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Retired B-747 captain Clint Ward sent in this personal memory of an historic flight. On June 1, 1957 there was an occurrence in Canadian aviation that seems to be lost in the shadows. TCA had something they called the Pacific Mercury and I think it was for the Super Connie Flights from Toronto to Vancouver with a stop in Winnipeg. On June 1, 1957 that stop was eliminated and the flight of that day completed the first ever non stop connection between Toronto and Vancouver. I was the first officer on that flight and perhaps the last survivor of the crew. I wrote about the experience in my book 'On All The Other Days'. (Available at Amazon.ca) Clint |
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Extracted from 'On All the Other Days' by Clint Ward An historic inaugural occurred on my second flight as a Super Connie First Officer. It was the first ever non-stop flight from Toronto to Vancouver. The Captain was Roy Cartwright, and he received a letter and two documents prior to the flight which let us know how our day would proceed. He was also saddled with a new co-pilot just out of training with a single day of experience. I’ve always felt that this nine-hour flight, as historic as it was, has been lost in the fog of history. The Super Connie continental cruising altitudes were much lower than jet travel today. If the weather was good we could cross the Alberta and B.C. mountains at 12,000 feet making it easy to enjoy the spectacular scenery. One sight that always fascinated me was the Frank Slide and we flew right over it. It was a rockslide that buried part of the mining town of Frank which is now part of Alberta. When the slide occurred there was no Alberta, which was created in 1905, and Frank was still part of the Northwest Territories. At 4:10 in the morning of April 29, 1903 over 82 million tonnes of limestone rock slid down Turtle Mountain, obliterating the eastern edge of Frank, the Canadian Pacific Railway line and the coal mine. I have driven by the slide and from the ground view it is startling to see the size of some of the rocks, as big as houses! |
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Click the icon to view the extract from 'On All The Other Days' by Clint Ward chronicling his personal experience on this historic flight. |
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Red carpet treatment was given passengers at Toronto as they boarded for Vancouver. They were piped aboard by the Georgetown Girls' Pipe Band and flanked by TCA stewardesses holding flags from the United States, France and Canada. A little more than eight hours later the plane landed in Vancouver. |
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Winner of a Bulova watch estimating, within two minutes, the exact time of the flight from Toronto to Vancouver was Judy Taylor of Ottawa. She is a graduate of McGill University in Physiotherapy, Captain Roy Cartwright makes the presentation while Jack Robinson, DSM of Vancouver looks on. |
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David Ayton shares this memory - Back in the day I was trying to get back to my home base in YYZ, on a stand-by pass. In those days, at Heathrow, Air Canada and British Airways shared adjacent gates. Though travelling by myself this particular flight was jam packed and getting a seat was very unlikely. While standing at the counter I chanced to glance over to the BA gate and I spotted a BA employee I had met once at a party at the home of a friend in Montreal. She was frantically waving to me and, pushing my way through the crowded gates, I stood before her position at the counter. She must have been able to lipread my predicament at AC's gate because she offered me a ticket to YYZ, 1st class would you believe? In those days of mutual cooperation between our two airlines, stand-by was reciprocated in the early 80's. I thanked her most profusely and accepting her offer, I dashed off up the stairs to the gate with ticket in hand, departure times were then close together. I cannot now remember her name but I shall always remember her kindness. Regards, Dave Ayton, formerly CAVT-AME YYZ |
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Terry Baker of The NetLetter team relates his similar experience - The same happened to me at Mirabel (YMX) when AC to LHR was delayed and the gate agent whispered to me "nip over to British Airways before the revs catch on". In those days our passes were good on BA. The BA agent gave us a couple of seats and said “Go on board now”. The joys of travelling with carry-on, no worries about luggage when switching flights. |
