Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter
Since 1995 Saturday, October 26, 2024
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First Air - C-GUSI
Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules
Photo by Adrian Romang
December 3, 2007 at Yellowknife |
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Dear Welcome to The NetLetter, established in 1995 as a dedicated newsletter for Air Canada retirees.
We have evolved into the longest running aviation-based newsletter for Air Canada, TCA, CP Air, Canadian Airlines and all other Canadian-based airlines that once graced the skies. The NetLetter is self-funded and is always free to subscribers. It is operated by a group of volunteers and is not affiliated with any airline or associated organizations. The NetLetter is published on the second and fourth weekend of each month. If you are interested in Canadian aviation history, and vintage aviation photos, especially as it relates to Trans-Canada Air Lines, Air Canada, Canadian Airlines International and their constituent airlines, then we're sure you'll enjoy this newsletter. Please note: We do our best to identify and credit the original source of all content presented. However, should you recognize your material and are not credited; please advise us so that we can correct our oversight. Our website is located at www.thenetletter.net Please click the links below to visit our archives and for more info about The NetLetter. |
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 We have welcomed 92 new subscribers so far in 2024.
We wish to thank everyone for the continuing support of our efforts.
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 Back issues of The NetLetter are available in both the original newsletter format and downloadable PDF format.
Restoration and posting of archive issues is an ongoing project. We hope to post every issue back to the beginning in 1995.
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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: Trans-Canada Air Lines, Canadian Airlines, CP Air, Pacific Western, Maritime Central Airways, Eastern Provincial, Wardair, Nordair, Transair, Air BC, Time Air, Quebecair, Calm Air, NWT Air, Air Alliance, Air Nova, Air Ontario, Air Georgian and all other Canadian based airlines that once graced the Canadian skies.
We will try to post your comments in the next issue but, if not, we will publish it as soon as we can.
Thanks!
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Shirlee Schacter sends us this information -
The Ontario District Pionairs welcomed more than 100 members to the Fall Members Appreciation Luncheon on Wednesday September 25, 2024 at the Mandarin Brampton Flagship restaurant.
This has become a popular event with members, where diners can enjoy a sumptuous buffet, reconnect with former colleagues and win prizes – all at a very nominal subsidized fee in appreciation for their continued support of the Ontario District Air Canada Pionairs!
Lesley Huether, retiring Ontario District Director, received many words of appreciation and a big 'THANK YOU' from members for her dedicated service to the members over the past several years. Lesley will continue providing her support on the Board in the role of Past Director in addition to continuing her long-standing role as leader of the East End Coffee Group.
Lesley introduced her successor, Carla Marraffino, a previous member of the Board in the capacity of newsletter editor. Carla comes from an AC Sales background and is well-known to many.
A warm welcome was extended to Carla in her new role.
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Lesley Huether and friends.
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New District Director,
Carla Marraffino,
draws the lucky numbers.
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Roma Donatelli -
one of the many lucky winners |
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Remember the North Star.
 The photo below will bring back memories. For those who recall the era of the North Star, a nostalgic get-together was held in the coffee shop at the Dorval Base on Wednesday, November 3, 1982.
Larry Milberry of CANAV, whose book, titled 'The Canadair North Star' had just been published, was there. He thanked the company people who contributed to the authenticity of the book and took such interest in the project.
Larry commented, "That was a big day for me, as an unknown little writer, but the Air Canada people treated me as if I was royalty!"
Editors' Note: The only aircraft to be given a name by Trans-Canada Air Lines aka Air Canada.
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1947, July 1 -
Trans-Canada Air Lines began new DC-3 services with stops at Sault Ste. Marie and Port Arthur/Fort William, and a new service to Medicine Hat and Swift Current.
Also, on July 1st, a new TCA route linked Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton.
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Found in 'Horizons' magazine
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Issue dated September 1982
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While in Edmonton, Pierre Jeanniot, Executive Vice President and Chief of Airline Operations, took time out to discuss the Air Canada Challenge with staff at various company locations. Here Jeanniot takes a coffee break at Maintenance.
Seated, from the left, are: Don Harbarenko, Mechanic; Jeanniot; Mechanics Bob Kozak, Hideo Okuchi, Lyle Sorenson and Nester Malowany.
Standing, from the left, are: Mechanic W. Jack Ewing and John Linstrom, Ramp Equipment Maintenance Foreman.
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At the Commissary Jeanniot is shown with Melody Deck and Rajani Rukshana, right, Commissary Attendants.
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At the gate, Jeanniot chats with, from the left: Passenger Agents Samir Ghossein, Lindy Brown and Marg McLean.
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Issue dated October 1982
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Montreal heads of competition at soccer tourney.
A record number of teams participated in the seventh annual System Soccer Tournament held September 17 and 18, 1982.
Teams from Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, St. John's and London, England converged on Montreal with 130 players and guests turning the Airport Hilton Hotel into their tournament headquarters for the weekend. In the final match Montreal edged out Toronto in a 6 to 5 scoring spree.
The 1982 System Soccer champs from Montreal are, kneeling from the left: Jim Ryan, Victor Cerpa, Bill Badra, Cam McGowan, Harry Van Zyl, Greg Iwanivk, Bill Dickson and Gunter Voss.
Standing are: Ian Tyer, Adam Ritchie, Rui Ribeiro, Dave Groom, Martyn Reed, Jim Coote, Howie Thompson, Bill McLelland and Carlos Araujo.
Absent were: Dave Kelly, Angel Matamal and Conrad Aleong.
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Issue dated November 1982
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It's something to crow about.
Air Canada became the first carrier outside the United States and the first airline in Canada to take delivery of the B-767. Our first aircraft arrived in Montreal on October 30, 1982.
First flight makes a big impression. A number of employees representing a cross-section of occupations were invited to participate in the first delivery flight as guests of the company, and for them, it was an event to remember.
Shown with President Claude Taylor in front of one of the B-767's huge engines are, from the left: Shirley Campbell, Secretary, Halifax; Larry Murch, Station Attendant, Toronto; Doug Slade, Cargo Agent, Vancouver; Taylor; Pierrette Venturini, Passenger Agent, Montreal: Marc Lefebvre, Certificated Avionics Technician, Dorval; and Marlene Godber, Flight Attendant, Calgary.
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The cabin crew members who worked the delivery flight of the B-767 posed with President Claude Taylor during a pause in their duties.
From the left, back row are: Flight Attendants Jurgen Odefey and Marlene Godber; Taylor and Flight Attendant Cory McAdam.
In the foreground are: Leonard Lafleur, In-Charge Flight Attendant and Flight Attendant Helen Reagh.
Except for Leonard, the other flight attendants formed part of the galley design committee who worked closely with the manufacturer during the construction phase.
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CP Air / Canadi>n People Gallery |
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Found while scrolling though the Whitehorse Star newspaper -
August 2, 1940 - A new service is being inaugurated on Yukon Southern Air Transport's twin-motored Barkley-Grow airliners operating on a twice-weekly schedule to the Yukon, the Peace River area and the British Columbia interior from Edmonton and Vancouver to Whitehorse. Beginning July 24th, the company will serve lunches to their passengers in flight.
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Issue dated August 1997
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Our Manila downtown staff.
Standing, left to right: Len Rivera, Sales; Joel Aquino, Sales; Bochie del Rosario, Administration; Ana Abela, Reservations; Maritte Encarnacion, CTO; Sally Pineda, Sales; Malou Dulay, Sales; Don Sarmiento, Sales; Sheila Mendiola and Anggie Tagura, Reservations and Graham Perkins, Country Manager.
Sitting, left to right: Sunshine Mirabueno, CTO; Sol Abelardo, CTO and Liezl Magtibay, Reservations.
Missing: Jep Arenas, Sales.
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Eastern shuttle makes its mark.
Work being done by employees involved in delivery of the 'Shuttle' product seems to be paying off. The Shuttle team has forged strong relationships between mainline and Regional. Full implementation of the F28 Eastern Shuttle in May 1997 has resulted in a significant reduction of operating costs on the route.
The Shuttle Team met in Toronto to update the project plan, which was 25 per cent complete, at the time, and discussed accomplishments and issues.
Clockwise from left: Val Findlay, Customer Service Manager, YYZ; Lorne Key, Project Manager, Properties & Faculties; Jim Burden, Line Maintenance, Regional; Jill Morison, Manager Shuttle/USA Marketing; Al Ross, Flight Operations, Regional; Antoinette Carnevale, Analyst, Marketing Planning & Development; John Cook, Analyst Product Planning; Paul Troyan, Analyst, Scheduling Design; Ric Bentkowski, Customer Service, Regional; Bob Robertson, Manager, Line Maintenance; Helen Donovan, Account Executive, North American Sales; Shelley Sackney, Inflight Services, Regional; Diana Ward, Media Manager, Corporate Communications; Sylvie Carrier, Customer Service YUL and Leanne MacMaster, Manager, Image and Product Design.
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Issue dated October 1997
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Smithers, B.C. (YYD) plays host.
During 1997, flight CP560 Vancouver - Prince Rupert - Terrace - Vancouver went mechanical and made an unscheduled stop in Smithers.
After rousting the YYD staff out of bed to open up the facilities, the Flight Attendants used the airport cafeteria for a galley and served up eats for the stranded passengers.
From the left, back row: First Officer Larry Bingham and Captain Mike Wilson.
Front row, Flight Attendants Gillian Robertson, Fred Hofer, Linda Edwards and Lea Stout.
The Canadian Flyer magazine thanked Gillian Robertson for submitting the photo.
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Terrace employees raised $1,400 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation the summer of 1997 in the annual Big Bike Race. Customer Service Agents, Ramp Handlers and their spouses raised a minimum of $60 each.
Top fundraiser was Anna Blazosek, who raised $450. The team included Customer Service Agents Donna Folmer, Yvonne Workman, Diane Moroskat, Jacquie Terpstra, Doreen Goodwin, Debbie Minhinnick, Anna Blazosek and team organizer, Gail Morrison.
IAM members are Jutta Smeltzer, Ernie Hidber, Jason Elis, Andrew Simpson and Norm Stack. The challenge went out to other bases to participate in next year's event.
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Issue dated November 1997
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Canadian North managers plan for the future.
Managers from Canadian North gathered in Kelowna for their annual management seminar. Because of the isolation and distance between northern bases and management in the South, the seminar is an excellent opportunity for team-building, sharing successes and concerns and addressing specific northern issues.
Front row, left to right: Glenda Hayes, Pricing & Yield Management, DEW; Val Gibson, Sales Rep NWT/Alberta, YZF; Mary Dewar, Secretary, YZF; Bob Davies, Regional Manager Commercial Operations, YEG; Emanuela Cucinelli, CSM, YEV; Paul McCurry, Marketing Analyst, YYC; Kelly Kaylo, Regional Director, Sales & Government Relations, YZF; Reynold Icart, CSM, YFB; Michael King, Manager, Marketing and Division Sales Support, YYC.
Middle row, left to right: Damaris Neumann, Sales Development Co-ordinator, YYC; Marlene Pipella, Senior Secretary, YEG; Randy Miller, CSM, YRT; Barry Rempel, VP Cargo and Canadian North, YYC; Barby Johnston Gilroy, CSM, YVQ; Barrie Mindus, CSM, YZF; Rejean Pitre, CSM, YTH; Suzanne Bulmer, Administrative Assistant, YYC.
Back row, left to right: Cathie Edgar, Ramp Services Manager, YWG; Dan MacMillan, Cargo Sales Rep., YEG; Dave Hanas, Training & Logistics Coordinator, YEG; John Delaney, Director, Cargo Services, YYC; Jay Garlough, Budgets Administration Manager, YYC; Dan Kane, Sales Rep Nunavut/Northern Manitoba, YZF; Bill Shanks, member of Canadian North Business Advisory Board YTH and Keith Argo, Lead Agent, YFO.
Editors' Note: YZF = Yellowknife; YTH = Thompson; YFO = Flin Flon; YVQ = Norman Wells; YRT = Rankin Inlet; YEV = Inuvik; YFB = Iqaluit.
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Extracted from the 'Canadian Flyer'
magazine issue February 1998.
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By Andrew Geider, CP Air Corporate archives.
Mel Knox was a true aviation pioneer and a man of firsts.
His Induction into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame states "He was responsible in great measure for this nation's first commercial air link with Asia, a service of outstanding benefit to Canadian aviation."  |
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Farewell C-GDPA
Back in December 2015 one of my first articles for The NetLetter ( NL #1333) focused on B-737-200's still in service in Canada. At the time there were 5 of them in the Canadian North fleet.
So it certainly caught my attention when I noticed that Alex Praglowski posted a YouTube video on the departure of the last of them from Edmonton after being purchased by QFS Aviation and being ferried to Roswell, New Mexico for preservation. As Alex mentions in the video, it is a shame that a deal could not be reached to preserve this aircraft in Canada but at least it will be preserved.
A rarity, especially for a B-737, C-GDPA spent its entire 44 year career in Canada under the same registration.
Boeing line #655 was delivered to Dome Petroleum in April 1980, acquired by Pacific Western Airlines in June 1984, merged into the Canadian Airlines fleet in April 1987 and then into the Air Canada fleet in April 2001.
Its time with Air Canada was very short as it was acquired by Canadian North in November 2001 where it remained in service for the next 22 years until withdrawn from service in May 2023 and stored at YEG until sold.
Click the image below to view Alex's video.
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| Terry's Trivia
& Travel Tips |
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Terry Baker, co-founder of the NetLetter scours the internet for aviation related Trivia and Travel Tips for you, our readers, to peruse.
A reminder:
Flying to Mexico on business or on vacation? Then take note of this change when entering Mexico.
Effective immediately, please be aware of the following guidelines concerning the import of electronic devices for travellers to Mexico. Each traveller is permitted to bring ONE portable computing device (e.g., laptop, notebook, or iPad) without incurring an import fee.
If passengers bring multiple devices, such as a laptop and an iPad, each will be treated as a separate item, which may result in additional fees.
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Allowed Items:
- One laptop or similar portable computing device such as an iPad.
- Up to 3 cell phones.
- 1 GPS.
- 2 cameras.
- 1 pair of binoculars.
- 4 fishing poles.
Exceeding these limits may result in customs duties starting at 19% of the item’s estimated value, with some cases reporting fees as high as 200%.
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Founded at Ottawa International by Canadian aviation pioneer Russell (Russ) Bradley and started operations as Bradley Flying School in 1946, changing the name in 1950 to Bradley Air Services, concurrent with a move to Carp Airport.
First Air started scheduled operations in 1973, between Ottawa and North Bay. This service was operated with an eight-seat passenger plane.
In 1995, First Air acquired Ptarmigan Airways, and in 1997 Northwest Territorial Airways (also known as NWT Air), both merged into First Air.
In early 2015 First Air announced strategic agreements with Cargojet Airways and Summit Air. On April 21, 2015, First Air's Hercules, C-GUSI, flew the final civilian L382 flight in Canada, bringing to an end over 45 years of commercial Lockheed Hercules service.
L382 Hercules operations in Northern Canada were begun during the 1960's by Pacific Western Airlines.
Editors' Note: On September 28, 2018 Makivik Corporation and the Inuvialuit Corporate Group (ICG) signed a definitive agreement to merge Canadian North and First Air. The new airline would use the new First Air livery, but would operate under the name "Canadian North". Following government approvals, the merger transaction was completed on July 10, 2019 and the airlines began operating a combined schedule on November 1, 2019. Operations were fully merged under a single operating certificate on May 26, 2021.
We asked photographer, Adrian Romang, for permission to use his photo of C-GUSI. He generously gave us permission and shared his personal memories of this aircraft.
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I keep C-GUSI in very good memory! Back in 2007 and 2008, I was in Yellowknife a few times on business and during one of those visits had the chance to ride along on C-GUSI during a supply flight to the Diavik Mine some 160 Miles Northeast of Yellowknife.
It was a night flight and quite impressive to say the least. The photo (above) was taken prior to that flight when the aircraft was being prepared and loaded at minus 30 degrees C.
Being a freelance aviation journalist and photographer, I actually wrote a report about this experience in one of the Swiss aviation magazines (unfortunately, the report is in German).
FYI, I'm a Swiss helicopter pilot / mechanic working as international technical manager for foundation Helimission. We operate eight AS-350 helicopters all over the world, which is why I have a chance to travel a fair bit.
Everything connected to Canadian aviation is of interest to me, I actually have a few Canadian friends sharing the same passion. Gary Vincent, a former Air Canada B-767 pilot is one of them. Not sure if he is on your distribution list, sometimes the aviation world is small.
Adrian Romang
Editors' Note: Gary Vincent is a NetLetter subscriber and has frequently granted his permission to use his photographs. We are happy to say that Adrian Romang has also joined our subscriber list.
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Happy Halloween
by Cas Caswell
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Wayne, Ken & Terry Richmond, British Columbia - December 2019
(Bob Sheppard was not available for the photograph) |
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Wayne, Bob & Ken Richmond, British Columbia - December 2023
(Terry Baker was not available for the photograph) |
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We wish to honour the memories of
Vesta Stevenson and Alan Rust. They remain a part of every edition published. |
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E&OE - (errors and omissions excepted):
The historical information as well as any other information provided in the "NetLetter" is subject to correction and may have changed over time.
We do publish corrections (and correct the original article) when this is brought to our attention.
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