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Continuation of the story from NetLetter nr 1325 sent by Betty Draper more information of the early days in aviation in Canada. Few spectators... Airport and postal officials and some open-mouthed youths were the only spectators at the field to welcome the westbound plane. The youths crowded at windows of the Trans-Canada Air Lines office to watch every move of Robert Williamson, dispatcher, as he talked with pilots of the incoming machines giving them weather directions along the route and they crowded around him as he conversed with the pilots from an extension telephone and on the field - everybody craning their necks upward to watch for the machine they could hear but not see due to the fog. The flight was made in the scheduled time of two hours and 10 minutes from Winnipeg, but the fog blanket delayed the landing at Regina for about 45 minutes. Pilots of the plane, their voices crackling over the radio system, reported they could see Moose Jaw when immediately east of Regina, but could not see the Regina field because of the fog. Heard but not seen. Notified of arrangements to land at Moose Jaw if the fog did not clear, the machine was flown at one stage far west of Regina, but visibility over Moose Jaw was clouding with fog, and on its return the machine landed at the Regina field, although it would be heard but not seen in the thick ground fog as it landed. The machine dropped two bags of mail in Regina and picked up two more weighing 12 pounds for the west, one billed for Lethbridge and the other for Vancouver. Pilots Seagram and Smith were to fly the machine on to Lethbridge where the flight, if continued on March 1st, would have been taken over by two others. On hand to greet the machine were Squadron Leader H.A.Dolhaye, manager of the Regina airport; Postmaster Leo LaBelle; T.C.Russell, district postal inspector, Moose Jaw; W.C.Sissons, mail supervisor, Regina; H.Bennett, mail delivery contractor and George Bennett, mail delivery man. Some of the mail, picked at random. was sent via plane at ordinary postage rates, although Mr. LaBell said majority of the matter carried airmail postage. One of the pieces of mail taken off the plane at Regina was a picture from The Winnipeg Free Press, published in the edition of The Leader-Post. (The conclusion is in NetLetter nr 1327 – eds) |
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Larry Milberry, Publisher of CANAV books sends us this information -
I'm having dinner tonight (July 31st) with Shirley Tucker and her husband, John. Shirley was a stew on North Stars (where she met a certain passenger - John - one day). There are a few other titles in the main list of Canadian airline interest. A new CAE book will be available by August 17th. Check the list of books at www.canavbooks.wordpress.com |
