Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

• Chief Pilot - Vesta Stevenson, Victoria, B.C.
• Co-pilot - Terry Baker, Nanaimo, B.C.
• Flight Engineer - Alan Rust, Surrey, B.C.
• Ground Technician - Bill Rowsell, Londesboro, Ontario

Issue dated - February 1999
Gleanings from the "Horizons" magazine

 

 

 

 

On December 24 1998, despite being away from family
for the yuletide holiday, the crew of AC864 found a way to enjoy Christmas dinner. Once most of the London-bound passengers were asleep, the In-Flight crew dug into a turkey and all the trimmings brought from home.

Pictured, starting at the bottom left, are: Flight Attendants Anik lwanowsky, Claude St. Jean, Pierre Bellerose, Julie Maude Guilbert, Capt. John Morehouse, Guillaume Leduc, Claude Michel Daigle, Mike Robertson [standing) Kim Holmes, Suzanne Lapointe Gaudet, Roger Gaudet, Cigal Gabbay.

First Officer Pete Wadell is missing from the photo-- someone had to fly the plane.

(Christmas must have been a day off for the auto-pilot - eds)

Eastern Airlines DC-7B Flies again!
The first aircraft in the collection of the Historical Flight Foundation is a DC-7B (N836D) serial number 45345/928, originally delivered to Eastern Airlines in January 1958.  Operated by EAL and several flying clubs for less than 10 years before being parked at the St. Paul, MN airport.
 
The airplane was made ready to ferry during May-August of 2004. With an overnight stop in Atlanta, it arrived in Miami to begin the restoration process. The original interior and hat racks were removed, and placed into long-term storage. They will be available for re-installation come the day the airplane is put on permanent static display. Over 65% of the original aluminum skin, outer wing panels, engines, have been repaired or replaced. A full paint scheme and new interior was completed for the first official Open House in December, of 2008. The airplane has now (March 22, 2010) received the necessary FAA exemption to begin carrying passengers for compensation. This is a wonderful program initiated by the FAA to allow historically significant aircraft to raise funds for its own preservation.

 

For more details and photos see: www.historicalflightfoundation.com 

 

For video of first flight (after restoration) click on the image below.  

DC-7B Restoration flight

News and articles from days gone by gleaned from various publications from C.A.I.L. and it's "ancestry" of contributing airlines.

Issue dated - January 1999
Extracts from the "Canadi>n Flyer" magazine

YVR-Tokyo fare ca$1,287 return. YVR-HKG ca$1437.50 return and Tokyo - HKG ca$310.85 return. No mention of taxes here!

 
Here we have a Canadair 4, on take off from the Canadair plant in Montreal and was one such aircraft used on the Orient routes.

 

 

 

 

Under the banner "Destination: Harbin, China" appeared this story;
Considering the number of international flights we operate on a daily basis, the notable diversions to alternate airports are few and far between. When they do occur, these diversions often become a real adventure.

On Nov. 20. CP29 from Vancouver to Beijing was one such unforeseen adventure. Winter weather forced CP29, a B767, to make an unscheduled and lengthy stop in Harbin. some 600 miles northeast of Beijing.

The diversion was prompted by a severe storm in Beijing. Rather than employing conventional snowplows and sweepers. Beijing Airport relies on 500 soldiers equipped with shovels and brooms to keep its runway clear. But on Nov. 22 (CP 29 crosses the international dateline), the snow piled up faster than the soldiers could shovel and sweep.

 

Murray (Murph) Allen sent us this story -
I worked as a station attendant for Trans-Canada Air Lines from 1956 until 1964. My nephew, Dan Steeves, a retiree from Air Canada, was good enough to sign me up as a subscriber to the newsletter, which I have enjoyed very much.

 

In your June 12th edition (NetLetter nr 1124) I saw a photo of Capt. John Wild, who regularly flew DC3's in and out of Fredericton. Seeing his picture took me back some 50 years when Capt. Wild landed his aircraft while I was on duty. He radioed in after landing that he was having a problem with the left engine and he wanted to have a look at the engine  just as soon as he brought the plane to a stop on the ramp in front of the terminal.

 

We were equipped with a worn out tractor with a cargoveyer attached which had been passed down to Fredericton from Montreal. The clutch was very touchy. When the aircraft came to a stop, Capt Wild , while hanging out the cargo door at the front of the plane, was shouting "get that thing up here so I can inspect the engine while it is still hot!" I was a bit nervous as I maneuvered the old thing into place and before I could make sure I was in the correct position, Capt. Wild shouted once again, "Get that thing up here!" Naturally, since he was the boss, I raised the conveyor. I was too close.

 

The end of the conveyor caught and pulled down the antenna wires. Capy. Wild, in a much calmer voice, said "there is no hurry now. I expect we will be here for awhile", and he was right, a couple of days if I recall correctly. I appreciated Capt. Wild when he explained to the station manager, Wilson Himmelman, that he (Wild) was fully responsible for the accident and that no blame should be attached to me.

 

I didn't care a lot for Capt. Wild prior to that day, but I sure appreciated him as a gentleman following the incident. There was no letter put in my file. I thought you might find this interesting.  

 

Murray (Murph ) Allen

From the July edition of the monthly UK Pionairs newsletter -
Anniversary of the " Cabbage Patch Incident"  - 6th November 1963
Colin Grant sent this memory -

Further to your tales of the DC8  running into the cabbages that evening, I was in the Peggy Bedford pub (now long gone) although at that time I lived a long way from the airport, and it would be another ten years before I came to work for Air Canada.  I bet I'm the only Pionair to have heard it!  At first we thought it was the weather and thunder and the window frames shook in the bar, but as this was soon followed by the sound of police and fire brigade's sirens, of course we just had to go and have a look.

 

I remember the crew coming up a farm track on to the Colnbrook Road, just a lane in those days, and a stewardess saying that everyone was OK. The small alloy plaque you mention hung on the wall of the Aircraft maintenance office on the Mike stands in later years. I think it has the regimental badge of the Royal Engineers mounted on it.  I often asked about the incident, but was always told, when telling my account of things, that it was a freighter, no passengers, and no stewardesses! Maybe I was wrong on that wet misty night?  That was until I read Archie's account of the events in one of the newsletters.  I should have asked him, but we always talked about the motor bikes we had owned - still that was also very interesting.

Thanks to Colin Grant for his contribution.

Eamonn Horan in Ireland sent us this information -.
Ryanair is planning to run flights where passengers stand during the journey at a cost of just €5 per ticket.

Michael O'Leary, the airline's chief executive, set out proposals that also include charging customers to use the loo. A standing area with "vertical seats" will be introduced at the back of its fleet of 250 planes.

He said that charging customers €1 to make use of facilities would encourage travelers on one hour flights to use lavatories at the airport instead of on the aircraft.

The Irishman said he intended to introduce coin-operated loos and added: "The other change we've been looking at is taking out the last 10 rows of seats so we will have 15 rows of seats and the equivalent of 10 rows of standing area."

A Ryanair spokesman said that Boeing had been consulted over refitting the fleet with "vertical seats" which would allow passengers to be strapped in while standing up, which would cost between €5 and €10 per person.

Safety testing will be carried out next year.

 

However, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said the plans would struggle to meet safety requirements. He said: "It's aviation law that people have to have a seat-belt on from take-off and landing so they would have to be in a seat. I don't know how Mr O'Leary would get around that one. During turbulence passengers also have to have a seat-belt on." (Source Irish Independent.ie )