Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Terry Baker is the NetLetter's historian and finds and scans photos of people and aircraft from the earlier years of aviation. He is also our resident travel expert, with great knowledge on cruises and especially London, etc. He has taken many trips since retiring and is excellent at finding good deals wherever he goes.

Terry's Bio

My career in aviation started when I left school at 15 years of age and joined K.L.M. (Royal Dutch Airlines) in London, England as an office clerk in 1948.

Before joining Trans-Canada Air Lines I was conscripted into the R.A.F. in 1951 and served most of my time in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), South Africa. On being demobilized in 1954 I joined B.E.A. (British European Airways) as a baggage tracer. 

In April, 1954 I joined Trans-Canada Air Lines as an office clerk and then in 1958 transferred to the Purchases & Stores Dept, where I was heavily involved in the purchase of spares for the Viscount, Vanguard aircraft and the Dart and Conway engines. I went from office boy to Office Manager by 1962. 

In 1963 I was the project leader in LHR for the incident known as the the 'Cabbage Patch' project, which involved the repairing of the DC8 which was damaged there that year.

In 1965 I transferred to Dorval, Canada and worked as a clerk maintaining the computerized inventory records. In 1968 I transferred to the computer section, first as a programmer, and ending up as a Project Leader on Inventory and Maintenance systems. Then in 1972, I had a 9 month stint in Antigua, running the computer section of L.I.A.T. (Leeward Island Air Transport), the local commuter airline serving the Caribbean. That secondment was under the auspices of CANAC, a government operated division to which both Air Canada and Canadian National Railways supplied expertise to emerging nations of the world in the transportation field.

My career with Air Canada ended in December, 1984, when I took a severance package. I was very proud to receive the "Award of Excellence" from Air Canada.

After retiring from Air Canada I went on to work the next 5 years as a consultant for, at various times, Nationair, Peoples Express, Frontier Airlines, Nordair, Alaska Airlines, Republic Airlines, Aer Lingus and Canadian Pacific Airlines. I specialized in the implementation of inventory and maintenance control software, loading data and training. You may note that many of those airlines have now gone "bust"!

I permanently retired from the work force in 1989 from Execaire in Dorval who had a fleet of some 20 executive jets operating under the Bronfman empire. They owned 14 Hawker 128 twin jets, 2 Falcon tri jets and several other aircraft types. I wrote inventory and maintenance software on the min-computers, we sold and implemented that software to 10 different companies who operated their own executive jet fleet including Dow Chemical, ARAMCO, Fletcher Challenge, Horizon Airlines, and Boise Idaho among others.

In May of 1990 I moved to Nanaimo/Ladysmith on Vancouver Island, where my wife and I worked as hobby potters, and enjoying all the good things in life. My whole career was spent in the area of recording the inventory and the maintenance of aircraft units, some 42 years.

Terry

(last updated February 2016)

Wayne Albertson is the NetLetter's website administrator and after receiving content from Terry places it all in the newsletter, formats the content and sizes the photos. He also carries out a preliminary check of the content for fomatting, spelling and structure.

Wayne's Bio

I was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec and relocated to Toronto in 1978. My airline career began in January 1980 when I was hired by Air Canada as a stock keeper in the Purchasing & Supply branch. I spent my entire career working within the same branch although there have been several name changes over the years. We are now called Facilities & Supply and are within the Line Maintenance branch.

The beginning of my career coincided with the introduction of a computerized inventory control system for aircraft parts and other company material. I developed an interest in the inner workings of these systems and enrolled in several courses in computer studies at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario between 1989 and 1994. My particular area of fascination has always been database design and management.

I accepted an opportunity to transfer to Vancouver in May 1995 and put formal computer studies on hold but continued to dabble with the “new” technology called the Internet. I quickly became interested in applying my skills to web site design when I met Alan Rust shortly after arriving in Vancouver. We have been collaborating on a variety of projects ever since.

In addition to computer studies I am also interested in the social aspect and camaraderie of “aviation” people. I was the treasurer for the Vancouver ACRA chapter since 1999 and an EAP representative since 2007 until my retirement.

My hobby away from the airline industry is the card game Cribbage. I have been a member of the American Cribbage Congress for several years and enjoy competing in the local club and larger tournaments in the U.S. and Canada. This activity has brought me to several smaller towns in North America and allowed me the opportunity to form many more friendships. My top achievement so far was winning first place in a tournament of over one hundred and fifty participants in Lincoln City, Oregon in May 2013. 

I retired as a Line Expediter on January 1 , 2016 just a few weeks short of 36 years of service. Plans for my next career are to continue developing aviation related web sites with the goal of presenting the history and stories of the remarkable people who have shaped the airline industry in Canada.

Wayne

(last updated January 2016)

Alan Rust - August 22, 1950 - April 17, 2019

served as the Administrator of the NetLetter from 2010 to 2018 and developed this website and the current design of The NetLetter. 

You can review Alan's contributions to the NetLetter in the Article Archive under Alan's Space at the left. 

Alan's Bio in his own words

 I was born in Hamilton, Ontario and lived there until I joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968. I didn't really know what I would be doing there, I just wanted to learn a trade. Seems that my aptitude tests had me slated to be a "photographer" or an "Airframe Technician. I was mechanically inclined as I had been fixing bicycles, motorcycles and cars for many years. So an "Airframe Technician" it was.

I look back on it now and figure that was the best single decision that I ever made as it led to becoming an AME a few years later at "Peninsula Air Service" in Mt. Hope Airport (near Hamilton) and then led to a job with Nordair in Montreal. After a short time with Nordair, I was hired by Air Canada in 1974.

I worked in Line Maintenance in YUL from 1974 to 1986 when I transferred to Vancouver (another wise move). In 1989 I received my B727 license as a Certificated Aircraft Technician followed by a A320 license and then a Boeing 747 license. Again working on Line Maintenance which I enjoyed as everyday was different.

I started my company called Real Magic Online in 1995 and started a BBS (Bulletin Board System)

I took early retirement after 28 years in 2002 and being a Nerdy type guy, I joined a company called Nerds On Site as POD Leader for Vancouver. That led to expanding my own business (Real Magic) as well as the ACFamily Network, the NetLetter and others. We currently have over 80 clients including the Pionairs and the CAHS.

Alan

(last updated April , 2019)