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In reference to our Skyvan piece in NetLetter #1495 My name is Kent Davis, a retired pilot with Air Canada. I remember back in about 1969 or 1970, when I was flying with Selkirk Air Service, we acquired a Skyvan. We operated it up and down the coast of Lake Winnipeg. We also took hunters out moose hunting. The aircraft could land and take-off on a dime. It operated into places that would appear impossible. I remember shortly after we bought it, a hunter discharged his shotgun inside and blew a good-size hole in the floor. Management was not impressed. I am not sure what happened to it but it might have gone to Transair. Just not sure. Thank you for your great work. Kent ... A country that forgets its past has no future - Winston Churchill. |
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Bob Baker sent this observation to his father, Terry Baker - I noticed in the NetLetter #1494 a reprinted article by yourself from NetLetter #960 regarding LHR and personnel back in the day. In the Customs section, you mention Phil Smythe, Wally Evans and Terry Baker. Should that have read Harry Baker or did you work in customs too? Just wondering if it was a typo. Editor’s Note by Terry Baker: Actually, Wally Evans was responsible for comat shipments & customs documentation, Phil Smythe and Terry Baker (myself) were expeditors chasing up orders and AOG requests from Canada. Harry Baker (my father, Bob's grandfather) was not part of the TCA crowd, but was senior customs officer; his job title was 'Chief Preventative Officer'. He originally set up the customs presence at Heathrow when it reverted from RAF to civil aviation in 1946. Also a correction, we failed to identify Colin Bailey, Andy Cunning and Bill Cameron as being within the maintenance branch. Just trying to set the record straight - Terry Baker. |
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Staying with NetLetter #1494 Jack Morath responded to same 'Remember When' article on the LHR staff. Regarding your item about former colleagues, I will add my own 'bit' as follows: Supervisors were Les Barett and Reg Stoakes. Imports consisted of George Bourne, Bill Lewis and Bill Brown. That was Imports! At that time, we had one flight a day; except Tuesday when there was no flight. Exports were next door with a few more staff. Our building was on the North Side of the Airport opposite the Air Hostess pub. I lived about a mile away on the Bath Road and went to work on my bike and went home at lunch time! The aircraft operating at the time I was in cargo were Super Constellations. We had to wait a year before being able to use a pass to Canada, which was free at that time. The following year I took my first flight on TCA. It took sixteen hours flying time to Toronto, stopping at Prestwick, Goose Bay, Montreal and finally Toronto. Those were the days! |
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Neil Burton found this item in the archives of the Kamloops Daily Sentinel of February 10, 1970. Airline cancels flight to Spain. More than 1,600 Canadians who had planned two-week vacations on Spain’s Costa Del Sol this year have been notified that their trips have been cancelled. Wardair Canada Ltd. of Edmonton, the charter airline was to take the vacationers to Malaga, Andalusia. Funseekers International Ltd. of Calgary, the travel organization that arranged the package tour, expect to absorb heavy financial losses from the cancellation. John Paddon of Vancouver, Wardair branch sales manager, said a sudden decision by the Spanish government to impose a punitive landing surcharge had forced the cancellation. He said he understood the surcharge would amount to about 30 per cent of revenues, or $15,000 a flight. Ten Boeing 707 flights were planned, including six from Western Canada, starting February 23, 1970. Neil Burton commented "Definitely short notice of cancellation". |
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Service between Edmonton - Winnipeg - Chicago began with B-727 equipment. |
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Issue dated June 1945 From the early days of Trans-Canada Air Lines |
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We peruse the early additions of the 'Between Ourselves' magazine to go back in time in case some readers are interested in genealogy information on their families. |
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This is great news to a company badly pressed as is ours for additional flight equipment. We all know how inadequate our 25 Lodestars and 14-08's, with their limited seat and cargo capacity, have been to cope with the rising demand for air transportation in this country. Until now, however, wartime conditions of scarcity have made the obvious remedy impossible. |
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They Knew Their Value. When Vancouver airport set about the sale of Eighth Victory Loan Bonds, they found (among others) the three men pictured. From the right: First Officer AL Dodd, formerly Flight Lieutenant Dodd of the RCAF, First Officer Fletch Taylor, formerly Squadron Leader DFC, of the RCAF, and Passenger Agent-in-charge Gil Minorgan also formerly of the RCAF. |
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They don't look like veterans, those two in the centre; but they are. By the standards of TCA, a young but powerful company whose early members did a great job in a very little time. 'Geb' Dempsey and Jack Goddard accordingly smoothed down their long white hair and beamed for the photographer as they were presented with their Service Pins up in Toronto's Central Reservation Control Office. They joined a rapidly growing band of those who are entitled to wear the little white and gold circle in their lapels. 'Geb' Dempsey (second from left) started off with the Traffic Department in Montreal, moving later to Windsor and Victoria. He was Traffic Representative in Toronto's Royal York Office. Jack Goddard (third from left) started at Malton Airport as a Passenger Agent, and was Space Control Agent-in-Charge at Central Control. Wally Courtney, as Toronto's District Traffic Manager, stands beside Geb and Dave Paul, C.C's Space Control Supervisor, beside Jack. They, too, are five-year men. |
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Yes, a new 3/4-ton station wagon for Kapuskasing. It's rather outstanding and can be seen for miles around. The fenders are a bright red, the body grey with Trans-Canada Air Lines painted on both sides and it was, without a doubt, the talk of the town. All kidding aside, it sure was appreciated and a great help to the station. by Jack Johns |
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O. T. Larson trophy presented to the Winnipeg Champion 'Bombers'. In late April, 1945 Winnipeg's Recreation Association (aka TCARA) closed out the 1944/45 bowling season with a banquet and dance at the Marlborough Hotel. Left to right: Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Cheyne, Bert Tomalin, 'Bomber Captain', Mrs. Christie, George Cheyne, Vice President W.F. English, Jules Lemay and Jim Christie. |
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June 1979 -
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Submitted by subscriber Tim Johnston - Wardair Boeing 727 CF-FUN The photograph (below left) was taken in the spring of 1966 at Edmonton Municipal Airport. It shows Wardair’s brand new Boeing 727 CF-FUN being introduced to the public. That’s Wardair’s DC-6B in the foreground, on that day becoming something of a relic having been usurped by the Boeing. Max Ward is at the back door of his Imperial sedan, helping Mrs. Ward out for the christening ceremony. Note the air stairs lowered at the front port side of the aircraft. For the christening, the stairs were retracted into the fuselage and Mrs. Ward whammed a Champagne bottle onto the narrow aluminum door that covered the opening of the air stairs; twice! At that point, the engineer rushed up and stopped further damage to the fragile aluminum. A large steel hammer was then placed against the skin, the bottle was swung yet again and a successful eruption of champagne splashed upon the new aircraft, now christened Cy Becker. The public was invited to inspect the aircraft, entering by the air stair door that dropped from the rear of the fuselage and exiting by way of the front air stairs, now safely extended once again. I had become familiar with the airport as I was a student at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) at the time, and often visited the Northwest Industries hangar where I was photographing the restoration of Grumman Goose aircraft CF-UAZ, a 1940’s aircraft still earning its keep along BC’s west coast. On that day, I walked out onto the tarmac to photograph Ward’s DC-6B as it framed the newcomer, took this shot that includes Pacific Western’s own DC-6B, and walked back and photographed the christening. I didn’t ask permission from security as there wasn’t any. Ah, glory days at airports! In Wayne’s Wings article in NetLetter # 1336, CF-FUN served with Wardair until sold to a Brazilian operator in 1973. It continued in airline service for another 20 years and was then sold to a Colombian operator. It was withdrawn from service in Bogota, Colombia in 1977 and converted into a restaurant on a Colombian army base. I thought it would be a nice idea if I sent the original negatives to Mr. Ward and did so. He wrote me the attached letter. This image was made by photographing a 16 x 20 inch print that I made at NAIT for an assignment. The print is over 50 years old and hasn’t received the best archival storage. I made this digital copy using Aperture on a Mac desktop computer. Tim Johnston Editors' Note: Click an image below to view the original story on Tim's website. While you are there, browse through his full photo library. Ken Pickford adds the following memory: I also watched the delivery ceremony of the Wardair B-727 from the observation deck of the Edmonton Municipal Airport (YXD) terminal. I think the date was April 25, 1966 (I was then 18). I have a colour slide somewhere of the aircraft on final approach to Runway 34 on a clear sunny day, spewing black smoke as most jet engines did in those days (later modifications significantly reduced the smoke). I also recall the efforts to break the Champagne bottle with resulting dent in the fuselage. By the way, that was the first Boeing jet sold to a Canadian carrier. |
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From the "InfoCanadi>n" magazine |
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Issue dated December 8, 1988 |
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New Canadi>n city District sales manager Helga Schreiber, sales representative Birgit Siewert and passenger agent Daniela Goetschel extend greetings to more than 500 travel agents and other travel industry personnel at a reception in Munich, marking the inaugural of Canadian Airlines service to the Bavarian capital. |
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Don Murphy posted this photo of ex-Britannia Airways B-737 G-BFVB at East Midlands Airport (EMA) on March 26, 1985. Nordair leased this aircraft from May 1, 1985 and returned it to Britannia Airways on April 30, 1986. Photo by Kerry Taylor. Editors' Note: While with Nordair it was registered C-GNDW. Interestingly, after a few other U.K. charter operators, that aircraft spent almost 7 years with WestJet during their early years (from March 1999 to January 2006), registered C-GWWJ. It was scrapped in the U.S. in 2007. The same C-GWWJ registration is now used on a WestJet B-737-800. Click this link to view the same aircraft departing YVR March 22, 2005. |
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Michel Lafrance posted this photo of Nordair Super Constellation at Iqaluit Airport (YFB), circa 1968. |
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In NetLetter #1495, Atty Heise submitted a photo of her husband, Murray, with an unidentified friend, working for Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope. Atty has since been advised that the name of the gentleman (on the left in the photo) is Lorne Collins. |
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From a blog by Pierre Gillard of the Quebec Aerospace Museum. (Translated from the original) The successor to the Vickers Viscount, the Vickers Vanguard, did not have the same success as its predecessor. One of the aircraft of this fleet (former TCA registration CF-TKC) is pictured below after it was sold to Europe Aero Service and registered as F-BTOX. We see it here at Le Bourget in October 1974 with a livery which leaves no doubt about its Canadian origin. Editors' Note: CF-TKC Fn # 903 c/n 726 Vickers Vanguard type 952 delivered December 14, 1960, sold to Europe Aero Service June 1972. Last noted as derelict at Perpignan. |
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