:::AIR FRANCE 358::..:.

…I WAS there. Both days (August 2 - 3, 2005). This was the day after the accident.

"680 NEWS…Air France Crash update!"

Blah…blah…blah…(but in the background I hear…"the bus for the photographers leaves in 10 minutes!")

Can I make it? I just happen to be one exit past the airport.

Well I did. As you can see…

The WEATHER CHANNEL used over 20 of my photographs for their special segment on the "weather-related" crash of Air France 358…but NEVER DID settle up!

They had no problem using my photos…just a problem in paying.

NEVER TRUST BIG BUSINESS!

The "little guys" are always more honest.

I'LL LET EVERYONE know how it goes in court this spring!

MORE Air France Flight 358 CRASH INFO: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_358

THE BIGGEST Toronto AIR DISASTER was in 1970, SEE: http://homepage.mac.com/friendsofflight621/Menu2.html

:::BLACK FRIDAY:::..

February 20, 1959

PM Diefenbaker cancels the AVRO Arrow programme immediately putting 25, 000 Toronto GTA aerospace employees out of work.

MOST CANADIANS never forgive this blunder.


"THE AVRO ARROW was a fantastic performing aircraft…"

"I had flown it to 1.9 Mach myself…"

"…and we had 2.3 – 2.4 Mach potential…and in 1958…THERE WASN’T another airplane in the world ANYWHERE NEAR being competitive with this airplane."

Peter Cope,
Boeing Test Pilot
(for the 727, 737, 747, 757 and 767)


For Avro veterans, the Arrow romance is rich with regret and nostalgia.

"You sit there in a hotel room full of white-haired men and listen to their testimony," he says. "These are people who went on to land a man on the moon, but they said working on the Arrow was the best time of their lives. There was this spirit of enthusiasm and creativity at Avro that they never felt again. You could just tell it was like the Apple Corp. of the 1950s."

Producer,
CBC Mini-series, The Arrow

“I can't blame old Devil “Dief” for that. But where I do blame him is in the vindictive and vengeful way the planes were destroyed. That one or two weren't saved is the real black horror of the story."

Dan Aykroyd,
Actor in the CBC Mini-series, “The Arrow”
(played Crawford Gordon, President, A.V. Roe Canada Ltd.)

“Seeing those beautiful planes being demolished - I'll never forgive them for that."

Elwy Yost,
Host, Saturday Night At The Movies
(former Avro Personnel Manager)


“The GOVERNMENT OF CANADA had rank amateurs trying to sell the best interceptor in the world to countries who already had their own interceptor programs! So when these countries predictably said, “No”, the Canadian government threw up their hands and told the public, “We have a dud…it can’t be sold!

I could easily have sold 100 AVRO Arrows to the United States!

They didn’t have a long range, high speed, independent, and so electronically advanced interceptor. Only recently (mid-80s) the F-18 Hornet achieved this status, that the Arrow had already achieved in 1959.

In 1959, the United States was very interested in buying some Canadian land near Santa Claus. Had they purchased the Arrows, I would have given them that damn, useless piece (to us as Canadians, very useful to Americans) of rock and snow!”

Way up there at the North Pole…they would have appreciated our all weather, LONG RANGE, fly-by-wire Arrows!

Paul Cardin,
Friends of Flight 621


I'VE INCLUDED clips from the movie, "The Arrow", starring Dan Aykroyd (Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters etc.) as CRAWFORD GORDON, the former president of AVRO Canada…

This is how the creation of the AVRO Arrow all began…a challenge to overcome the "impossible".

The AVRO ARROW 201 prep, first take-off, maiden flight and first landing! ALL CLIPS are comprised of actual and special effects footage. All clips are copyright CBC and if you are an aviation nut, buy the 3 hour movie. It is called, "The Arrow" and the CBC store carries it! DEFINITELY worth it!!

I INCLUDED several clips showing the Arrow in action: www.youtube.com/NWAAII


© 2007 Special Projects IR
©1997 Maclean's ©1975 CBC's There Never Was An Arrow ©1980 Avro Arrow

AVRO Mansion…and the "One" That Got Away.

WHEN A.V. ROE Canada Limited started to unravel as a company it had already become the 3rd largest company in Canada within only a few short years.

AVRO was not only building the famed Avro Arrow, and those FLYING SAUCERS (the Avrocars), but it had also set its’ sights on a venture into space!

Even more importantly, and even more secretly than the Arrow and Iroquois projects, AVRO Canada had embarked on another large-scale goal known to only a select few. AVRO Canada was already midstride in building a large, “vertically integrated” empire of enterprise!

This was the goal, not only according to famed aviation author Peter Zuuring, Avro and Arrow expert, but according to others as well.

It was here, on this 11-acre parcel of land, high above the streets of Toronto, where details of the “empire” could be discussed with an absolute guarantee of privacy.

Here…far away from the Government of Canada, the RCAF, the “moles” inside the Avro plants, and all others who just didn’t understand INDUSTRY, plans for this collossal empire were being forged, and then routinely executed. Expansion through acquisition.

Viscount Montgomery, “Monty” (formerly commander of the Eighth British Army in North Africa during WW II), was entertained by AVRO Canada and enjoyed a private dinner with other notables here, back in the heyday of both Avro and the mansion.

Ironically enough, this English style palace is only two stone throws…maybe three…from the elementary school I had attended from kindergarten to Grade six! I even stumbled upon this “mystery mansion” when I was riding around the area on my Duomatic bike one day.

In Avro’s last days…there had been many, mysterious midnight runs from the Avro Malton facility to Ottawa.

But there was only one such “run” to this refuge. And it was here, at that very last stronghold of AVRO Canada…where very likely the “one that got away” ended up. Brought here, under a shroud of secrecy, during a very well-planned, and well-executed “midnight run”.

I once met a white and wispy haired old man, so long ago now – at an aviation trade show convention. He had overheard me talking about the Avro Arrow to a woman who had recently completed a labour of love: a highly detailed, rectangular quilt of the Arrow in level flight.

He interrupted our talk and grabbed me by the arm (rather forcefully I might add), turned me about, and said, “It’s at the house!”

What?!

“It’s at the house!!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

“It’s at the house!!!” “It’s at the house!!!”

“W H A T!!!…HOUSE?”

“WHAT’S…AT THE HOUSE?!!”

He immediately produced a pen, and clumsily pulled out a white dinner napkin from his jacket pocket, and wrote down: “TECARBIRSR”.

He pronounced it, “Te-car-bir-s(a)r.”

“The Arrow…is there!”

And then he walked off.

Poof! Gone.

I never did forget the old man, and that strange afternoon encounter…or his, “Te-car-bir-s(a)r."

I actually committed it, the “riddle”, to memory.

Now, that was in the late eighties.

And now, 25 years later, I present to you: TECARBIRSR.

It is the house pictured above. I uncovered it again, through recent Arrow research, and had actually, casually, taken some pictures of the Tudor-style, stone house some months ago.

I FINALLY just solved the riddle…when I chanced upon the name of the house in my research material.

So…was the Arrow “that got away” ever here?

Is it still here…perhaps buried, even entombed, somewhere on the palatial grounds?

Was it moved from here, and if so, when? And…to where?

Many questions folks…and absolutely no answers ~

(If you do know…drop me a line)

(I won’t tell you where the house is, or what it once was called, but you’ll know it with certainty, should you find it, by the Four Watchers just above the main door! And if you do find it, as I did, perhaps you better not pry too deeply because there are very likely MORE THAN the Four Watchers, still watching…)


©2006 - 2007 Paul Cardin
©1997 Maclean's
©1980 The Arrow
©1975 CBC There Never Was An Arrow

:::::The LAST Hurrah!..::.:

OCTOBER 2, 2004…British Airways CONCORDE (G-BOAG) comes in for its final TO landing.

Yup.

Good-Bye Concorde!

WE SALUTE YOU!!

I. Was. There.

(The CONCORDE is the most recognizable aircraft in the world and for most people SHE IS the symbol of aviation…her very best ambassador, representing all of aviation's hopes and achievements.)

HOPE For Tomorrow…

A FRIEND OF A FRIEND got stuck at sea, his boat adrift, powerless. As ominous clouds filled the sky indicating a weather change…and not one for the better, he radioed his last known position.

Was this the end?

Hours passed…and with it, so did his hope.

For the longest time, only the sound of the slap of the waves hitting the side of his vessel.

No comfort in that~

Then…what was that…he THOUGHT he heard something?

…distantly.

Then THIS is what he saw.

“I don’t really remember the helicopter at all…all I really saw was "CANADA" and "RESCUE".”

MY COUNTRY had come to save me.

MY COUNTRY…had actually come…to save me.

For a long time he was transfixed by the thought.

NOT REALLY an emotional type…but to this day, he still gets choked up in the recollection~

BILLY BISHOP, James Cagney and THIS YALE!

ALL HAIL THIS YALE!!

THE YALE pictured here in the background (3416) of this photograph starred alongside JAMES CAGNEY in his first colour film, "Captains Of The Clouds". Presently on STATIC DISPLAY and somewhat forgotten at the Guelph Airpark…far…far away from those "glory" years~

In fact, there is no marker or signage anywhere near the plane revealing its former fame. This Yale has been hidden away for years (in-between hangars) at the small airpark.

In the film, Brian MacLean (James Cagney) is a bush pilot who becomes drawn into the War by Winston Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" speech that he hears on the radio. He immediately and enthusiastically enlists in the RCAF. Deemed too old for combat he agrees to become a flight instructor in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

The film was commissioned and filmed under the direction of the RCAF to promote enlistment by qualified pilots (Canadian, American or otherwise) in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. "Captains Of The Clouds" just happens to be the official song of the R.C.A.F. (The Royal Canadian Air Force).

"Captains Of The Clouds" was filmed in Corbeil, Ontario in 1942.

Corbeil IS PRESENTLY home of Lynn Johnston, cartoonist for the world-famous comic strip, "For Better Or For Worse". Lynn and her staff recently had a "Captains Of The Clouds" dress-up party where they dressed up in vintage clothing of that era.

Also starring in the movie was…

Are you sitting down?

Are you ready for this?

NONE OTHER THAN Air Marshal W.A. Bishop!

As HIMSELF!

He is better known to everyone world-wide as the legendary BILLY BISHOP, WW I Canadian Ace with 72 confirmed kills, the HIGHEST of any Commonwealth Ace in WW I. Billy Bishop fought the RED BARON to a "draw" which became one of the few encounters in WW I when two superior aces actually met in the air, and duelled–

LATER, in 1924, and by Royal decree, Mr. Bishop was also charged with the task of setting up the RCAF –

INDEED THOSE WERE heady days…putting together a movie like this…right when Canada was in the middle of WW II!

The lowly Yale is the PRECURSOR to the famous HARVARD with her fixed landing gear and her slower maximum airspeed. The Yale in the foreground was rescued from the infamous Ernie Simmons collection! But that’s a story for another time!

The sound of Yales and Harvards flying solitary, or in formation, was the FIRST SOUND of World War II for the then pilots-in-training.

ALSO, a few squadrons of Yales were captured by the Nazi's in France and were put into service, also as trainers, by the Luftwaffe. Therefore THE YALE became the only aircraft in WW II to serve in squadron strength on both sides of the fray~

FLIGHT 621: Then and Now

MORE about Flight 621.
ALSO: http://homepage.mac.com/friendsofflight621/Menu2.html

And ONE Came Home…this HALIFAX ~

WORK CONTINUES on this WW II Halifax bomber at the RCAF Museum in Trenton, Ontario after she was 750 feet underwater, in Norway…for over 50 years!

Ah…take a breath–

…Out of 37,000 Halifax missions flown in WWII, 29,000 were flown by Canadian flight (Peter Hamilton and Harry Bell were both decorated RCAF Halifax pilots*) crews. Out of over 6,000 Halifax's built, here is the ONLY COMPLETE Halifax, still in existence, in Canada and in fact, North America!!

In 1942, Halifax's were the first ALLIED bombers to bomb Germany in WWII.

This Handley Page Halifax A.VII registration is NA337 / 2P-X.

* More on these guys later.

Dad and Mom.:.::.::..:PROUD CANADIANS≈

THOUGHTS ABOUT CANADA

At Camp Ahmek, I discovered the beauty of my country, and a patriotism not learned in school, or taught from books…
Pierre Elliot Trudeau

Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau

Canada is the linchpin of the English-speaking world.
Sir Winston Churchill

Canada is like your attic, you forget that it's up there, but when you go, it's like "Oh man, look at all this great stuff!"
Unknown

A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe.
Pierre Burton, historian

Canadians are the people who learned to live without the bold accents of the natural ego-trippers of other lands.
Marshall McLuhan

Canadians have been so busy explaining to the Americans that we aren't British, and to the British that we aren't Americans that we haven't had time to become Canadians.
Helen Gordon McPherson

Vive la Canada. This country is not for sale.
Don Sweet

You look at the history -- the aboriginal people welcomed the first settlers here with open arms, fed us and took care of us ... that continues today, we welcome people from all nations to come in and share.
Peter Stoffer

I always thought of this as God's country.
Jack Granatstein

In any world menu, Canada must be considered the vichyssoise of nations, it's cold, half-French, and difficult to stir.
Stuart Keate

It's going to be a great country when they finish unpacking it.
Andrew H. Malcom

I want to thank all the Canadians who came out today to wave to me - with all five fingers!
President George W. Bush (during his first visit to Ottawa Nov. 30, 2004)

There are no limits to the majestic future which lies before the mighty expanse of Canada with its verile, aspiring, cultured, and generous-hearted people.
Sir Winston Churchill

The great themes of Canadian history are as follows: Keeping the Americans out, keeping the French in, and trying to get the Natives to somehow disappear.
Will Ferguson

"Toronto is a kind of New York operated by the Swiss."
Peter Ustinov

Unconsciously, Canadians feel that any people can live where the climate is gentle. It takes a special people to prosper where nature makes it so hard."
Robert MacNeil

"Give me a good canoe, a pair of Jibway snowshoes, my beaver, my family and ten thousand square miles of wilderness and I am happy."
Grey Owl

The Canadians of those days, at least, possessed a roving spirit of adventure which carried them further, in exposure to hardship and danger, than ever the New England colonist went, and led them, though not to clear and colonize the wilderness, yet to range over it as coureurs de bois, or runners of the woods, or, as Hontan prefers to call them, coureurs de risques, runners of risks.
Henry David Thoreau

Canada has never been a melting-pot; more like a tossed salad.
Arnold Edinborough

The enemy must be beaten only to the point where he has no more desire and capability to fight. But a foreign nation must believe that attacking Canada would be like sticking its finger into a buzz saw.
Chris Vokes, Major-General, "Vokes: My War" (1985)

"This tree, which grows in our valleys, on our rocks . . .grows fast, and when it is tall and strong, does not fear storms and overcomes the North wind which is unable to shake it. The maple is the king of our forest; it is the emblem of the Canadian people."
Denis-Benjamin Vig

We're not the public service of Canada, we're not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces, and our job is to be able to kill people.
- Jul 2005 Gen Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff

I had as comrades in my [World War I army] section men whose names were: Cameron, Kimora, English, Gleidenstein, de Chapin, O'Shaughnessy. We didn't fall in or fall out as Irish Canadians, French Canadians, Dutch Canadians, Japanese Canadians. We wore the same uniform, with the same maple leaf badge, and we were proud to be known as Canadians, to serve as Canadians and to die, if it had to be, as Canadians.
Lester B. Pearson

"If anybody can do it, the Canadians can." -on fighting ability of Canadian troops
Lord Byng

Montreal's not a city. It's a Disney World for alcoholics.
~ Mike Wilmot, comedian

I must say, however, that although Florida may have a more favourable climate than anything I've seen and its soil may be more fruitful, you could hardly hope to find a more beautiful country than Canada.
~ Samuel de Champlain, explorer, "Savages," 1603.

"The good thing about being on tour is getting to go overseas to places like Canada."
Britney Spears

What REALLY Happened To Gerry Matatics?

Gerry, along with his wife, converted to Roman Catholicism about 20 years ago AFTER previously making a solemn pact with fellow Presbyterian Scott Hahn to convert "all Catholics OUT of the Church".

Simple enough.

After studying CATHOLIC THEOLOGY to better "grasp the beast" the dynamic duo eventually converted BECOMING ROMAN CATHOLICS not long after they realized they had been on the wrong side all along!

Fast forward to today.

Scott Hahn, along with Kimberley, his wife (also a theologian), have great ministries within the Church and expanding influence as Catholic scholars and evangelists.

And Gerry?

Don't ask.

After moving about a thousand times, his ministry has struggled through the arduous 3 ever-increasingly Catholic conversions of his! And, all along the way, as Gerry has taken ever increasingly more rigid "stands", his followers have had to abandon his wit (he is knowlegable and funny…and make no mistake…he is no theological lightweight either, so ignore his slight stature!), his charm, and his exegesis, all because of his newly evolved "intellectual honesty".

Gerry CAN'T FIGURE OUT what's happening.

Everything and everybody, is wrong WITHIN the Roman Catholic Church! Even the Pope!! The POPE? The See of Peter: vacant! (We love our German Shepard, by the way!). Fantastical, BUT TRUE!! Gerry dearly wants to be saved, and NO ONE is going to trick him and take that salvation away from him! Not that "tricky" Pope…and not God!!

Gerry's problems may have originated with his Hal Lindsey style "fuzzy" thinking. Always trying to set a time frame for that elusive "end of time" event and the apocalyptic "crisis" leading up to that event (although Jesus warned against that type of unecessary anxiousness and fixation) Gerry has sifted and sifted only to yield nothing! (Just live right today, you…yourself, should be one's priority and one needn't worry about all other developments.) So are we in that final generation?

Gerry sees signs. For a long time now.

As Gerry burns one bridge to the past after another, he finds himself in the company of other fringe Catholics even more SCRUPULOUS and weird than himself! He will though, point out the distinctions between himself and those less "enlightened" others–

Not fit to lead, and not fit to follow…Gerry stands alone. And he won't leave the Church because he knows that's what all the schismatics and heretics have done historically…and he knows he joins their rants if he does.

Scott, his forgotten buddy from so long ago, prays for him I'm sure…but likely won't "touch him with a 10-foot pole". Forgetting the parable of the "Wheat and Chaff", Gerry wants a perfect assembly of the Church right here and now, today, although Jesus said the sorting for the Kingdom must come later.

Oh dear.

Gerry, you sir, are beyond arrogant. Sorry, but it just had to be said~ INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE? Perhaps. You don't trust God, friend. And you REALLY NEED to take a hard look at "how you look and how you sound" to others, and especially to that "household of faith."

Yelling at Karl Keating. Good grief!

GOD will clear up differing theological interpretations for all of us, at the appointed time. IT IS for another generation to advance even farther in our understanding of God, the Scriptures and the Church. No doubt there is a lot wrong with the Church presently, but each man must be responsible for his own salvation, and you were never meant to micromanage the lives of others through "detailitis". So let go, and please let God…

Many parishoners have been evangelized by the world and their need to be brought "home" again goes unserved because some, like yourself, appointed and specially gifted to address this "malaise" spiritually (and creatively) have "coughed the puck" and for the most part have "left the building".

I hope it was worth it.

And your conclusions about the Church, the Pope and the Liturgy are way off, and the present state of the Church is no where near as catastrophic as you are proclaiming. He who isn't building friend, is dividing, because really…there is no neutrality…nothing…in the middle.

If you were in the right place before God, you could have achieved the desired result, in silence…and won everybody back, a long, long time ago.

Gerry right now is so "drunk" with his own arrogance, that he hasn't even, or won't even, entertain the "far-fetched" idea that maybe he has gotten himself seriously, and we do mean seriously folks, off course! And he has lead others to fall down that same well!! Even his own wife and kids!!!

Once more: Gerry right now is so "drunk" with his own arrogance, that he hasn't even, or won't even, entertain the "far-fetched" idea that maybe he has gotten himself seriously, and we do mean seriously folks, off course! And he has lead others fall down that same well!! Even his own wife and kids!!!

When John Calvin preached his "malicious" version of God and salvation to a small French town, the listeners were spellbound and horrified! On the verge of despair, the townspeople wondered why God would even want to save them!?

One Frenchman who wasn't overwhelmed by Calvin's preaching told the larger-than-life John Calvin that he had something to show him. So John followed the man. A short distance later, the man stopped, and motioned to a ladder leaning against a wall.

“There you go, now take that ladder and climb to heaven alone!” the man said.

Then the man turned and walked away.

(Gerry…do we need to get you…a ladder?)

Catholics…everybody…pray for Gerry! We really do need a miracle here!! WE NEED Gerry to return to the frontlines of Catholic evangelization, and NOT STAY on the sidelines chasing incomplete visions, searching, scanning frantically for what is only partially true.

We know enraged Gerry won't return because he has always been somewhat of a "lone wolf", living that "lone" dynamic, and he won't recognize the authority of the Church, and that is why he has always remained aloof from it, co-operating with it only when it has been to his advantage.

There are legitimate ways to raise one's concerns with Rome, friend.

And Gerry, there are others within the Church as dedicated to the flock as you are–

Like all "rebels" Gerry is looking for attention, and while he "appears" to want complete autonomy…what he really wants is to be put in his place.

But like all fastidioius "nerds" he really can't help himself! And review, discipline or rebuke by the Church is what he really needs…THAT IS…the most loving thing she can do.

‘nuff said≈

Peggy Yvonne Middleton (Yvonne De Carlo)

HEARD THIS first from Debbie Schlussel. See my FAVS for the link. Or see: http://www.debbieschlussel.com/

Yvonne De Carlo was born Peggy Yvonne Middleton on September 1, 1922, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Died January 10, 2007 at 84. Rest in peace Peggy.

Wife of Moses (The 10 Commandments).

Mrs. Lillian Munster (The Addams Family).

THE FIRST well known busty Canadian? Definitely one, with a lot more class, than the present-day busty Canadian.

(We all know who that is)

JESUS ::::: The Wounded Healer

– The Secret of How God Heals –

God heals one person…calls another to repentance, just shakes hands with yet another person, and only waves to still another.

Someone asked God once…”Why don’t YOU heal everyone?”

His reply was really very simple.

God can heal anyone. He wants to heal everyone. Not everyone, however, wants to be healed. No…not everyone wants to be healed. So, some discernment is quite necessary.

And so God heals Charlie, calls Alison to repentence, says hello to Joe, waves to Leanne, and so on…

The Way We Were ::: 1957 ::: CANADA

The ROLL-OUT of the CF-105 Avro Arrow…here again at the Toronto Aerospace Museum in 2006~

AVRO CANADA was "wrapped up" very quickly after PM Diefenbaker cancelled the Arrow interceptor and Iroquois engine programmes. Former Avro employees were sought out immediately, by eager American and British aerospace employers. THESE VERY ex-Avro Canada engineers went on to produce Lougheed, McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing aircraft, the Concorde and then THEY PUT America in space!

Yup…Diefenbaker's irrational posturing (with Crawford Gordon, President of AVRO CANADA in 1959) and final decisive stupidity, set ALL THAT, Canada's first BRAIN DRAIN, in motion.

NEWLY-ELECT Prime Minister Diefenbaker, who preached "a brave new world" as his campaign promise…in the end, completely lacked ANY VISION or bravery whatsoever.

FOREVER TO BE REMEMBERED, as that "small town prairie lawyer" who rose to the occasion, at that defining moment, so drunk with "newfound" power and who so enraged, deliriously and maliciously, demanded an end to our (AVRO CANADA's) momentous cutting-edge, and preeminent aerospace achievements…and We…WE, the slumbering citizens of Canada, just as lost for letting him shamefully end it!

EVERY TIME I think of this needless and HORRENDOUS aviation tragedy, the death of the Arrow interceptor and the Iroquois engine projects, how close we came, I get so mad…DAMN IT…I don't know what to do!!!!!!

You'd think the years would lessen the blow!

Nope.

IF THIS reflective RAGE doesn't still consume you…even now…well then, you just can't be all that Canadian~

:::LOUD and LOW::::::

…the RCAF during WW II!

RUDOLPH @ TAM

...Toronto Aerospace Museum…that is!

Go for a Visit: www.torontoaerospacemuseum.com/index.html