We have welcomed 267 new subscribers so far in 2020.

Special thanks to Yves Brunelle for recommending us to his social group. 

We wish to thank everyone for your support of our efforts.

We always welcome feedback about Air Canada (including Jazz and Rouge) from our subscribers who wish to share current events, memories and photographs.

Particularly if you have stories to share from one of the legacy airlines: Canadian Airlines, CP Air, Pacific Western, Eastern Provincial, Wardair, Nordair, Transair, Air BC, Time Air, Quebecair, Calm Air, NWT Air, Air Alliance, Air Nova, Air Ontario and Air Georgian and many more (let us know if we have omitted your airline).

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We will try to post your comments in the next issue but, if not, we will publish it as soon as we can.

Thanks!

Mike Nash sends us this information -

The World's Largest Weathervane, a DC-3.

Regarding the note and photograph of the DC-3 at Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport in NetLetter #1447, did you know that this monument rotates on its pedestal to make what is claimed to be the world’s largest weather vane? 

It takes a 5 knot breeze to turn the aircraft. I first noticed this in August 2008 when it appeared to be pointing in a different direction in the morning than it had been the night before, causing me to wonder if I had imagined it or if it truly turned on its base.

Below is the picture that I took on that occasion at the Yukon Transportation Museum next to the airport. Note that the linked article (link below)  says it was moved here in the summer of 2009, which is incorrect as I took the picture a year earlier in August 2008.

Reference:

www.atlasobscura.com/places/worlds-largest-weathervane-dc-3

Sincerely, 

Mike Nash

Editors' note:

The article at the Explore North website may explain the reference to the aircraft being moved in 2009. The last paragraph states:

"In July 2009, "Charlie Papa Yankee" once again was brought down from her pedestal, this time to be moved a few hundred meters to a new location at the constantly-expanding Yukon Transportation Museum. There, she remains one of the most popular attractions in Whitehorse".

Ken Starnes sends this information referring to the photo of the "Yukon King" under "Submitted Photos" in NetLetter #1447 -

The man in the suit is Robert Service, a famous poet. His name is on the photo. He worked at the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Dawson City.

'The Bard of the Yukon', 'The Cremation of Sam McGee' and  'The Shooting of Dan McGrew' are a few of his works.

More on the life of Robert Service can be found at Wikipedia.

Mary Ellen Harrison has sent us this photo from her collection -

The solution was obvious.

One Winnipegger has proved, literally, that you've got to be up in the air to beat the city's traffic problem.

Like other city motorists. Trans-Canada Air Lines Captain C. R. Robinson, of East Kildonan beat the city's street traffic every time he had to go out to the airport. It took him 23 minutes to travel by car from his home to Stevenson Field.

However, the morning trip took him only 5 minutes in his seaplane he kept moored on the Red River behind his home. In the old days when he travelled to work by car, the distance was 13 miles; by plane, the distance is just five miles.

A veteran flier, Captain Robinson was president of the Canadian Airline Pilots Association. Our photo (undated) shows Captain Robinson at the controls of his traffic beating Seabee.

Mary Ellen Harrison has a collection of cuttings from her career.

Most of my pics were just a collection of people and crews I worked with, nothing specific.

I flew North Stars and DC-3’s when I started with TCA in the 50’s. At that time, the crew was a Captain, First Officer and one Stewardess. 

I was based in Winnipeg then, so we flew with the same crews a lot. Lots of good memories.

The North Star configuration was 64 passengers with a route of Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal, with a layover in Montreal where we stayed  at the Mount Royal hotel.

The DC-3, if I remember correctly, was a 7 hour 'milk run' between Winnipeg and Calgary stops in Brandon, Regina, Swift Current, Saskatoon, Edmonton and, finally, Calgary.

In the photo below, Art Hollinsworth was a check pilot and was often on my flights, and it was interesting when his son 'Armie', came along as the First Officer and they were on a flight together. Probably happens more frequently in years since.

Editors' note:
We located the original article in the "Between Ourselves" issued May 1956, with the following caption:

For the first time in the history of our Company, a father and son recently flew a scheduled flight together, from Toronto to Windsor. The father, Captain Art Hollinsworth, left, a Toronto check pilot with 16 years' TCA experience, was at the controls, while his son Armand was in the "right seat" as First Officer. Armand, previously with the RCAF, is a recent TCA first officer graduate. His father has been flying for some 28 years and is a "many million miler.".

This photo is of Sylvain Taillefer. I think he was a ramp controller, but I can’t remember whether he was Winnipeg or Toronto. I’m inclined to think Toronto.

Editors' note:
We located this article in “Between Ourselves" issue April 1958. In the original article, the picture was taken in Montreal and the ramp controller is unidentified.

Father and son represent a quarter century of TCA service.

A quarter century of service with TCA is represented here by Captain Ken Harling and his father Herb Harling of Toronto District Sales. Ken had recently achieved his captaincy and has been with the airline for seven years while his dad joined in 1938. 

Editors' note:
Article located in "Between Ourselves" issued July 1997.

Viewing the video of CF-TCC in NetLetter #1447, brought back this memory by one of our proofreaders, Bob Sheppard -

I had a ride in CF-TCC out to Vancouver Island, over Vancouver and back to YVR.

I enjoyed it thoroughly and didn’t really notice the noise. It was parked beside our chair shop in Winnipeg for a long time while two of our talented finishers did the first refurbishment of the cabin. Very experienced sewers and upholsterers, Joe Bommersbach and Ozzie Belaire.

Editors' note:
We came across this article in the "Horizons" magazine issue dated November 1995.

The Vancouver Recognition committee designed a unique method to recognize Vancouver-based employees who have demonstrated excellence through their performance or personal achievements as Air Canada employees. Nominated by peers, 70 employees were given one-hour scenic tours in Air Canada's historic L10A aircraft, CF-TCC, in which one lucky recipient of the trip was Bob Sheppard.

Here is the photo which accompanied the article.

Employees embraced the time period theme and Casablanca clichés were the order of the day, including 40's fashion by Reservation Agents: Anne-Marie Cathcart, Kirstin Park together with Mimi Reppen-Jeffers, Crew Support Centre Coordinator.

Adam Clark shares this memory.

If you don’t ask you don’t get.

This is a tale about transpacific travel in the 1970's. I am a dual national Canadian/Kiwi with a need to visit relatives/buddies etc.

It was late 1976 or 1977 and Pan Am had deployed the new Boeing 747SP on nonstop service between San Francisco (SFO) and Auckland (AKL) which was excellent for me since it avoided the risk of deplanement at Honolulu (HNL), Papeete (PPT) or Pago Pago (PPG), places where Pan Am otherwise stopped en route to New Zealand.

The 747SP was a shortened version of the B747-100 for longer range, but in fact barely had enough range to reach AKL in the North Island and very marginal for the South Island alternate of Christchurch (CHC). Only 45 of them were ever built.

Armed with my ID90 ticket I arrived at Los Angeles (LAX) via L-1011 from Montreal (YUL) and Toronto (YYZ), expecting to locally purchase a domestic ticket to SFO on PSA Airlines.

In those days Pan Am and Air Canada shared a LAX terminal. I noticed a new Pan Am 747SP parked adjacent to our incoming flight. Aware that Pan Am only had a few B747SP's delivered and was not authorised to fly domestically, I wondered if the ship was about to ferry. I stopped at the Pan Am counter and showed my ID90 ticket for that night’s flight ex SFO and asked where the 747SP on the ramp was destined.

When told it was being ferried to SFO for my flight to AKL I asked whether I might board. I explained the fare was identical whether departing from LAX or SFO. Answer was “Hell, yes” and was told to see the gate agent and I would be boarded. When I replied that there was no gate agent present he gave me the 4 digit code to punch in the gate door. So I simply boarded with carry-on to the surprise of the deadheading cabin crew as the only “customer”. Later that night aboard that 747SP, I was seated in the last row adjacent the Captain’s spouse. Shortly before descent the captain welcomed us to NZ recommending we turn our minds back some years in to prepare for what awaited. The captain’s spouse laughed and told me it was his last flight and they were relocating to New Zealand. 

Adam Clark

Editor's note by Bob Sheppard:

I recall a similar situation occurred in Vancouver where on our last night shift, a fellow employee wanted to fly to Toronto. There was a B-747-400 scheduled on a ferry flight to Toronto and he was allowed to fly there using his employee pass. He picked a row and slept soundly. Having a 747-400 to yourself must have been quite the experience.

Women’s History Month.

Historical Canada released a new 'Heritage Minute' tribute to Elsie MacGill’s influential role in the Second World War on Thursday, October 1 to mark the first day of Women’s History Month. 

MacGill was one of the first women admitted to the engineering program at the University of Toronto in 1923, and would earn a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology six years later.

The Heritage Minute clip picks up after those achievements, centering on her role at the Canadian Car & Foundry in what is now Thunder Bay.

That's where she oversaw the production of more than 1,400 Hawker Hurricane aircraft, which were flown by Canadian airmen in the Battle of Britain. Her involvement helped earn her the nickname “Queen of the Hurricanes.”

The Heritage Minute was written and directed by Scooter Corkle, who also produced a 2019 tribute to Japanese-Canadian baseball team the Vancouver Asahi.

Click the image below to view Elsie MacGill's Heritage minute.

Source: This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 1, 2020.

Denise Walters shares her love of flying with CTV News.

Captain Denise Walters, of Air Canada Boeing 777, always knew she wanted to fly. Growing up in Moose Jaw, she would make flying contraptions and collect leaves to jump off the garage roof, she told CTV News in a recent interview.

Denise operates the largest aircraft in our fleet, ensuring the safety of our crews and customers on every single flight.

“It’s a huge responsibility and I take it very seriously,” she said.

Education is also a priority for her, saying she studies a great deal on her own time to stay current on the industry trends. Denise is a testament to the growing number of female pilots who choose to follow this career path.

Click the image below for the entire interview and an accompanying video.

Calin Rovinescu to retire as President and CEO of Air Canada early next year.

Full story at the
Air Canada Mediaroom

Mr. Rovinescu's achievements as listed at SimpleFlying.com

Recently, our international colleagues conducted a successful live trial of self-boarding gate technology at London Heathrow (LHR).

Customers on flights AC865 and AC849 were able to scan their boarding passes and proceed through electronic gates on their way to the bridge. With no glitches reported, our vendor partners also mentioned that our new passenger service system, Altea Customer Management, made the required IT integration work seamlessly.

It should be noted that employees are always present to assist our customers with any challenges.

Source: AC Daily September 25, 2020

Here we have three advertisements for TCA from the early 1940's.

Source:
 www.vintageadbrowser.com

Found in the "Horizons" magazine

Issue dated March 1995.

When the Winnipeg Employee Call Centre opened June 1994, we did not expect to get over 1,000 calls a day. However, thanks to adding staff working at the centre, waiting is a thing of the past.

Editors' note:

The Employee Call Centre was set up to assist employees to register for flights without tying up the customer reservation lines. It has since been replaced by the on-line Employee Travel Site.

The group image below is of the 25 members of the Employee Call Centre Team at the time of the article. A few faces are hard to find (give it a try).

Front Row: Charles Wong, Luc Bedard, Louise Wilson, Maria Bava, Phil Ayotte, Brigitte Boulet, Brigitte Bisson and Andre Allison.

Centre Row: Jake Sousa, Lisa Jonatchick, Krista Friesen, Colleen Cameron, Rachelle Grandmont, Kathy Brooker, Cel Alpestana, Kieren Paul and Suzanne Cormier.

Back Row: Pat Tognet, Nathalie Longtin, Sean Garrity, Michael Sas, Darryl Draeger, Alfio Innocca, Bruce Melrose and Don Boulet.

Missing From Photo: Cecile Clearwater, Jacquie Cormier, Princealine Moores, Helen Shumada, Colette MacLean, David Cox, Janet McNutt, Judi Mutton, Pat Desautels, Maria Concalo, John Ticzon, Victoria Barnes, Keri Ottenbreit, Laura Hicke, Myra Boyd, Marjolaine Hebert, Ian Birt, Leanne Hudson, Barbara Gmitrowski, Francine Champagne, Ann Gajek, Sari Sairanen and Howard Hewitt.

In the Fall of 1994, the Customer Service branch representing Eastern Canada held a party to remember all employees celebrating 25 or more years of service.

Among the Customer Sales and Service Agents marking their anniversaries were:

Back Row: Viviane Abecassis-Kandravy, Léonce Hubert, Jocelyne Riviere-Rouleau, Maurice Lalonde, Claude Kinlough, Michel Laberge.

Front Row: Jocelyne St-Laurent, Ron Sicard, Madeleine Ranellucci-Blair, Micheline DiLallo, Francoise Bitauld, Pierre Langlois, Danny Sobolta, Lucy St. Cyr, Gino Marricco, Manager, Customer Service STOC; France Martin and Danielle Tartre.

Kneeling: Susan Welscheid, General Manager, Customer Service - Eastern Canada and Pasquale Ciacci.

Issue dated February 2000.

Victory in Geneva. 

In November 1999, our Montreal Air Canada hockey team flew to Geneva to face off against their counterparts in Switzerland. Working together with the precision of a Swiss timepiece, our team skated to victory with scores of 9 - 5 and 10 - 4.

Passing the puck were, back row (left to right):

Antony Torriani, Gary Beisswanger, Eric Quesnel, Customer Service Manager, Operations; Rick Simoneau, Manager-Flight Management; Mike Gerbis, Steve Beisswanger, Manager, Crew Planning & Resource Allocation and Chris McEwen.

Front row (left to rigfht): Mark Dubois, Graham Blom, Engineer, Widebody; Brian Losito, Photographer, Employee Communications; Andrew Torriani, Manager, Labour Relations, Flight Operations and Richard Torriani.

Issue dated March 2000.

Y2K - it's a wrap.

Thanks to extensive planning activities underway since 1996, and the work of a large team of computer and business professionals, our transition to the Year 2000 was smooth.

Our computer systems, operations, and network services didn't encounter any significant problems related to the changeover from 1999 to 2000. 

The crew of flight AC891, en route from Vancouver to Osaka, was the first to enter the millennium at the New Zealand time zone.

Left to right: Flight Attendant Joanne Wallace, Captain Herb Russell, Flight Attendant Daisy Ho, First Officer George Grant; Flight Attendants Faye Dietrich, Scott Carter, Richard Shimoto-Kahara and Howard Hughes, In Charge Flight Attendant Andrea Morgan, Flight Attendants Andrew Nixon, Yuki Okitsu, Tom Ballantyne and Cruise Pilot Vicky Veldhoen.

Issue dated April 2000.

On April 3, 2000, the daily non-stop service between Toronto and Tokyo commenced when AC101 departed.

Flight details:

The only daily non-stop service between Toronto-Tokyo, our 284-seat A340-300 soars over the Arctic Circle at Barrow, Alaska and somewhat lower in latitude to take advantage of favourable tail winds enroute to Asia's largest city.

Using random navigation (RNAV) in Canada, we'll pick up airways at the Yukon/Alaska boundary on into Russia and then down over Sakhalin Island into Japan.

April 1950 was a busy time for Air Canada's predecessor, Trans-Canada Air Lines.

On April 1, 1950, we inaugurated service between Montreal and New York LaGuardia, and on April 2, 1950, between Montreal and Tampa. While two very different destinations, the reason for their long-standing success is very similar - superior service. 

Air Canada's service to the heart of Canadian confederation, Charlottetown, is 25 years old this month. That first flight, a DC-9 bound for Ottawa and Toronto, departed Charlottetown Airport at 3:45 pm on April 28, 1975

Pulling together.

On February 9, 2000, the Canadian Airlines hangar on Convair Drive in Toronto was the place to be for the unveiling of the first Canadian Airlines B-767 in its new transitional livery.

Buoyed by over 500 Air Canada and Canadian Airlines employees in attendance, Robert Milton and Steve Markey, Senior Vice President, Corporate and Government Affairs, Canadian Airlines, were on hand as employees from both carriers pulled the aircraft into the hangar for all to see. The new look, which features the Maple Leaf tail and Canadian proud wings identity on the white fuselage combines the two strong and distinct brands recognized world-wide.

What it takes to paint a B-767:

• 1,200 hours
• 30 gallons of primer
• 45 gallons of white paint
• 15 gallons of green paint

(Source: AC Horizons magazine issue, March 2000)

Norah Carmichael posted this on Facebook August 22, 2020.

CPA inflatable world globes, dated 1968. 

Lynn Gutowsky posted this on August 9, 2020.

First class amenities to Japan.

Mike Nash sent us this link from his YouTube channel:

I was recently going through some old photographs to add to my YouTube channel and I put this together, namely a few months-long period as a student pilot in England shortly before a nine-year career with Air Canada Computer & Systems Services in the 1970's:

How many 1969 vintage aircraft types can your readers identify?

Sincerely

Mike Nash

Michael De Wilde sent in this link to United Airlines Boeing 247 registration NC13364 taking off from Vancouver as posted on the BC History YouTube channel.

The last A380 has rolled off the assembly line in Toulouse, France, ending the production run at just 242 aircraft.

When production began in 2006, Airbus estimated demand at 1200 aircraft but the Super Jumbo was quickly eclipsed by long-range twins that could carry almost as many passengers at much lower cost.

The current collapse of the airline industry has grounded most of the fleet and two of the earliest aircraft launched by Singapore Airlines have already been scrapped.

The last A380 is owned by Emirates but there is some question whether it will enter service for the airline. Emirates operates more than half the fleet and has already set 2035 as the end of service date for the type. Since there is virtually no second-hand market for the aircraft, it appears most will head for scrap.

The last A380 still has plenty of work left on it. It needs engines, an interior and an Emirates paint job before it is sent to the owner. 

Source: avweb.com/aviation-news

George Plawski sends us this information regarding his book, 'Never a Dull Moment'. 

Since I see a great variety of aviation subjects printed in your publication, I wonder if your readers would appreciate it if you would consider disseminating information about my recently published book, the flying component of which involves my memories of operating Trackers off the aircraft carrier, HMCS Bonaventure, and stories of the pioneering days of firebombing, many of them happening right on our doorstep in BC.

Importantly, it also includes my romance and travels with my wife, Rita, who was an Air Canada flight attendant from 1966 to 1994.

For the stage buff, the book contains an overview of the early days of Vancouver theatre, including my founding of City Stage, Vancouver's long running lunch hour theatre.

George Plawski.

Editors' note: Book is available at www.amazon.ca

SE 210 Caravelle in Air Canada livery

Did the image in the header of this issue surprise you? Have you been trying to remember when Air Canada operated a Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle?

When subscriber Yves Brunelle sent me a link to this image, I jumped right into Google searches to see what I could find out about this mystery aircraft.

Actually, the aircraft was never a part of the AC fleet. It was painted in AC livery for the 2008 French film 'L'instinct de mort', a biopic on the life of Jacques Mesrine who was France's Public Enemy # 1 during the 1970's and briefly plied his 'trade' in Montreal. 

I checked the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) for info about the film and found a brief glimpse of the aircraft in the film trailer. I'm not sure how much screen time the aircraft had but it was probably only a few seconds. It appears to depict the film's central characters return to France and greeted by the police and press.

Quite a bit of work and attention to detail for a short scene; they even ensured the Canadian registration of C-GCVL.

Thanks to Peter de Jong for permission to use his photograph.

References:

Original photograph at Airliners.net

'L'instinct de mort' at IMDb

Aircraft info at Planelogger.com

Below are a screen capture from the film trailer and the same aircraft (registration F-GCVL) in Air Provence livery (photo by Mathieu Marquer). 

Terry Baker, co-founder of the NetLetter scours the internet for aviation related Trivia and Travel Tips for you, our readers, to peruse.

Answer for the mystery airline in 'Odds and Ends'.

Buta Airways is a LCC carrier based in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Azerbaijan Airlines.

In December 2016, it was announced that Azerbaijan Airlines would set up its own in-house, low-cost airline named AZALJet. After a year of operation, it was decided that AZALJet would be replaced by a new airline named Buta Airways, which would have a fleet of two Embraer aircraft in its own livery, operated by its own staff and with an independent tariff policy.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buta_Airways

Our cartoon is by Dave Mathias and appeared in the "Between Ourselves" issue June 1956, with this caption:

"First, gentlemen, let me show you what drives men through untold hardships in their struggle to conquer the skies - the pay cheque".