well away from the main buildings of ice and
is toasty warm. We had a lovely meal, a starter of reindeer (most probably
the rest of Prancer) followed by beef.
At 7.30am we were woken with hot, steaming elderberry juice that was
most welcome! I guess they have had people wanting to never leave their
sleeping bags!
Had a lovely sauna to warm the bones and then a shower to loose the
smell of reindeer carcass, then we were getting changed and ready to
head back to the airport.
The trip back to Stockholm was delayed all of 15 minutes due to a
de-ice, which made us then miss an extremely tight connection on
Thai airways to get to Bangkok.
We then took a quick shuttle to Helsinki to connect to a Finnair flight to
Bangkok which left later that same evening. Arrived absolutely knackered
in Bangkok, but lovely and warm.
Spent the rest of the weekend in Bangkok and got Monday's late
morning BA flight back home with no problems.
Hows that for a week off ?
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. Terry's travel tips.
Interested in meeting up with your counterparts from the US?
Art Thrun, Director of the USA Pionairs has arranged for a deal on the
Rocky Mountaineer Railtour May 22nd to May 24th from Calgary to Vancouver.
The price:
single ca$634 or us$448. Double ca$579 or us$412. Triple ca$573 or us$408.
Deadline is Feb 1st. If you are interested in meeting up with some retirees from the
US district and participating in this exciting rail adventure contact
Art Thrun (847)931-0944 or email
Visiting Cyprus?
The Cyprus Interline Club advises these discounts available for interliners -
Nicosia locations -
Delsey Products, M. P. Michealides, 20% Thalia’s Boutique, 15%
Renaissance Institute Color Me Beautiful 10%
Renaissance Institute Treatments, 10% Milano Shoes, 10%
Xenopoullos Shoes, All Towns 10%
Precious Gifts, jewellery, antiques, 10% Petrosports, 20%
Cosmetics Argosy, 30%
Clothing & Home textiles, G. Pengas & Son Ltd., 10 30%
Holiday Inn, 50%
Holiday Inn, Bonzai Japanese Restaurant, 15% Holiday Inn, Café Opera, 15%
Holiday Inn, Health Club, 15% Livadhiotis Printing, 5 , 10%
All Records, 10% Paphos Copy Center 15%
Ronson Center, 15 20%
A. Chrysanthou, Jewellery & Watches, Hilton Hotel, 15%
Costas Theodorou, All Towns 10%
Design Centers, Nicosia & Limassol 15%
Sandy Beach Hotel, Larnaca 20 40%
Venus Beach Hotel, Paphos 20 40% Petraki Kyprianou, Larnaca 20%
A. Shadarevian & Son Ltd. (watches), Larnaca 10%
Please have with you your valid membership card, your airline
or government ID for identification.
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. Smilie.
The student in his primary trainer was flying a solo cross-country. He lost
his way and before he ran out of fuel he decided to put down on a road.
After landing he managed to coast into a gas station. "Fill 'er up!", the
attendant looked at the pilot, "I bet you don't have too many airplanes
ask for a refuel'" said the pilot. The attendant replied, "True, most pilots
use that airport across the street".
Two airline mechanics were working on a Boeing B747 in Cardiff, Wales when
lunchtime came. Rather than leave what they were doing, they just took their
lunch break sitting in the cockpit. While they were eating their lunch, one
mechanic bet the other that the landing gear would not retract if he pulled the
gear lever up .........
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Important reminder, for all new articles, submissions and or comments
for the "The Netletter" please send to:
Our joint e-mail address is:
please add to your Address Books.
This e-mail address has been set up so that both of us (exclusively)
will get an automatic copy and so we can keep up with the continuity of
news for the NetLetter.
Why not check out the Air Canada Retired Employees Web Site
http://www.acfamily.org/acrew/
Part of the ACFamily Network
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