ACRA Badminton Tournament. (source UK Pionairs September newsletter).

This year’s annual ACRA Badminton Tournament will be held in Glasgow on the 15,16 and 17th of October 2015.

It will be our 25th Anniversary and we would like to invite all those who have attended our past tournaments over the years to join us and help celebrate. We were here (in Glasgow) in 2009 and had a great time. We have a very attractive rate negotiated at the hotel which is right across from the airport.

There is great shopping downtown and if you have never seen Glasgow, this is your opportunity!! Our website is at www.acrabadminton.org.uk

If you attended the Quebec 2014 tournament why not come to Glasgow this year.

1979 - Sept 17th - DC-9 fin 720 CF-TLU c/n 47196 was enroute from Boston to Yarmouth and Halifax when the rear pressure bulkhead failed and it lost its tail cone over the Atlantic. The aircraft, under the command of Captain G.D.Gill landed safely.

All 43 of the DC-9 fleet were immediately checked and two aircraft were found to have cracks of a minor nature and not considered critical in the same area and were withdrawn from service until they were repaired satisfactorily.

Gleaned from the "Horizons" magazine

Issue dated November 1979.
In 1979 the Marketing and Planning branch held its first Golf Tournament at the Candiac Golf Club in Montreal. The Scheduling group won the branch trophy for lowest average net score. Guy Chiasson, V.P. Passenger Planning & Marketing pictured center in the photo, presented the trophy to the winning team of, from the Ieft, Randy Corran, Jim Cochrane, Holly Ross, Mike Hewitt. Bud Sams. Guy Chiasson, Mary Sellier, Jack Israll and Arnie Heggen. 

In-Flight Service presented its first Awards of Excellence to the following cabin crew employees.

Shown back row from the left are: Hans Mandt, Ute Mltchell, Isabel Rose, Jeanne Kerr, Maxine Belim, Louise Paul, Anne Meadows, Gudrun Papesch, Deborah Hall, Atsito Fujita and Hans Marchand.

Middle row: Lillian Kyle, Hans Ottinger. Kevin O'Connor, Robert Zimmerliand and Veronica Kuziomko.

Front row: Anne MacBeath, Linda Tanner, Helen Elsen and Llnda Meckling. Absent : Ursula Edwards and Anne Marie Emi.

The company had a new face in Nairobi heading up its operations in East Africa. Fridah Shiroya was appointed Sales Manager for the area encompassing Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Zarnbia. Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi. Eihiopia. Mauritius and the Seychelles. She replaced Sid Dirks who opted for early retirement and took up the position of Managing Director of Air Kenya. Fridah was the first local person from Nairobi to be appointed as a regional-African inter-national airline. Fridah, seated is seen being congratulated by Sid and Margaret Ongaya, Sales Assistant.

A NEW COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT on wages and working conditions was reached between the Company and the Canadian Air Line Pilots' Association. The agreement provided for pay increases for pilots flying present aircraft as well as for the Vanguards and DC-8's.

Shown signing the agreement is Captain J. H. Foy. President of CALPA; J. L. Rood, Director of Flight Operations; F.C.Eyre, Ass't Director, Industrial Relations and G.E.Bolton, Director Personnel.

Standing, from left: Captains F.E.W.Smith, J.G.LLoyd, A.D.Mills, A.T.Garmaise, legal council to CALPA; Captain Don Beatty and J„ K. Fraser, Ass't. to the Director of Flight Operations.

Kenneth Swartz sends this url information of the Old TCA treasure trove from the web site of Henry Tenby.

Aviation Week Network and Boeing -
100 Years of Aerospace Achievements

To commemorate their 100th anniversaries in 2016, Aviation Week Network and Boeing have agreed to create a living archive of all Aviation Week & Space Technology editions, dating back to the earliest years of human flight.

The digital, searchable archive, scheduled for completion in early 2016, will comprise more than 500,000 pages of articles, photographs and advertisements chronicling the first century of the aerospace and defense industry — unlocked and made available for the very first time. The archive will be dynamically updated as new Aviation Week content is developed.

June 1993 was when the International Dragon Boat races were held in Toronto. Proudly holding up Canadian's banner are the Toronto" Wingwalkers":
John Guerrero, Mike Roberts, Ed Chiu, Jose Bernaro, Mike Simon, Adrian Uhraney, Rhoel Ruperto, Ron Groll, Lori Owens, Harold MacKenzie, Richard Willmot, Ramon Manglal-Ian, Lino Distefano, Gord Henderson, Alex Simon, Wayne Hawkins, Albino Moldes, Larry Filipek, Rocco Chirichiello, Spencer Lui,Parker Chong, and Daniel Pyn Knoski.

Fresh from a fifth place finish (out of 40 boats in the recreational division) is the Vancouver " Jet Paddlers":
Back from left: Pat Truelove, Steve Bains, Eva Prytula, Moira Rondeau, Kevin Hong, Marlene Rochon, Janice Lowe, Dave Cox, Tomrny Man, Trevor Pudar, Michael and Pauline Sameshima, Kelly Brownlow, Kevin Ahmon; front from left: Gord and Jackie Ki, Tracey MacKenzie, Peter Gauthier, Sara Austin-Smith, Mike Paddon, Gayle Gordon, and Roy Sakashita. Missing is Louise Lamb, Andrew Tsang, Pam Holmes,Veronica Fong (manager) and Preston Wong (coach).

Lorne Paterson is asking for our help -

Art “Chevy” Cooper passed away recently at the age of 97 years. What I am trying to ascertain is if he was the last living member of the mechanics in Montreal or elsewhere who actually worked on the Lancastrian which was the new TCA international overseas operations aircraft. Anyone else out there? They were and are a rare part of the history of TCA/AC. Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks Lorne Paterson
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ken Pickford refers to NetLetter #1325 and sends this -

Just received #1325. Haven't read it yet but the opening DC-8 photo caught my eye. That's not a Rolls-Royce Conway-powered DC-8. It's a stretched DC-8-63 with Pratt & Whitney JT3D-7 engines. Only AC's first 11 (of a total 42) factory-delivered DC-8s were Rolls-Royce Conway-powered (the -40 series models). The other 31 all had varying models of the Pratt & Whitney JT3D. CP's first 6 DC-8s were also Conway-powered. Five of AC's DC-8-63s were later converted to freighters, including re-engining with the CFM56 engine, the original model of the engine that now powers AC's Airbus A319/320/321s. The re-engined freighters became DC-8-73Fs.

(From Alan - Thanks for the correction - I should have really noticed this as I worked on these aircraft in the 70's before they were sold. I was using info from the site where I obtained the photo. I've corrected the caption in the back issue now)

Regarding “Alan’s Space” Ken Pickford tells us -
Regarding the "Ten things you didn't know about AC" from the Globe and Mail:

1. The second photo caption says it's TCA's first aircraft, CF-TCA, which would have been a Lockheed 10A Electra like CF-TCC in the first photo. The 2nd photo is of a larger Lockheed 14 Super Electra, not a 10A.
2. The third photo caption refers to 22 Viscounts built for TCA. TCA took delivery of 51 Viscounts, not 22.

Regards, Ken

And Garnet Ross sends this –

Regarding NetLetter # 1325 and the top picture of an Air Canada DC 8 on landing approach. The caption says DC 8 YVR Conway Engines. The photo is of a DC 8-63 stretch series aircraft that had Pratt and Whitney engines, not Rolls Royce Conway Bypass engines. I believe the Pratt and Whitney engines were JT3D engines. The Rolls Royce Conway Bypass engines were installed on the smaller DC 8 series 41 and 43 models. The FIN numbers of these aircraft were 801 through 811. The aircraft shown would be DC 8 63’s with FIN numbers 867 through 879.

Close but no cigar. Garnet Ross AC078537 Air Canada Cargo Toronto 410

Wayne Albertson responds to the comments on his "Wayne's Wings" in NetLetter #1325 -

I love the responses we are getting concerning the DC 8 story. I guess that being wrong about a few details gets people's attention. I don't mind being corrected at all as my goal is to open up discussion and hopefully have people submit the special memories of a fleet or a specific aircraft. Obviously, the DC8 era was special and spans generations and I would like to thank everyone for sharing their comments and experiences.

Here are the replies we have received -

Jim Coupethwaite writes -
Regarding the DC8 question. Maybe this is the answer. The first acft were delivered without galleys. The TCA designed galleys were not ready to be installed by Douglas, so had to be done by TCA in Montreal & the acft certified/re-certified after the galleys were installed. Jim Coupethwaite, Montreal

From Ken Pickford who writes -
I spotted another error in Wayne Albertson's item on the DC-8. In paragraph 2, the reference to Fin #817 as the aircraft that carried the Queen home after a visit to Canada in October 1964 (and the first aircraft to wear the new AC name and livery) is incorrect.

She most definitely returned on a Rolls-Royce Conway-powered aircraft, Fin #809. The backup aircraft was Fin #802.

That history has been mentioned several times in The NetLetter, including #971 with a lengthy article by Bill Norberg who was directly involved in preparations for that Royal flight. See paragraph 4 in NetLetter # 971 here.

Regards, Ken

(However, a separate article in the "Between Ourselves" issued November 1964 indicates the fin number was 807.- eds)

Dennis Giguere tells us-

Re fin 804 delivery before 801/802/803. I believe they were part of the certification program used in flight testing.

Dennis Giguere, AC Captain Retired

Vic Rivers gives us some insight to the CPA DC-8 -

Further to Wayne Albertson's discussion about the DC-8, fin 602 belonging to CPAL officially flew supersonic in the early '60's with Douglas test pilots at the controls. It occurred during test of the 4% leading edge modification to improve fuel consumption. There was a plaque mounted in the forward galley area noting the event.

We had a thick file about the event with photos and data in Flight Technical Services in the 1970's but where that went is anyone's guess. Not surprisingly, the plaque disappeared, probably to someone's rec room.

Attempts were made to save this aircraft from the scrap yard by some employees but CP Limited who actually was the aircraft's owner, wouldn't give it to the Museum of Flight, and they wouldn't/couldn't pay the price for it so it went to the chopping block. I spotted the aircraft at Miami Airport a short time later.

Vic Rivers

Peter Sutherland sends this memory -

As a Cargo Biller working in Building 107 on LHR’s north side, I remember the Queen’s flight arriving. I seem to recall she previously flew RCAF Canadair transport and this was the first time she had flown on a commercial (albeit, reconfigured) aircraft from Canada. However, I am certain that the date was in August 1967 (not 1964, as stated) when she returned home from visiting the ‘Expo 67’ fair in Montreal. Aircraft 817 (CF-TJQ) was, indeed, the first to be seen at LHR with the new colour scheme.

Back in those days, the commissary boys used to share any left-over meals, etc., with other staff members rather than consign good food to the trash. One of my enduring memories of that day was being given a partly full bottle of “Liebfraumilch” German Reisling wine and a plate of sliced madeira cake! We all assumed Her Majesty had drunk the wine from that very bottle and nibbled some of those cakes!

Cheers, Peter Sutherland, ACLHR 1964-1974

(We did confirm to Peter that on checking with the November 1964 “Between Ourselves” magazine, we note that DC-8 fin 807 was used at the conclusion of the QEII visit returning her on October 13th 1964..- eds)
(From Alan - I'm sure the Queen used a glass and didn't drink from the bottle)

T.A.Thusska refers to Wayne's Wings query in NetLetter #1326 - 

The L1011 on the Papal flight September 20, 1984.
Fin # 555. Flight from YOW to CIA, Rome's military airport. There were actually 2 L1011 - 500 aircraft configured for the return. Second parked behind the first with both aircraft receiving same amenities and security treatment in the event that problems were found readying 555 for flight.

Fin 555 first class section had a king size bed replacing all seats except for 2 seats 1 A and B if I recall correctly. A second crew readied A/C # 2 with identical route flight plan input and I assume it was fueled and readied as was the actual aircraft. (Fin 555).

PS. At the end of the flight each crew member had a private visit with His Holiness using 1A and B for this..
Photos were taken and sent to each crew members home, front and back end crews. It was over an hour before the Pope left the aircraft following arrival and this Papal honor.

Attached are 2 pics taken by me from Flight Deck, the second pic shows the helicopter he boarded for parts unknown.

Captain T. A. Thususka (Retired)

Wayne responded to Captain Thususka

Thank you very much for the clarification. I thought it was "Triple Nickel" but I could not be sure. I delivered the new wheel assemblies to maintenance in the hangar that night and climbed the stairs to have a quick look at the first class section. Certainly something that would never be permitted today.

Wayne