(Special Request from Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail)

In search of PWA pilots and info from 1960 in NWT!

I'm hoping to track down information about folks who flew for Pacific Western Airlines in April/May 1960, bringing Inuit patients from Perry River to Cambridge Bay and then on to the Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton. If you were up there around then, please check your logbooks, scrapbooks and memory banks. I'd also love to find out who was working at the Cambridge Bay nursing station then. I'm doing research for a family whose father was sent for medical treatment and unfortunately passed away while in Edmonton. This follows on the work I did in Polar Winds: A Century of Flying the North and will be in a new book about the Camsell Hospital.

Or maybe you worked for Associated Airways or the RCAF? I would love to hear if you have stories or photos about the Tuberculosis Xray tours, medevacs to Camsell, or any other connections to the Indian Hospital system, especially between 1944 and 1970. I'm trying to get as many diverse viewpoints to create as balanced a book as possible.

Please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call me at 780-708-1848 M-F 9am to 3pm.

Best,

Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail

Former president of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society

www.daniellemc.com

Bernie McCormack has sent us some information and photos relative to his retirement.

Ted Deely, a professional photographer had his studio in Richmond near Vancouver. He asked to take a photo on my flight deck and so when I retired I invited him on board pre-flight. It was taken on the outbound to London leg. The return flight was 899 on the 28th of august '95 Toronto to Vancouver. I gave Ted the flight details and he positioned himself a few days later, with his small VHF radio and cameras in the field a short distance before the runway 26.

The photo is one of the best in-flight pictures of the 747-400 I have seen. ( F/O Zeke Zabolotniuk and I were undoubtedly in that photo on the flight deck.) He then superimposed the flight-deck picture over the clouds above the fuselage of the in-flight photo. The clouds were cumulus forming over the North Shore mountains but there were none on our approach or runway. The photo minus my "mug" was sold to several retiring flight crew members afterwards.

I have enclosed a photo (left) of the remaining pilots (retired) from my original course (20 February '56 ) taken in Toronto the day before my return trip (28 August '95) and of the flight attendants the next day (right). 

The last flight pairing was outbound YVR-LHR 23 August. In London 24 August the crew surprised Sheila and me with a party in the hotel (left) with 14 Vancouver Flight attendants attending. (unfortunately I do not have the names). LHR-YVR 25 August with crew pictures (right).

Overnighted in YVR and then flew YVR-YYZ 26 August. Pictures below wrer taken 27August at the hotel in Toronto visiting with Don and Mabel McLeod (check Captain retired) (left) and Jean Cadorel (Montreal Captain) (right).

Later we had a luncheon with pilots course of 20Feb '56 and overnight another night before the last flight home YYZ-YVR 28 August with my Sheila and F/O Zeke Zabolotniuk - greeted by the press and friends (picture "being held up by close friends") then on to family and friends reception.

I had been in an air force mid air collision (T-33) 38 years earlier which played out in the press in Vancouver for several days. That was why they had an interest in covering my retirement.

I have not ever put all of this in one essay before and now I see it all at one sitting I am humbled and very pleasured by the affection extended to me by my crews, friends and family.

Bernie McCormack

1967

- August 30 - Daily non-stop service between Calgary-Montreal inaugurated.
- September 1st - DC-9 service introduced between St. John's-Montreal.
- September 29 - Daily non-stop jetliner service between YUL/YYZ-LAX inaugurated.

Located in the "Between Ourselves" magazine issue dated June 1967.

This happy group of employees completed the 1967 Effective Speaking Course in Toronto and are shown shortly after receiving their diplomas at a wind-up to celebrate the occasion.

The Course organized by Toronto Sales Training Supervisor H.B.Malcolm, was conducted by John Blanchard, Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Industrial Commission.
1967 was the ninth year he has conducted the series.

From then left standing are: Harvey Malcolm, Joe Temp, Paul Karadi, Pat Heenan, Captain Kent Davis, John Blanchard, Bill Oakley, Captain Hank Angus, Douglas Walker, Barbara Phillips, Jim Holland, Dick Rochester, Tim Butterworth, Frank Keoner, Capt. Bill Benson and Lee Hubbard.

Kneeling are: Bill Popoas, Keith Alvey and Frank Wynn.

Welcome to the Club

Alphonse Tessier, aircraft mechanic, Dorval as the newest addition to the Instrument Maintenance group of 25-year employees and was feted at a dinner by the employees from the Instrument shop at the Grand Motor Hotel, Montreal on April 29th 1967. During the evening, he was presented with his 25-year pin by his supervisor Paul Giguere Forman, Instrument Maintenance.

In the photo, of the head table and representing 158 years of Company service, from the left are: Bill Penston, Engineering Technician; Joe Lemieux, Assistant Foreman; Alphonse Tessier; Paul Giguere; Jack Little, Shop Inspector and Jack Large, Lead Mechanic. Alphonse joined the company on April 22nd, 1942.

To mark the occasion of 25 years Air Canada since to Sydney, Nova Scotia, a reception was held for the local news media followed that evening by a get-together of Sales and Operations personnel.

Included at the gathering were, from the left: Bill Lawlor, Station Operations Manager, Sydney; Walt Fowler, Regional Sales Manager; Bob Williamson, Regional Operations Manager; John Connolly, District Sales Manager, Sydney; Don MacAdam, Reservations Manager; Len Morrison, APO Supervisor; and Peter McCarty, Sales Representative.

An unusual colour scheme. Delivered to Britannia Airways April 30th 1982, leased by CP Air from Nov 1st 1985 to April 30th 1986 shows Britannia cheat line. (source flickr)

1999

- Fin 406 A320 returned from Monarch Airlines after lease for past 6 years.
- Fin 908 C-GCPJ c/n 46991 DC-10-30 purchased from Singapore Airlines on March 17, 1982 "Empress of Rome" was sold to Japan Leasing December 17, 1991 and leased back for 5 years.

Found in the "Canadi>n Contact" magazine issue dated May 1990.

B-737 fin 707 (767) CF-CPZ c/n 20197 delivered March 24, 1969 sold to Transwede May 9, 1990

You can make the difference was the theme for this group of 20 maintenance supervisory personnel who spent 3 days participating in M&E's Toward Excellence program at Pender Island, B.C. April 23 - 25. M&E' s directors took the seminar last December at Bowen Island.

That's Dave Pattison, Vancouver Stores, embracing management training coordinators Cheryl Cahill and Tanyce Westgard in front.

Second row, from left, Bud Lewis, manager, production, Calgary (company facilitator) and supervisors Richard Burns, Quality Assurance, Vancouver; Garry Burgart, A/C Scheduling, Vancouver; Vince Pike and Ralph Gray, Maintenance, Calgary and Phil Doyle, Electrical and Accessory Shop; John Seckel, Maintenance Support Willi Germann, Upholstery; John Pineo, Cabin Services, and Bill Brooks, Line Maintenance, all from Vancouver.

Issued dated August 1996

In the Engineering department, the first voices you hear when you phone them are these 4 secretarial assistants, noted for their day-to-day knowledge of the section and the 45 personalities that made up the department.

Here they are, flanking Vic Riley, manager engineering, are the secretaries from left: Paula Bains, Carolyn Chapman, Kelly Yamaka and Barbara Donnelly, records controller.

From the Avionics department, we have Ron Groome, senior engineer; Joe Kam, delegated engineering specialist; Don Morrison, chief engineer; Dennis Chan, delegated engineering specialist.

Over to the Structures department, some of the staff, from the left; Nick Besseling, engineering specialist; Charanjit Brar, engineering specialist; Steven Mulford, delegated engineer; Phillip Larsen, chief engineer; Dave Farmerly, engineering specialist.

Issue dated May 1997

At the Vancouver Conference Centre on April 11, 1997, the annual luncheon was held for the 450 retirees and their spouses. Here are some of the attendees –

From the left: George Worden former VP M&E (CP Air), and engineers John Topp and George Reddy.

Power Plant vets, from the left: planners Miller Waling and John Wullum, supervisors George Robbins and Ernie James, mechanic David Doak Donelly and supervisor John Kane.

Structures group represented by, from the left: Supervisor Don Smith, planner Max Lindeman, foreman Larry McEwan,Vic Guisler and Don Olsen.

Karin Filcher shares her personal memories of the DC-10 fleet.

Thanks as always for the great NetLetter. I am most interested in the stories of the DC-10's.

My husband Bob flew the DC-10 for many years and one of his assignments was to deliver a DC-10 to Pakistan Airlines. It was a memorable trip for him, but not for happy reasons - they left the hotel for the flight home having handed off the aircraft to Pakistan Airlines, but on the way to the airport the road was blocked with crowds of people agitating due to the impending arrival of Benazir Bhutto from exile, I think. I have checked dates and it would appear to have been around 1989.

The taxi got them as close to the airport as possible and the driver then said he was going no further and they would have have to get out and make it on their own. So Bob and I believe two other pilots (at least) got out and pressed towards the aircraft which was sitting on the tarmac - even having to break through or over a perimeter fence I believe.

They did finally make it to the safety of the aircraft which departed and flew them I think to Amsterdam? However the ordeal was not over for Bob who became very ill on the flight and ended up having to stay in their European destination for an extra few days under a doctor's care.

Not long after that he gave up being a DC-10 pilot and moved on to the B747!!

This is all rather hazy, and the dates don't seem to quite add up, so I was wondering if there is any way of tracking down exactly what happened!!!

You always manage to find such interesting stories!!

Thanks
Karin Fulcher

Anita Leung, retired Sales Manager in Hong Kong asked- 

I am trying to go back in history. I would like to know the exact date that Air Canada commenced flying to Hong Kong from Vancouver. I vaguely remember that AC started with only 4 flights a week but I forgot when. Will try to search from AC website but there is no mention on the exact date. It was around 199????

This information means a lot to me. I worked in AC HK office since Sep. 23, 1974, my first job after graduation from Hawaii. Became Sales Manager for HK when it was off line and was promoted to Manager, HK and SE Asia when AC became online in 1995. Yet, I forgot this very important date of my life. Thanks to you, I now can complete my own AC puzzle. Of course now, I am happily retired and use my retiree tickets often to explore various parts of Canada.

Best regards,

Anita Leung

Terry found the article on the inaugural flight published in the February 1996 issue of Horizons. It identifies Flight 837 on December 20, 1995 as being the historic first flight. The words "Maple Leaf Airlines" were emblazoned across both sides of the fuselage in Chinese characters. - Wayne

Brian Walsh sends some up to date information regarding the UP Express mentioned in NetLetter nr 1345.
FYI - The UP Express also has a senior fare of $6 One Way

Cheers... Brian Walsh, Victoria B.C.

David Edward has sent us this story from Russ Brown who is a retired CP-Canadian captain now living in B.C.'s Lower Mainland

When I was based in Toronto we at one time ferried (empty flight) a stretch 63 series DC-8 from Toronto to Vancouver at night to position for the Orient flight.

It was decided to fly it via Calgary as a regular passenger flight and offer a super low fare, no food, minimum service and even a charge for drinks. Being a junior captain on base I was scheduled for these late night flights all summer! The flight was very popular, especially with split families in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. 

We had many UMs (Unaccompanied Minors) on every flight. Most family groups, and some singles as well, boarded with picnic baskets for midnight. This made for a happy flight except for most of the UMs. Single parents for some reason seldom sent them with food. What is it with that, anger maybe?

I found that the youngsters liked to visit with us on the flight deck and I would sit one in the jump seat and give him the small bag of crew cookies to share with all of the little visitors, of course the cookies quickly disappeared. The Toronto catering manager was a friend and I ordered "more cookies" and on the next flight same result, cookies gone! Again, I ordered with emphasis, more cookies! Once airborne the purser came to the flight deck and asked," where would you like the cookies Skipper?" I said," here on the jump seat".

The purser struggled through the door dragging the biggest, more than four foot square, box of the best Peek Frean Cookies you will ever see! From that day to occasionally even now............."CAPTAIN COOKIE"

After landing in Calgary we had to wait several hours on the ground due to a noise curfew in Vancouver. The agents really disliked having to care for the UMs so I would take them all, along with my pilot crew, to the staff cafeteria. Full breakfast for staff & crew $1 and the UMs were appointed honorary crew! The cafeteria staff even took to having a table ready, me at the head, my F/O at the foot, my S/O and a stewardess or two mixed in at the sides and they served us restaurant style. Wait, it gets better.

On the third flight we landed with a small fuel leak from an engine pylon. After the breakfast I came to the ramp to see how maintenance was progressing with the repair and to apologize to the Airport Fire Captain who had to get out of bed and stand by while the repair was underway and then to clean up any spilled fuel. The Captain said that his crew was bored most nights and welcomed the diversion and he asked me about the youngsters that he had noticed with my crew. I told him about the UMs and he said to bring them to the ramp. In very short order the fire truck sirens and lights were going and water was arcing in the air from the truck cannons. We all had a great deal of fun, the UMs were over the moon, and the Captain insisted that I call every time I landed this flight through the Summer for a repeat performance. I did! For me that turned an undesirable junior bid flight into my first choice! 

In NetLetter nr 1343 we had this photo with a request for anyone to identify the other two people.

We received this from Ted Beaudoin -

Hi again Terry - I needed to see if we can get full identity of three chaps in a photo - with the help of Val Frost, Ottawa ... seems that the gent with the white "side burns" could be Val's father ... Joe Lorimer

She posted the following on Facebook today (Tue-May 31,2016) (Perhaps someone would care to identify the unknown people - eds)

Here is her posting:
The recent issue of the NetLetter for all TCA/AirCanada employees and retirees, has just featured a photo of my beloved dad, David Harry "Archie" Archibald - Dorval Base, (Montreal) Quebec, Canada.

Dad started at TCA (Trans-Canada Airlines when they first started at Dorval Base, and not soon after RAF Ferry Command (of Bomber Command) moved in
and he then became a Bomber Mechanic for the RAF FC from 1939 - 1945. He always wore long, thick white sideburns, and ended up being referred to as Ben, or "Pa Cartwright" - from 'Bonanza' . My beloved dad.... and his fave Lockheed 10A Electra, and the Lancaster Bomber.

Val Frost.

John Rodger sent us this comment – 
In your last Netletter the photo about the first Pionair event in YUL. The photo with Joe Lorimer the fellow on the right is Archie Archibald who worked in maintenance. Before he came to TCA he was with The Ferry Command out of YUL during the war..

Cheers John - Dorval Base, (Montreal) Quebec, Canada.

In NetLetter nr 1344, Terry's comment in his column regarding airline names on the belly of its aircraft has garnered some responses -

Mike Stirrup sends this memory -
Thanks for bringing back some memories Terry. I too used to sneak under the fence at Heathrow with other lads from Bishopshalt Grammar to spot a/c. We had small books with worldwide registration numbers in them and would religiously rule out each one as we saw it. In retrospect no boy would ever think of cheating and marking off an a/c they hadn't seen. Sad that kids couldn't get past airport security today! You likely did the steam trains as well. Remember the Castle class!

and Mae Wilson adds this -
Regarding painting their underbellies Qatar also has their name on theirs. I flew Qatar Airways to/from Qatar 4 years ago to visit my son who worked for them. Often see them flying into YUL around 1500 hrs daily.

Really enjoy reading the Netletter. I worked with Nordair 1974 to 1980ish when we became part of the 'new' Canadi>n Airlines. Retired from Canadi>n in 1990.

Melbourne Airport (MEL) has completed a three-month trial of self-boarding gates on selected international flights at Terminal 2. The system allows passengers to board an aircraft by scanning in a pre-checked boarding pass when the gate opens.

MEL uses IT provider SITA’s Common Use Platform to provide departure services, including self-service check-in kiosks and automated bag drop throughout the airport.

The airport, which saw a record 9 million international passengers up through May, an 8.1% year-on-year increase, is seeing a 23.5% rise in passenger numbers from Southeast Asia.

Malaysian, Copa and LIAT ZED ticket agreements temporarily suspended.
(source Daily May 27th)

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Our cartoon by Don Rice of CPA Reservations, Vancouver appeared in the “Canadi>n Contact” magazine May 1990. The caption reads “I guess we should have stopped a little sooner!”