I attended the 2015 Vancouver Airline & Aviation Collectibles Show in Richmond, BC. on Saturday, October 24, 2015 hosted by Henry Tenby. It was a great show with lots of interesting memorabilia. While there I met Patricia and Mark Wickson manning a table full of older aviation magazines. What drew my attention was the variety and age of some of the magazines on display. Some went back to 1932!

Marks father (now in his 90's) has been collecting these magazines since he was 12 years old and has recently downsized in order to move into a smaller condo.

There was one copy of The Aeroplane from 1937 that stood out as this was the year that Trans-Canada Air Lines came into being.

Mark and Patricia are interested in finding a good home for the collection, and would prefer to sell the whole lot together or all issues of a magazine together. They have a total of 87 banker size boxes of magazines.

Most publications are related to models (Aero Modeller 1942 - 1979, Model Airplane News 1932 - 1972) and/or Aviation related - (The Aeroplane - 1934 - 2013, Air Classics 1967 - 1994) as well as many more titles as well.

If you or someone you know may be interested in these magazines, please contact Mark or Patricia Wickson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone (604) 685-8486 (Vancouver) for details.

For a full list of all magazines please click on the PDF link below.

Full list of available Aviation magazines

Acronyms, Abbreviations & AOG's -

Today it seems that new words derived from acronyms and abbreviations seem to be routinely added to our vocabulary. To the chagrin of language purists and articulate people everywhere, “words” such as Mpeg, PDF, XLS, iPad, App, DVD and (remember) FAX are overheard frequently in conversation and cross over several languages.

However, those of us in the airline industry have been speaking in acronyms during our entire careers. Many of the which (particularly the most colourful ones) have been inherited from the military, of course.

Aircraft (BA-146) (pictured), Airlines (AC), Airports (DFW), Instruments (VSI) , Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), Airline operations (MOC), Associations (IATA) and Reservations (PNR) are just a few of the contexts where acronyms are commonly used. A detailed list can be found at GOFIR (Global Operations Flight Information Resource).

A very common acronym in the maintenance world is “AOG” which means Aircraft On Ground. My first assignment on my first day with Air Canada in Toronto Purchasing and Supply was to “jump in” with the “AOG” driver. At first I wondered what kind of vehicle an “AOG” was. I spent the next few hours in a van driven by what seemed like a Madman while he picked up and delivered parts from incoming flights required by aircraft maintenance. He explained to me that (in our context) “AOG” was the highest shipping priority and critical to the airline operation. It must be noted that the majority of parts shipped in this manner are not for actually grounded aircraft but for planned maintenance work throughout the day or overnight. However, when an aircraft is  genuinely "AOG" the situation is handled by a full team of professionals.

1989 – Mar – 6th – Inaugural service between Toronto to Chicago.
1990 - May - 23rd Northern Nighthawk service linked Ottawa and Toronto with Iqalut in the eastern Arctic.

Located in the "Info Canadi>n" magazine Issue dated March 1990

• Planned service between Toronto and Mexico in October utilizing B-767-300ER equipment.
• Canadian predecessor Canadian Pacific Air Lines served the Mexican capital commencing ln 1953 and suspending the service 28 years later in 1981.

At Canadian's check in counters at Gatwick Airport from left are: P.C. Dave Le Manquais, Maurice Boyle, station manager, Gatwick, Leslie Price and Jenny Flaherty customer service agents.

Canadian's reservation office in London, U.K has staff of 51 and handled more than 70,000 calls in January and February. Some of the staff at the reservations office are, from the left: Blair Neufeld, Louis Baines, reservations sales agents, Sharon Wood, manager reservations, Rebecca Hodgesan, John Osborne, reservations sales agents, Elaine Ohoway, reservations supervisor, Bettina Davison, trainer, and Melanie Andrews, reservations sales agent.

Garnet Ross has sent us this information -
Well, again we have some facts that need to be clarified about our beloved DC-8 fleet. In NetLetter 1327, Ken Pickford made reference to the fact that 5 DC-8-63 aircraft were converted to all freight configuration.

In fact there were a total of 8 DC-8-63 aircraft that were converted to all freight configuration. The first group of aircraft to be done were FIN’s 867, 871, 872, 873, 874, and 875. As one of these aircraft finished its conversion to freighter, it replaced a small DC-8-54/55 that was then retired from the fleet.

Once these 6 renamed DC-8-63-CF’s were on line and in service, they were once again removed, one at a time, and sent to Dorval for engine up-grates with the GE Smecma CFM-56 engines. When they re-entered service they were then called DC-8-73-CF’s. All conversions were completed by mid 1985.

Very shortly thereafter, it was decided that more aircraft were needed in the freighter fleet and FIN numbers 876 and 877 were taken from their resting places in the Arizona desert and converted to freighters. These last two aircraft were not refitted with the more powerful and fuel efficient CFM-56 engines and were called DC-8-63-CF’s.

(Our records indicate that fin 876 CF-TIU and Fin 877 CF-TIV were converted by Aerovali, Venice. CF-TIU flew first revenue flight April 26th 1986 YUL-PWK-BRU, and sold to Airborne Express Intl November and December 1988 respectively. – eds)

All the DC-8 freighter aircraft were removed from service by the summer of 1994.

Garnet Ross, (retired)
Air Canada Cargo
Toronto 410

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From a greeting card received –

Ever notice the older we get, the more we are like computers?
We start out with lots of memory and drive,
Then we eventually become outdated,
Crash at odd moments,
Acquire errors in our systems,
And have to have our parts replaced.

It looks like Icelandic airline Wow Air is taking a family approach to its fleet strategy, judging by registrations for four
of its aircraft: 
TF-MOM
TF-DAD
TF-BRO
TF-SIS