Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

From the "InfoCanadi>n" magazine.

Issue dated July 1993

In NetLetter #1480, we had an article on the A310 conversion for the DND, here we have a follow up article.

Leaves and grass aren't the only things sprouting in the summer. This year, 1993, Maintenance & Engineering has budded a new 24-person base in Trenton, a city of 17,000 snuggled up to
Lake Ontario two hours east of Toronto.

Canadi>n Airlines' fledgling outpost sprang up to provide service for four A310's recently purchased by the Department of National Defense (DND), three of which were purchased from the Canadian Airlines. DND maintains the country's largest Canadian Forces transport base in Trenton.

The A310's, will be used for armed forces personnel movements and diplomatic flights around the world. The four year old aircraft will replace DND's aging fleet of B-707's, whose maintenance costs after 25 years of service were becoming impractical.

Canadi>n's base was overseen at Trenton by Project Manager Roger Coe, Maintenance Supervisor Stewart MacLellan, Airworthiness Administrator Dale Crawford and Contracts Administrator Diane Collier.

We have these photo essays by Howard Leihman, Contact News.

One thing that surprised the Canadi>n crew was the amount of training on the military base.

When we got there, we each went through a two-day driving course," said Garry Kagerbauer, Avionics Technician and a former Calgary line staffer. "We have serious training at Canadi>n, but nothing as time-consuming as the military."

For Line Engineer Ted Hawke, bidding Trenton from Toronto brought the best of both worlds.

"I like being able to live in a quiet place close to work. And it feels good to be a part of the military again, where I served for 11 years as an Airframe Mechanic before joining Canadi>n."

The Trenton group were warmly received by the DVD. Contrary to their expectations of remaining a separate entity, members had been invited to participate in local sports teams and in a family day during which the A310's and Hercules transports flew brief tour flights.

Line Engineer Joe Podlovics and Air Force Sergeant Rick Heans toured one of the aircraft. Podlovics says he loves life at the base and noted the military's full cooperation at stations across the country. His wife had recently given birth in Trenton.

Staffing Trenton brought a new set of priorities.

"Here we have just the one aircraft type and we get to know it well," said Gilles Carron, left, Line Engineer formerly based at Mirabel, here with Bill Beekman, Inspector Crew Chief from
Vancouver. "We even flew with the aircraft and observed it in operation, the learning process is much faster," Carron said.