We have welcomed 82 new subscribers so far in 2021.

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

Back issues of The NetLetter are available in both the original newsletter format and downloadable PDF format.

We invite you to visit our website at www.thenetletter.net/netletters to view our archives.

Restoration and posting of archive issues is an ongoing project. We hope to post every issue back to the beginning in 1995.

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, Air Georgian, First Air/Canadian North and all other Canadian based airlines that once graced the Canadian skies.

Please feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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

Thanks!

The 2021 International Conference and Career Expo of The Ninety-Nines was planned to be celebrated at the Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach, California on July 7 - 10, 2021. 

However, because of pandemic concerns, the 2021 Annual Meeting of The Ninety-Nines will take place virtually this year on July 10, 2021. Plans are underway for the 2022 International Conference in Charleston, South Carolina.

Please check The Ninety-Nines event website for more up to date information.

Source: whirlygirls.org/industry-events

Graham Edwards shares his comments after reading about the IATA travel pass in NetLetter #1460 –

Thanks for the info on the IATA Travel Pass. Had been watching developments closely so glad to see the App is now available. Now we need the Canadian government, the provinces and Air Canada on board so we can get our COVID-19 vaccination information securely transferred from our individual provincial heath profiles to the IATA Travel Pass.

I sent AC Public Affairs an email a couple of weeks ago asking when AC was going to sign on to the IATA Travel Pass but no reply to date. I assume that with the Canadian Government discouraging international travel, they’ve probably urged AC not to participate in this Travel Pass until international travel is again allowed.

I downloaded the App but the next step is that ‘the Carrier’ has to send you a 6 number code so you can activate the App. ☹️☹️☹️

Cheers, Graham

From David Hykle - 

I just read the latest issue of The NetLetter, another great one!

I always thought the Curtiss Commando was the "ugliest and weirdest" looking airplane but the Carvair is right up there.

I purchased a copy of William Dean's 'The ATL-98 Carvair' some time ago that details the complete story behind this aircraft; very well done. The EPA machine was number 6 of 21 that Freddie Laker and his team put together. I believe all of the 21 aircraft started out as operational C-54's that were extensively modified by virtually removing the entire forward fuselage section just in front of the wing leading edge and starting over. The photos in Dean's book reveal exceptional workmanship, the outer skins all hand-formed.

As you know, the Hawkair machine was written off eventually, with only two versions still remaining, one in South Africa and the other in Texas. I actually had a complete tour of c/n #9 in Denison, Texas a few years back while it was being readied for service. What a neat part of aviation history; I have some interior pictures and will try to dig them up. Wonderful visit that day. A significant amount of money and labour went into returning the aircraft to service over the last few years, but I believe it hasn't flown for quite some time.

A bit of trivia for you about the Hawkair Carvair registration.....did you recognize it, C-GAAH? I believe that was Air Canada's Fin #408, a Boeing 727 that ended up with FedEx. The airplane now serves as a training device for the O'Hare Airport Fire Department at the north end of the field. You can still see it on GoogleEarth.

Regards,

Dave

Editors' Note: Fin #408 was re-registered N257FE, named 'Felicia' and flew in the FedEx fleet until 2014. Photo courtesy of Bill Wang at Planespotters.net

John Cooke shares these photos about Fin # 711 in retirement.

My recollections of FIN 711!
It was a bright fall day in September when Fin # 711 took her short, final flight from the AC Maintenance Base in Dorval, PQ to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Rockcliffe Airport in Ottawa, ON. 

In the photos below -

Upper left - This nose-on view is also shown in Netletter #899, with Captain Rob Giguere, the presenter.

Upper right - Waiting to be towed forward to the presentation area ahead.

Next, shown in the rear, parked behind the museum (long white building). Other retirees were present - a TCA Viscount, on the right and below, in the foreground, CF-TCA, a Lockheed 10A.

We were able to view the refurbished interiors of the Y- and J - cabins, as well as "pat the nose" of #711.

For myself, it was a memorable experience!

I have flown many times between Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal on the DC-9.

John Cooke

Editors' Note: For more on Fins 711 & 712, see NetLetter #1436 for images submitted by Andrew Crain.

Ron Herbert has shared these two photos of the C&SS Dorval group during their monthly breakfast meeting at Brasserie Le Manoir in Pointe Claire with the comment "Can’t wait to resume our regular breakfast meetings....at Le Manoir!"

This photo was taken on March 10, 2017. 

From the left standing: Ron Hébert, Jim Drury, Brian Swinburne and Mario Pazzia.

Seated: Doug Olson and Ray Valois.

This photo was was taken on April 11, 2018.

From the left: Ron Hébert, Michel Racine, Ray Valois and Brian Swinburne.

Editors' note: Brian Swinburne has recently returned home after a serious bout with Covid-19. We wish him well.

On January 30, 1971, this was the view my family and I had from the windows at the check in desk at Sydney’s Kingsford-Smith airport of DC-8-63 CF-CPQ.

Obviously the flight to Fiji did not depart. The previous evening, the flight was cleared to land and at the end of the landing run was instructed to, “Take exit right. Switch to 121.7.” (the ground frequency).

The CP crew said, “Roger.” The controller saw the landing lights sweep towards the taxi way and turned his attention to the other end of the runway, granting a Trans Australian 727 permission to take off.

With the Australian accent, the CP crew misheard the direction as, “backtrack if you like,” and turned 180 degrees and began to backtrack on the runway. When the two captains realized they were going to collide, the DC-8 powered up and turned toward the grass. The 727 rotated and got airborne. The underside of the 727 hit the vertical stabilizer of the DC-8, breaking it off. 

The Australian pilot lost much of his hydraulics and immediately declared an emergency, telling the controller he had hit the DC-8. The CP crew steered back to the centre line and noticed landing lights of another plane on approach to land. 

Norm Foster shares his "Memorable trip" with us -

It started with an aperitif to wet the appetite, followed by Beluga Caviar and Vodka. An appetizer featuring lobster tails was nicely completed when the Silver Trolley Service offering a prime rib of beef ready for carving arrived.

The earlier selected Beaujolais Superior complemented this main course and lastly the pastry tray arrived along with French champagne. Satiated, Susan unfastened her seat belt and made her way up the circular staircase to visit me on the B-747 flight deck, and to say goodnight, before turning in. Sleeping for the remainder of the trip, when she was awakened for breakfast, we would be descending into Paris.

First Class service on a B-747 Atlantic flight was very special and was an appreciated upgrade for Susan, through the welcomed discretion of the In-Charge-Flight Attendant and crew. Paris being the favorite city for both of us, she would, on occasion, join me in what amounted to a 2 day mini vacation to Europe.

This particular flight was partly to make up for a previous trip gone wrong. Sometime earlier we had planned the same trip and Susan had joined me in the 1 1/2 hour drive to the airport.

Unfortunately, at departure time, the aircraft was completely full and my fallback position of having her ride on the flight deck was unavailable due to it being occupied by my students. Pushback from the gate with Susan waving forlornly from the departure lounge was made worse knowing that she now faced the 1 1/2 hour drive back to Niagara, alone. I had some making up to do.

This reparation trip went smoothly with Susan firmly ensconced in First Class and following her goodnight visit to the flight deck, I relaxed and looked forward to our time in Paris. The attraction of the City of Lights was very familiar to us, but we never tired of its charms. Re-visiting the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, Rodin’s Museum, L’Orangerie et al, once again filled our days and the bistros and cafes our stomachs. For us, just wandering the streets and boulevards of Paris is enough, and yet, never enough.

Our 2 days drew to a close and we were spending our last evening on the balcony of our Paris Hilton hotel room, which faced the Eiffel Tower, 2 short streets away. We had just toasted another wonderful Paris visit when it began.

The most spectacular display of fireworks, centered on the Eiffel Tower and rivalling anything on this side of the Atlantic. Although as surprised and awe struck as Susan, I quickly recovered and presenting my glass again for toasting, offered…. “I arranged this display for you to atone for the trip you missed!”

Epilogue:

It took Susan (and I) a few moments to realize that the fireworks were in celebration of Bastille Day. I had to share the cause for this amazing display with the French Revolution. 

Norm Foster

On February 12, 2009, Captain Rachelle Jones Kerr, First Officer Stephanie Grant and Flight Attendants Robin Rogers and Diana Galloway flew and attended Atlantic Southeast Airlines’ Flight 5202 from Atlanta to Nashville and returned to Atlanta on Flight 5106.

“Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight No. 5202 was a historic milestone in the world of aviation, and we’re proud and honored that Nashville International Airport played a part in this landmark event,” said Rob Wigington, MNAA president and CEO. “As part of the Airport Authority’s celebration of Black History Month, we were honored to host the flight crew who made history right here in our city.”

Source: wkrn.com/news

Star Alliance and Living Map Partnership Offers Touchless Digital Airport Connections.

In partnership with Living Map, Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance, has begun developing a set of location and map-based digital tools for integration into the mobile apps of their member airlines.

The first of these, Star Alliance’s digital version of its Connection Service product, launched last September 2020 with Singapore Airlines at London Heathrow Airport (LHR), and is planned for rollout to other member airlines and additional transfer intensive airports.

Source: staralliance.com

Reprinted with the permission of Larry Milberry of www.canavbooks.wordpress.com

Air Canada 747 Retrospective.

One of the great triumphs in aviation history since Day 1 goes by the simple name “Boeing 747”. You can learn all the basics starting with the Wiki 747 entry, then there’s a host of excellent books to read.

Also, a real “must see” is Sam Chui’s nostalgic YouTube video – 'The Last British Airways B747 Flight – An Emotional Farewell';  see 'Featured Video' section below.

Sam has done a bang-up job covering the recent retirement of the B-747 from British Airways.

From the "Horizons" magazine.

Winnipeg's Machine Shop got together to pay tribute to Lead Mechanic Ron Smith who retired after 28 years of service. During that time, Ron worked in Dorval and later Winnipeg.

From left to right: Jim Pirie, Ross Hudson, Manfred Wolff, Steve Fallon, Ross Watson, Jeff Page, Ted Puzio, Joe Reis, Ron Smith, Jon Maksymowicz, Ken Lodge, Dave Nash, Jacques Martineau (Dorval representative) and Sal Raquid.

Annual meeting celebrates Air Canada's 60th.

The past, present and future were all celebrated at Air Canada's 1997 Annual Meeting held in Vancouver.

Employees, retirees and shareholders were treated to a fond look back at the airline's past through a photo and memorabilia exhibit that spanned the six decades since Trans-Canada Air Lines' incorporation.

Each of the past 60 years was represented photographically, while three display cases exhibited a wide range of TCA artifacts, including glassware, china, model aircraft, reservations and ticketing items and, of course, the airline's 1937 annual report.

Flight attendants past and present wore vintage uniforms dating as far back as the 1940's.

Five members of the Canadian Maple Wings Association, an organization made up of Trans-Canada Air Lines and Air Canada flight attendants, helped out sporting their original stewardess uniforms from the '40's and '50's.

Air BC, Air Canada Cargo, In-Flight Service and Dreams Take Flight provided meeting attendees with an impressive array of displays that captured what each does best, while Rapidair feted its 25 years with apples and apple juice for all.

Our photo - These former and current employees of Air Canada elegantly display fight attendant uniforms from the airline past and present.

From left to right: Dorothy Stauffer (summer uniform 1941-47); Barbara E. Buchanan (current uniform); Patricia Gajo (summer uniform 1953-64); Joan Racey (summer uniform 1953-64); Rose Ann Mollard (summer uniform 1953-64); Mary Gordon (M. G.) Moir and Audrey Brandon (uniform late 40's); Barney Dick (summer uniform 1953-64); Rita Morgan (uniform 1964-69); Cory McAdam (uniform 1968-74) and Barbara Dunn (summer uniform 1953-64).

Team Effort for Dallas start-up.

These members of the "Open Skies Team" took part in the start-up operations for Dallas.

Editors' note: The photo below is a mirror image as is noticeable by the logo the background. 

From right to left: Kirt Douglas, United Airlines Customer Service Training; A.C. Zeller, Manager, Customer Service - Newark; Brian Colgan, Manager, Supply & Purchasing - Central, Atlantic Canada, U.S. & South; Georgina Cronin, RES Procedures Tampa; Frances Gerard, Customer Service Training - Miami; Mark Ballard, Maintenance Manager - Washington; Janet Ferguson, Manager, Customer Service - Houston; Kevin Stein, Customer Service Training - Toronto; Pat Moore, General Manager, Customer Service - U.S. & South and Ron Klein, Customer Service - Denver. 

The CP Air Communications Advisory Group.

Back row from left to right: Stan Sierpina; Larry Lehna; Jerry Kielmann; Jim Thirsk; Mike Gray, Observer; Tony Craig; Wayne Irving; Peter Partridge, Guest Speaker and Lorne Paterson.

Front row from left to right: Val Tearle; Nina Morrison; Georgia MacFadyen; Tom Laurie; George McRobbie; Sherann Broder, Secretary, Al Bingham; Frank Healy; Jack Webb; Golfer Extraordinaire Cum Founder.

Missing from photo is Peter Golding, CP Air News Editor.

Two New Year's Eves brought double kisses for DC-8 Captain Cec McNeal from stewardesses Ina Laesecke, left, and Kumi Miyama, as Althea Young, left, and Eileen Suen kibitz behind.

Situation resulted from crew crossing Date Line on December 31, 1963 Hong Kong-Vancouver flight. Photo was used to publicize Orient route, received wide coverage across Canada and overseas.

Larry Milberry of www.canavbooks.wordpress.com has suggested this excellent 22 minute video from Sam Chui.

"The Last British Airways B747 Flight - An Emotional Farewell"

Editors' note: Little known fact - maybe - after the merge between BEA and BOAC, the name on the 747 had the name "British airways" - note the lower case "a" in airways.

Virgin Galactic introduced the first of its 'SpaceShip III' suborbital spaceplanes, named 'VSS Imagine', on Tuesday March 30, 2021.

The third generation SpaceShip features a modular design that will, the company says, “enable improved performance in terms of maintenance access and flight rate.”

Virgin Galactic is also in the process of building the second member of the SpaceShip III fleet, VSS Inspire.

“Today we unveiled our SpaceShip III class of vehicles, marking the beginning of the Virgin Galactic fleet,” said Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier. “VSS Imagine and Inspire are stunning ships that will take our future astronauts on an incredible voyage to space, and their names reflect the aspirational nature of human spaceflight.”

Source: www.avweb.com/aviation-news

Canadian North has announced that it will soon be retiring its two Boeing 737-200 Combis that are equipped to land on gravel runways. The company has decided that it is no longer economically feasible to maintain the two 40 year old aircraft. 

Full story at: Nunatsiaq News

See our story on the Canadian North fleet in NetLetter #1333 from 2015

 Boeing 314 'Clipper'

While doing my research for recent articles on the CP Air 'Empress' and Pan Am 'Jet Clipper' fleets, I have been fascinated by the tradition of naming aircraft similarly to ocean liners fleets of the early 20th century. In retrospect, it seems to be such a natural part of the evolution of travel.

So when I received a notification from the Simple Flying YouTube channel entitled 'The Plane that Had It All: The Rise And Fall Of The Boeing 314 Clipper', I immediately had to watch it.

 Pan American Airways was looking for a 'flying boat' so Boeing modified the cancelled XB-15 to develop a luxury aircraft capable of take off and landing on water. 

Twelve 'Clippers' were built between 1938 and 1941 with nine of them serving with Pan Am and three with BOAC. The concept behind the 'Clipper' was an attempt to recreate the shipboard atmosphere in the air. It made the first scheduled trans-Atlantic flight June 28, 1939. Passengers looked down at the sea from large windows and enjoyed the comforts of dressing rooms, a dining salon that could be turned into a lounge and a bridal suite. The Clipper’s 74 seats converted into 40 bunks for overnight travelers. Four-star hotels catered gourmet meals served from its galley.

Registration G-AGCA  flew Winston Churchill and Lord Beaverbrook (Minister of Aircraft Production) back to the United Kingdom in mid-January, 1942 after the British Prime Minister's extended stay in the United States following Pearl Harbor. Churchill was the first head of government to make a transatlantic crossing by plane.

For more info on the 'Clipper', click to image below to view the video.

Additional references:

Wikipedia.org  

www.boeing.com/history

www.businessinsider.com

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

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US President Joe Biden might need a refresher in high school physics but his heart seems to be in the right place when it comes to advancing aviation technology.

As part of the pitch on his $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, Biden mused about harnessing the country’s R&D capabilities and developing, among other things, hypersonic passenger airliners capable of flying 21,000 MPH, which is practically impossible in the atmosphere.

At any rate, the comments indicated general support for supersonic travel as part of a pep talk to stoke national pride.

Source: www.avweb.com/aviation-news

During the recent ZOOM session with members of the UK Pionairs group, Roy Novell related a story from his son, who works for Virgin Atlantic, that they managed to get 16 people in the cockpit of an A350 aircraft while it was on the ground, and even managed to close the cockpit door as well.

Editors' Note: No mention if the 16 people travelled in one Mini car getting to the airport.