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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 It was withdrawn from service in Bogota, Colombia in 1977 and converted into a restaurant on a Colombian army base.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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