:: Collide ...

WHEN THE TORONTO ARGOS crash and burn this year (and they will crash and burn)…remember…there's always the cheerleaders…

THE RUNNER STUMBLES: Arnold and Maria…better times in Toronto—30 years ago

TAKEN IN REXDALE, sometime mid 1980, at Vic Tannys, in the very same plaza that William Shatner shot one of his famous commercials for Loblaws. And this plaza was across the street, and down the hill from the former secretive Briarcrest mansion—the last hold-out of the Arrow and Avro Canada.

The 80s. Weightlifting. Health food. Girls. Not enough, girls.

No matter.

Heady days indeed, even, for me.

But this piece is about Arnold—not me.

Even 30 years ago Arnold was no stranger to controversy. At this bodybuilding event, Arnold announced he could come back and beat anybody, anybody, in the highly competitive world of bodybuilding with only 6 weeks of training. Everyone, some very serious bodybuilders were in attendance, became instantly enraged! To Arnold's delight. Soon derogatory comments were hurled back at Arnold. Even more to Arnold's delight. Rarely have I seen Canadians act in such unison. Schwarzenegger had long retired from the barbell scene five years previous, when he had won his 5th, and final Mr Olympia.

Still, the rumors started.

Immediately.

Was Arnold coming back? Would he compete in the 1980 Mr Olympia? Arnie had been seen training but that was for one of his cheesy movies right? Right?!?!? And why was the Austrian Oak pumping iron all covered up—so no one could see what he looked like?

True to form Arnold did come back 12 weeks later—and he did win his sixth Olympia!

Everyone said the contest was rigged.

Mike Mentzer, who had won the Mr Universe contest, the previous year, with a perfect score of 300 (which has never been done since) swore he would never compete in bodybuilding again. There was no way Arnold should have beaten Mike. And although everyone tried to reason with Mike about the unfairness of life etc., true to his word he walked away from the sport, and never. Competed. Again.

The scandalosa would be re-visited through the years, but when Mike's brother Ray became quite sick and was near death, Arnold called the hospital and told Ray that if he needed anything— Arnold would get it for him. And for a while Ray's health stabilized.

The road to healing had begun—Arnold and Mike even talked on the phone a few times after Mike found out about Arnold's generous overture to his brother.

Life was good again.

Will Maria and Arnold make it back from the abyss? Can their marriage be saved?

One thing is sure—forgiveness is a direction.

And THAT is the hand that Maria will have to play out—it's all up to her now, and no one else—

And another thing is sure—Arnold's 'rendezvous days' are over—Maria can't go back to that, he'll be on a tight leash from here on in.

Arnold has to decide if he can actually do that~

(Here the happy couple is pictured together in Toronto…about five years before they married)

(photo taken, by me, with a horrendous Agfa 110!)

FLIGHT 621 Crash Site: And so it begins…

…the process to develop the former crash site of Air Canada FLIGHT 621 where 109 passengers and crew lost their lives when their four-engine Air Canada "Stretch" DC-8 crashed into a Brampton farmer's field.

When the field has been developed, an irregular Flight 621 cemetery will be located right over the crash point (where the airplane went nose-first into the ground), a memorial gardens dedicated to the ill-fated flight for the victim's families will be in place, and a park for visitors will have been established .

Barb Winckler, FRIENDS of FLIGHT 621, walks the lower end of the site's perimeter fence.

This is a double fence which has hay bales filling in the centre?!?!

Flight 621 was a connoisseur flight of Air Canada's that flew Montreal-Toronto-Los Angeles (YUL-YYZ-LAX).

FLIGHT 621: Brampton's WORST AIR DISASTER marked off

WELL, THERE IS no mistaking it now. Flight 621's crash site and the crash arena are now clearly marked and fenced in.

And the crash site is within the developer's site which is also now surrounded by a developer's site fence.

The bottom end of the field has a very bizarre double fence which I will show you soon enough.

Tomorrow I meet with the Brampton Fire Department Headquarters to discuss my most recent field finds which are related to their firefighting work of 41 years ago.

The bulk of the crash was contained within the fenced off area. I talked to an OPP officer who was given this eastern section to catalogue. He found human remains even this far from the impact point.

There was a torso of a male teenager that was found even farther away however, 1100 feet from the DC-8's ground impact point. The forces of destruction which come into play, in a crash of this magnitude, are just incredible—and merciless.

:::TORONTO HISTORY::: Destruction of a Dream: The Tragedy of Avro Canada and the CF-105 Arrow.

AS I MENTIONED last week, Marc-André Valiquette's 3rd book…in his four book series…about Avro Canada, the illustrious Arrow, the mighty Orenda Iroquois etc., entitled Seeds of Suspicion can be found at AVIATION WORLD on Carlingview Road in Toronto, sometime, during the first week of April.

SEEDS OF SUSPICION covers the final weeks of the Avro Arrow and Orenda Iroquois programs, right up to Black Friday, February 20, 1959.

Marc-André Valiquette is perhaps Canada's most famous AVRO CANADA collector and now he is sharing his fine collection of rare artifacts, advertisements, memorabilia, and photos…with the Canadian public through this four volume series of books.

In this, new for 2011, THIRD VOLUME expect hundreds of new Arrow photos, one's that have not been published widely before this release!

And you can read Marc-André's commentary in French, or English!

For your Canadian convenience—HIS BOOKS are Bi-Lingual!

So burn down, your town!

Get on the blower…call Aviation World: 416-674-5959 to reserve your copy!

'nuff, said!

New "AVRO ARROW" Book for 2011!

WELL TODAY, March 25, 2011 is the launch of iPad 2 in Canada.

More importantly though is what is happening TOMORROW in Canada.

Tomorrow on March 26, 2011 Marc-André Valiquette is releasing his 3rd book in his four book series…about Avro Canada and the illustrious Arrow, entitled Seeds of Suspicion.

Now, let me stop right here.

If you haven't purchased Volumes 1 and 2 of this series, you are missing out on quite a lot!

Marc-André has put together a great series here…about Avro and the Arrow. There are almost a THOUSAND RARE photographs included in the already released two volumes of this series!

MANY of these photos, I had never seen before!

And that is saying a lot!!!

Marc-André has even included National Steel Car and Victory Aircraft Ltd. photos. Both aircraft manufacturers were based out of Malton, and were the precursors to Avro Aircraft of Canada. In fact, when Avro Canada was formed in December of 1945, they acquired the million square feet of manufacturing facilities from Victory Aircraft Ltd, which had already replaced National Steel Car.

Four short years later, Avro Canada had produced the all-Canadian C-102 Jetliner, which, in my opinion was the first jet airliner to fly! The deHavilland Comet "hopped" down an English runway 13 days previous to Toronto's Jetliner, but the DH Comet wasn't taken into the air! Not when the press was there! After the hops, the DH Comet returned to the apron. The press was told no further "flights" were possible. That was Wednesday morning, July 27, 1949. Later, in the evening, the Comet came out for an additional flaps-down hop. Then, while the press was writing the first flight "hops" story, the Comet actually flew for 31 minutes—with no press in attendance!

Rumour has that De-Havilland performed this "hops stunt" because they knew that Malton's Jetliner was close to being ready for its maiden flight. No telling how soon. Being the first in the air, with the world's first jet-engined passenger airliner was a highly coveted honour, so the Comet hopped down the manufacturer's runway to secure that accolade.

On its first flight, the Avro Jetliner came out and deliberately flew around Toronto skies for over an hour…it flew folks…it didn't hop! Avro Canada didn't even think about hopping their aircraft. The Canadian C-102 Jetliner didn't accidentally fly as an afterthought…it roared right into the air without hesitation! With the press in attendance.

But, I digress, folks…you'll see lots of the Avro Canada Jetliner in Marc-André books! No need for me to tell any part of that story here.

Also in one of Marc-André volumes there is a pic of an ad from my dad's company, Garrett Manufacturing of Canada! Garrett had published an ad congratulating themselves on their participation in the CF-105 Avro Arrow program!

Mr Valiquette has included everything in his two 100 page book volumes. Lots of stuff, others haven't included in their Arrow books. And Marc-André related the Avro Canada story, both in English and in French! His books are BI-LINGUAL

Yup, the Jet Lancaster even appears in the first book! Doubt, no more. Several pictures of that bird…so I am vindicated. The C-102 Jetliner and CF-100 programmes are nicely covered. The PS-13 Orenda Iroquois engine program is there in all its glory. The laughable Bomarc Missile, Diefenbaker's replacement for the Arrow, is also covered by Marc-André.

And so MUCH MORE!

Far too much to list.

And NOW, the third volume, Seeds of Suspicion has been released!

Get it!

AVIATION WORLD in TO, near YYZ, will soon have it!

Marc-André Valiquette is perhaps the most famous AVRO CANADA collector worldwide and now he is sharing that fine collection of rare artifacts, advertisements, memorabilia, and photos with the Canadian public through this four volume series of books.

Each book will run you between $20 - 25 Canadian.

Here's the official blurb:

THE SERIES IS BI-LINGUAL (a first – English and French) and tells the story of the Malton plant, from its birth in 1938 to its demolition in 2003 (also a first). The series is entitled: "Destruction of a dream, the tragedy of Avro Canada and the CF-105 Arrow".

- The first volume A. V. Roe Canada’s “Per Ardua Ad Astra”, recounts the rise of the company, from its birth as National Steel Car up to the manufacturing of the CF-105 Arrow. The subjects covered include Second World War achievements, post-war adaptation, Jetliner, CF-100, CF-103 and the start of the CF-105 project (96 pages).

- The second volume Supersonic Dreams – At the dawn of a new era, is dedicated to the Arrow, from its rollout to the RCAF’s acquisition of the Bomarc missile (96 pages).

- The third volume Seeds of Suspicion, deals with the last weeks of the Arrow project until “Black Friday” (Launch March 26th 2011, 104 pages).

- The fourth and final volume, Master in our own House?, discusses the project cancellation, the destruction of aircraft, engines and materials, post-Arrow projects, “Avroites” reunions and work at the Malton plant, including Orenda, until its demolition in 2003 (Launch Fall 2011, 128 pages).

RECOGNITION eludes Toronto Area CASM artist…but Donald Trump knows what to do!

Yup.

THIS UNKNOWN ILLUSTRATOR should be famous. Look at the detail in that Canadair Sabre.

This is AMAZING work! His illustrations can be found at the CANADIAN AIR & SPACE MUSEUM located at 65 Carl Hall Road in Downsview, Toronto. The museum is located across from Bombardier Aerospace Toronto.


55 YEARS AGO this Canadian-made (under license) Sabre was beating up Toronto skies under the Toronto based RCAF 400 SQN banner, taking to the skies, from right there, in Downsview.

No more.

The LIBERAL PARTY of Canada has been gutting the Canadian military since the hippie-dippy sixties. Soon Canada will be reduced to defending Canadian soil with kites and canoes; you know like we did back in the 1700s!

For the longest time, the United States of America has been guarding Canadian airspace. Sure CAF CF-188 Hornets intercept Russian bombers that approach Canada from international airspace, and just skirt our border…but if there was trouble, who would respond? It would be the might of America, and Canadian Forces units would dovetail in with America's response. Does that sound like independence to you?

FRANCE which has roughly double the population of Canada (at 65 million) is the World's Third Superpower behind the USA and Russia. The reader needs to really ponder that fact.

France has aircraft carriers, missiles, bombers, warships, submarines, thousands of fighters, and nuclear bombs…to protect its tiny (in comparison to Canada) land mass. And its sovereignty.

Canada has luck.

Or Canada goes hat in hand, to America's doorstep, to ensure ongoing Canadian freedom. Ever since the Cold War years. Disgusting.

There is NO REASON we (CANADA) can't be just like France.

Independent, by our own resolve.

I see some Y-35s and some new mark Arrows that need to be built.

The LIBERAL PARTY of Canada frittered away CANADIAN SOVEREIGNTY a long time ago.

Canada doesn't need a smaller military…we need one about 10X its' present size!

I like presidential hopefuls, THE DONALD, or Allen West, for 2012.

DONALD TRUMP, who is hawkish on the military, has stated that countries which rely on American military might…need to pay for it! Apparently, the non-business type clobberheads in the present, and recent past, American administrations have been giving away American military assistance for free!! All, on the American taxpayer's dime!!!

Prosperous oil or mineral rich countries that COULD EASILY pay for the American military intervention they got…were never asked to pay up!!!

Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Libya, South Korea, South Vietnam, Afghanistan etc. or CANADA (yes, CANADA!) have never been asked to pay their FAIR SHARE!

Users, abusers, and losers, I say.

America came to Great Britain's and Russia's aid in WW II, but the Brits and Russians had to eventually pay for all that military support and hardware received through the Lend-Lease programme.

FYI…CANADA was never under the Lend-Lease programme.

In WW II, CANADIANS paid up front for military equipment, or produced it ourselves, and gave it away FOR FREE to the people of Great Britain in their hour of need. Here's some Hawker Hurricanes produced in Fort William, Ontario…courtesy of the city of Oshawa, for ya'…to aid the British war effort. Here's million Lee-Enfield rifles. Load them on the ships, and send' em over boys. Now, you get the picture.

You mean a glorious nation like Great Britain was charged back then, and some of these scrub nations of today, haven't been?!?!

What?

Are you #%$@&*^ kiddin' me?

The AVRO ARROW Mark 5 : What SHOULD Have Been…

A CANADIAN DEFENDER for Canadian skies.A CANADIAN DEFENDER for Canadian skies.

PICTURED is a Mark 5 Arrow from the CAF, not RCAF (unfortunately), from 409 (Nighthawk) Squadron based in Comox, BC.

Yes…what should have been~

THE ILLUSTRATION is from an unknown Canadian aviation artist who has created a lot of fantastic SIDE-VIEW illustrations of just about everything that has donned the RCAF or CAF roundel. I added "movement" to the Arrow and a dimmed-out RCAF roundel (in the background) from another work he also created.

Who is the mystery artist?

Don't know.

Unlike EVERY OTHER ARTIST alive…he doesn't sign his stuff!

Some of his creations can be found at the CANADIAN AIR & SPACE MUSEUM located at 65 Carl Hall Road in Downsview, Toronto. The museum is located across from Bombardier Aerospace Toronto.

Check out the museum…home of a life-sized Arrow…and check out the museum's ultrafine gift shop. There you can purchase illustrations by this featured, unknown artist, and lots of other rare Canadian aviation stuff!

Remember the Avro Arrow, powered by her two homegrown Orenda Iroquois engines, would have been the most advanced interceptor of her time in 1959. And remember, she was designed, created, and screeched through Toronto skies…back in that illustrious day!

Most of the engineers from AVRO AIRCRAFT OF CANADA Ltd. went south when the Arrow and Iroquois engine programmes were cancelled—and made significant contributions to NASA. They helped put America in space.

In order to reduce mounting costs…the USAF offered to provide the weapons systems for all existing 27 Arrows, free of charge, IF the Canadian government would keep the two cutting-edge programmes afloat.

John G. Diefenbaker, then Prime Minister of Canada, said no.

Curtis-Wright of the USA ordered 12,000! Orenda Iroquois engines from Avro Canada.

Diefenbaker cancelled the order and told them to forget it. His government also cancelled the French Air Force's order of 300 Orenda Iroquois engines.

The USAF then offered to buy FIVE existing Arrows from the Canadian government's inventory, shortly after the two programmes were simultaneously cancelled on February 20, 1959.

The Canadian government NEVER ANSWERED that tabled offer from the USAF.

So much for all those conspiracy theories that really dumb (loads of) Canadians believe about America sabotaging the Arrow.

America tried to save the Arrow and Orenda! MANY TIMES!!

I can't tell you how many spooky Canadians whisper, "it was those Americans" whenever the demise of the Arrow is discussed. I know Canada is a free country and all… and it's your democratic right to remain stupid…but certainly, after a while, it should be embarrassing to you when the facts absolutely negate your anti-American sentiments.

Like Jim Floyd, former Vice President of Avro Aircraft Canada (hey—remember JIm?), has said repeatedly, about who is at fault for the demise of the Arrow and Iroquois,

"We (Canadians) did it (killed the projects) to ourselves."

ex-AVRO CANADA EMPLOYEE CANADIAN BOMBSHELL…slams Canadian Prime Minister!

THE CBC WAS INTERVIEWING Avro Canada employees at the end of their final shifts. The day? February 20, 1959. In the morning, Prime Minister John G Diefenbaker announced in the House of Commons that the Arrow and Iroquois programmes were cancelled, and Avro Canada president, Crawford Gordon, promptly fired everyone at Avro that afternoon. No airplane or jet engine, to build…no work!

No one blamed Crawford Gordon for the firings.

EVERYONE blamed Dief, including this Canadian blonde bombshell captured by the CBC interviewer. I looped the clip for 3X play since it is so short.

WHO WAS this Canadian wonder woman?

I wonder if anybody out there in cyberspace knows who she was?? Curious.

She got it. And she sent her thoughts right up to the Prime Minister.

But Dief was arrogant.

A Jack. Stupid. Ass.

So he plowed ahead like every idiot would…throwing good business advice to the wind…because…well, he knew better. And so he destroyed Avro Aircraft of Canada Limited.

The blonde woman typifies CANADIAN WOMEN in general.

Here's YOUR debriefing:

"SWEET GIRLS come from the south, Barbies come from California, but Canadian girls have fire and ice in our blood. We can drive in snow and mud, handle the cold, beat the heat, be a princess, throw a right hook and drink with the boys! We can cook a wickedly good meal and if we have an opinion... You bet your ass your gonna hear it!!!"
(Janice Gattie)

And now, you know!


©1959 CBC

THE ARROW isn't coming back, folks…

AND NEITHER IS the Orenda Iroquois PS-13…

"IT'S THE CLOSET THING CANADIAN INDUSTRY has to a love story and a murder mystery.

THE AVRO ARROW, a sleek white jet interceptor developed in Malton, Ontario in the 1950's, could have been many things. It might have become the fastest plane in the world, Canada's best defence against Soviet bombers, the catalyst to propel Canada to the forefront of the aviation industry. Instead, it became a $400-million pile of scrap metal, and the stuff of legends.

Not long after the 1958 start of its flight test program, the development of the Arrow (including its Orenda Iroquois jet engines) was abruptly and controversially halted before the project review had taken place, sparking a long and bitter political debate.

The controversy engendered by the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production, remains a topic for debate among historians, political observers and industry pundits. "This action effectively put Avro out of business and its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered...

The incident was a traumatic one... and to this day, many mourn the loss of the Avro Arrow."
(unknown)

Cancelled February 20th, 1959…52 YEARS and counting…

FLIGHT 621 ::: The Lost Photographs

FOR THE LONGEST TIME, I thought the Terry Waddington photo was the only photo in existence that captured CF–TIW, the Air Canada Stretch DC-8 that crashed in a Castlemore farmer's field on July 5, 1970.

But…I was wrong.

There were two other photographs taken of the ill-fated aircraft. On the very day of the accident!

The Terry Waddington photo was taken just a month or two before the aircraft was delivered to Air Canada. That photo, which is the top photo depicted here, shows us the brand-new Air Canada DC-8 (tail fin number 878) Canadian registration CF-TIW doing engine run ups amongst a host of other pre-delivery DC-8s at the old Long Beach, California McDonnell Douglas aircraft plant.

But, back to the other photographs…

Apparently, a travellor racing along in a cab on his way to the airport (somewhere in the northeast corner of Mississauga) snapped two photographs of the disintegrating Air Canada DC-8—just as it was beset with three explosions, and just as it really started to break apart. Timeline about 25 seconds before it actually crashed.

After these photographs were taken of the fatal flight, the photographer knowing he had captured something significant…turned them over to the proper authorities, likely the RCMP, when he arrived at Toronto International Airport in Malton.

One problem though—nobody knew where the hell he had taken them from! And no one thought to ask the photographer before he departed on his flight!

I mean…where was the racing cab barrelling along, where was it actually located, when the telltale photos were snapped? Back in the 70s, it was rare for folk to be walking around with a camera! Not like today! On top of that, it was even rarer for photos to be taken of an airliner moments before it crashed. It takes a certain presence of mind, and a steady hand to capture such a horrific and fast-moving event. It's there…and seconds later it's gone. And camera settings were not automatic, back then! Let's remember the skill level involved, shall we?

Of course, everyone remembers the ominous grainy photo of a 180 degree banked, sideways flying American Airlines DC-10 ( Flight 191) as it passed over the terminal at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, only seconds before it crashed. I mean that photo was famous! And here, we have not one, but two(!) photos of an airliner in crash sequence and these never make it to the Toronto papers, were kept secret at the time, now can't be found, and no one even knows where to look!

Oh, the secrecy! In Canada with our multiple layers of worthless bureaucracy, it isn't enough to say the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing…it's more serious than that! It is more accurate to say the right-handed thumb, doesn't know what the right-handed index finger is doing!!

Anyway, before I lose my marbles at the sheer stupidity of that fact which is resettling in on me, and before my BP reading goes right off the dial…lets return to the subject of the missing Flight 621 photos.

Mississauga Roads and Construction with copies of the photos in hand, were sent out to determine the exact spot the photographs were taken from. The photographs were incredibly important to the crash investigators, because miraculously, these photographs were able to certify, beyond any doubt, investigators assumptions that three explosions had indeed taken place aboard the struggling airplane moments before it crashed in Castlemore, Ontario.

The diagram in the lower right-hand part of the book page was created from the two, now missing photos. Investigators noted that the three explosions were visible within the photos as "puffs of smoke".

Engine #3 is seen separating and falling to the ground, followed thereafter by the starboard wingtip, and finally joined by Fuel tank #4's upper plating. Then the still brand-new DC-8 crashed. I've taken the liberty of adding Air Canada DC-8s to the diagram, in the approximate position and angle, the photographer would have captured the crashing airplane in—for the benefit of the reader.

One final mystery remains to this day. No two! Who was THAT photographer? And where the hell are these photographs today?

We have the diagram…but we don't have the photos!

That—could only happen in Canada!

.

ADDITIONAL
How did the stewardesses, look back in 1970? SEE: www.flickr.com/photos/70fashion/3353308678/in/pool-100737...

The FLIGHT 621 stewardesses had these exact uniforms with one noted exception. Some of the stewardesses on board that day, the day of the crash, would have had the Galaxy-themed uniforms which would be the same style, but they would be blue in colour, not Air Canada red! CF-TIW was a Galaxy-themed DC-8.


(As with all my articles…this is a first post that will be revised several times in the weeks and months ahead.)

FLIGHT 621: the LAST WINTER (2011) of the DIASPORA

HOMES SPROUTING UP all 'round the 621 Field…

You knew it had to happen one day. And that day swiftly approaches…and for better, or worse…development will steamroller its way through the hallowed 621 field in only a few months. Yes, in this forgotten field where 109 people, strangers to each other, died, together, in 1970.

But that impending development is for the better, folks.

The skeletal remains of these unfortunate victims can still be found in the field. But by spring…that will…no longer be the case. Thankfully.

The three acres of topsoil containing most of these human remains will be gathered up…and entombed in a FLIGHT 621 Cemetery that will be located right at the crash point.

Right where AIR CANADA'S DC-8's nose entered the ground.

I pause, as I have so often before…and snippets of the victims lives, the part of their lives that I have come to know about, race through my head. And I see the faces. Even in the bitter cold and the silence, there is time for that.

I share some thoughts with the Great God, who is always present. And I release my sadness back to Him.

Otherwise, it would be too much for me, for anybody, to bear.

For many of the Flight 621 families who lost cherished ones, it has been just that. Too much too bear.

So often in death, we get lucky…we have a warning. We have time to spend with an ailing family member, or, friend. Time to mend things, time to say those things that need to be said, we have time to say our good-byes…and to let go.

Gradually.

With so many of the surviving family members of Flight 621…it is a feeling of being cheated.

So, if you go to the Flight 621 Cemetery in Castlemore, when it officially opens in 2012, bear that in mind.

You may run into family members. This is their place.

Most will want privacy. Some may want to talk. There is no roadmap. All you can do is discern in that very moment what is the loving thing to do, or be.

And if you're Catholic, like I am…that's all your religion, and your God is asking you to do. Has been asking you, your whole life—

God, is not as far away, as you think.

And your neighbour is, almost as close…


(The visible post coincidentally is at the most eastern edge of the crash arena. The treeline takes you down to ground zero)

:.::. LYNN SILVERTHORN : Toronto's First Family

GOING THROUGH old 8mm video… I discovered this poorly-shot gem!

It brought back two memories.

Man, I HATE horses.

And there really are HORSE PEOPLE.

Back in the early 90s, Lynn Silverthorn tried to teach me how to ride, on an old mare, deemed safe for beginning riders…

Well, the reality was a little' different I'll tell ya'!

The horse bolted and threw me off IMMEDIATELY! My shoulder bothered me for about 6 months after that—I never inconvenienced a horse again~

I had met Lynn at a friend's church, and after a church singles canoe and camping weekend event we sorta' hit it off. I was a bit put out originally—I had been asked to join the event because I was an experienced canoeist with some Coureur de bois blood running through my veins. I didn't really want to go, but what are friends for, right?

I ended up in a canoe with Lynn and was surprised to find that Lynn was quite the capable canoeist, herself. She was Christian, tall, attractive, cheerful, and financially independent. Wow…what more could a man ask for?

For one, a man could ask to meet a woman who wasn't a HORSE PERSON…

As I would later discover…to our mutual dismay.

Lynn's extended family at one time owned parts of southwest Toronto and southeast Mississauga. Hence a secondary school, a public school, a park, etc. named after Toronto Township's oldest family. And hence the family wealth which they kept quite quiet about. You'd never know they were loaded.

CHERRY HILL HOUSE is Mississauga's oldest surviving house. And Cherry Hill was owned by Joseph Silverthorn, a United Empire Loyalist, and Lynn's great, great, grandfather. The children of Joseph and Jane were the first white children to be born in Toronto Township! Believe it or not, that fact remains true—

The Silverthorns were always accommodating of the thirteen Indian tribes that were in the Toronto-Mississauga area and roamed through their lands. At Cherry Hill, "white man and redskin" shared sup and shelter, according to a blurb from Taste in the City.ca.

And yes, Cherry Hill is haunted. By Jane Silverthorn, Joseph's wife and by some of the natives who had stayed at the home in the early 1800s. The house was moved eight hundred feet from its original foundation in the early 70s, and that's when all the trouble started! The house had to be moved because it was discovered to be located on an Indian burial site!!

SEE: www.mississauga.com/community/article/817243--is-cherry-h...

Global News VIDEO: sopsinvestigations.com/sops/?p=139


While Lynn placed third in one Hunter Hack event at this horse show, and fifth in two others, she was a first-class investor. I remember a year or two before we met and went out, Lynn acknowledged she had purchased some 17,000 shares of Microsoft at less than a quarter a share! This, amongst all her other investments. Lynn was a buy and hold type…so when Microsoft hit $127 USD just seven years later…well, you do the math!

But alas, for us, it was not to be. I was a evangelical Catholic, and she an Evangelical.

I was an AIRPLANE PERSON and she was a HORSE PERSON.

I remember my landlord saying at the time, that he had never been able to make it with a HORSE PERSON. They were different people.

No truer words spoken, John! They really are.

ADDENDUM

WHY was it called the CHERRY HILL HOUSE?

It sat on a hill…and cherry trees encircled the homestead for an entire mile as well as lining the driveway up to the house!

A Trip to Bountiful: TI-CATS STAY in HAMILTON!!

AS WE ALL KNOW…Leslie has been working behind the scenes to keep the CFL in Hamilton. Ti-Cat owner, Bob Young, had threatened to move the ancient franchise to parts more hospitable. And not necessarily anywhere in Ontario, either!

Hamilton City Council was selecting a new stadium site for the 2015 Pan-Am Games expecting good ole' Bob would just go along with THEIR dictatorial decision. Nope.

Finally, some council members realized they were dealing with a football guy, not a ballerina guy…

AND YES you would have to finally listen to BOB'S CONCERNS you tiny people!

Pretty soon all the hippies will be dead. I wish we could say that about all the Commies.

And the site of the new Pan-Am Games 2015/Hamilton Ti-Cats Stadium is IVOR WYNNE STADIUM!

Wait, that's where the stadium is located NOW!!

Exactly.

With promised stadium building cash busting out from coffers everywhere…The City of Hamilton, The City of Toronto, the province, the Hamilton Ti-Cats, and the private sector…someone realized that it would save everyone a lot of cash if they just rebuilt IVOR WYNNE!

No kidding.

Bob's happy. Leslie's happy. I'm happy.

Is Hamilton City Council happy?

Who cares?

And remember Bob Young's aunt donated $40 MILLION to the Hamilton Community Foundation in June 2000 to improve Hamilton area health facilities! That money came from his aunt's initial stock investment in Bob's software company, Red Hat Inc.

Considering all the contributions the Youngs have made to the Hamilton area, a new stadium should be built WHEREVER Bob wants it to be built…except the site of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum… just saying…

(Roger's Centre lighting sucks…Leslie will have to stay greenish…because to remove the green cast kills the other colours! [Sigh].)

FIRST FLIGHT: CF-100, 61 Years Ago and One Day…

HIGH ABOVE SPARSELY populated Toronto…

On its maiden flight January 19, 1950. Dressed in experimental black!

The top reprocessed photo is my copyright.

The bottom CF-100 photo showcases the "Clunk" in day-to-day duties.

THIS PHOTO is taken from the fabulous second volume about the Avro Arrow entitled… Supersonic Dreams – At the dawn of a new era, which is dedicated to the same, from its rollout to the RCAF’s acquisition of the Bomarc missile (96 pages) written by well-known Avro Canada Collector Marc-André Valiquette, who now is an Author, and Publisher.

TWO BOOKS in the series have been produced so far by Marc-André. With lots of interesting photos and info that only a serious lifelong collector would have.

Do yourself a favor, run out and buy both volumes today which can be found at aviation world, in Toronto, and other fine bookstores everywhere.

The third volume, Seeds of Suspicion, in this four volume series…comes out March 26, 2011.

FLYING! Sooner than you…

…think.

AND WHEN it does, it will be the only flying Bristol Bolingbroke in the world!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!

COAST PROTECTORS and TRAINERS… that's what these twin-engine bombers were used for in Canada.

RCAF CANADIAN BOLINGBROKES were manufactured by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd., Longueil, PQ. Canada. The Quebec factory built a total of 687 Bolingbrokes between 1939 and 1943.

The Pic shows us the FUTURE, the PRESENT, and the PAST.

SEE Assembly Video:
www.thespec.com/news/local/article/307111--monumental-ass...

DOUGLAS A-26 And then came the crazy...

As I said before…WE MAY never know:::…WHY SOMEONE thought it was a good idea to put a DOUGLAS A-26 INVADER WW II bomber atop the Mackie Transport Company building in Oshawa (see: www.flickr.com/photos/78215847@N00/352999167/ )

Something about…I just bought one…let's put it up there…and put you…on the map!

That it did.

And there it sat for 26 years.

WHY I let this guy talk me into going on someone else's roof without asking…

Something about …"I've done it lots of times…if he (the owner) was here…he'd let us, etc."

Okay, then.

However when I'm finally up there with all my camera equipment, I hear...

"Don't go near the bubbles."

"Why?"

…the people inside will see you!"

Oh, well…the contradictions, I did want to see the regionally famous Invader on the roof up close, after seeing it forever from afar since 1979…and it was a great photo-op, also it was probably worth being arrested for—

Currently this A-26 Invader is down south, South Dakota on a US military base being restored to FLIGHTWORTHY condition, according to the Guild, the last Canadian owners.

From Flickrer, bauple58:


Serial #: 44-34659
Construction #:
27938
Civil Registration:
N9163Z
Model(s):
A-26B
TB-26B
Name: None
Status: Restoration
Last info: 2003

History:
National Flight Services Inc, Toledo, OH, 1963-1964.
- Registered as N9163Z.
David Voltz, Phoenix, AZ, 1966.
Aircraft Specialties Inc, Mesa, AZ, 1969-1973.
Kenting Aviation, Toronto, Ontario, 1973-1974.
Struck of U.S. Civil Register May 30, 1974.
Mackie's Moving & Storage Co, Oshawa, Ontario, 1974-1999.
- Displayed on warehouse roof.
David Grainger/Guild Of Automobile Restorers, Bradford, Ontario, Oct. 1999-2003.
- Removed from roof for static restoration.

>:>:> HAPPY NEW YEAR .. 2011!!!!

Will LESLIE STEWART, here pictured as an Toronto Argonaut cheerleader (my illustrious capture), but now coaching the HAMILTON TIGER-CATS CHEERLEADERS be able to keep the Ti-Cats in Hamilton?

A new stadium has to be built BUT can Leslie convince city council members to consider the location wishes of the anchor business (the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) in their selection of a new site?

Hamilton City Council (the Commies) want to build at one location…but the Ti-Cat's owner (Bob Young) is saying he won't relocate there, so like true Commies who dictate and never listen…they're steamrolling ahead with their silly Council plans anyway. Who cares if you can't fill the stadium with a suitable tenant after it's built for the Commonwealth Games. Only anti-biz Council proclamations matter.

Good luck Leslie, with that—

::..: AND SOME…::

…jus' get into LIFE more than others~


THIS is a TI-CAT FAN. This IS NOT a BLUE JAYS fan—

Thank-you.

Will Hamilton still have the Ti-Cats in 2012????

Is 2011, the VERY LAST YEAR at IVOR WYNNE and the very last year of the HAMILTON TIGER-CATS?

Will a 150 year (almost - 1873) football tradition really end?

Will Head Coach of the Ti-Cats cheerleaders LESLIE STEWART save the day?? Again???

Golfer MARLENE STEWART STREIT and Brampton's Christmas Miracle of 1954!

MARLENE STEWART STREIT, Order of Canada, was born on the farm, in Cereal, Alberta on March 9, 1934. Two years later her family abandoned the family farm because of the unrelenting locust hordes of the past two years. These locust storms had consumed all their crops. The Stewarts resettled in Ranier Alberta, in the irrigation district, where crops were bountiful with fruits (like melons) and vegetables they had never even seen before.

So far, so good.

Eventually, horrendous sand storms killed crop production in Ranier, so the Stewart family in 1941 again pulled up stakes, and moved to Fonthill near to the US border at Niagara Falls, Ontario. Marlene's father, Harold, had tried to join the RCAF but because her dad was a skilled electrician he was immediately dispatched to work for Fleet Aircraft of Canada, there in Fonthill.

Still, good.

Starting off as a golf caddy for a friend of hers, Marlene learned how to play…and really win at the game…from golfing master and pro Gordon McInnis Sr. at Fonthill's Lookout Point Golf Club. Putting spikes into her street shoes, and rewrapping her golf club's because Marlene's hands were so small…McInnis taught Marlene the techniques showcased in Ben Hogan's book, Power Golf.

Tiny Marlene, she stood only five feet tall, was so persistent and so damn determined. She got golf right, and right from the start immersed herself in the game, practising golf day and night. Soon she started winning tourneys. After she won the Ontario provincial championship, before financially committing to take Marlene to the Amateur level, Harold Stewart asked McInnis to fairly assess his daughter's potential future success.

Marlene's dad asked the seasoned McInnis, "How far can she go?"

McInnis thought about the father's searching question, and honestly responded, 'She can go the limit. She can be the best.'

And that's exactly what she started to do…

By December, 1954, at a mere 20 years old, and standing only five feet tall with tiny hands, Miss Stewart had garnered some pretty spectacular golfing achievements for a young Canadian lass.

Have a looky for yourself:

▪Ontario Junior Girls (2-time winner)
▪Ontario Ladies' Amateur - 1951
▪Canadian Women's Amateur - 1951, 1954
▪CLGA Close Amateurs - 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954

EXCELLENT!! Way to go Marlene!

But on December 17, 1954 Canada's brightest golfing star boarded a triple-tail TCA Super Constellation in Tampa, Florida with…Canada's worst pilot, Captain Norman Ramsay, at the helm.

Oh. No.

Marlene, not good~

I can't look. Quick, take another afternoon flight!!

Too late folks, airborne now…

Trans-Canada-Airlines newest type airliner took flight on a route straight north from Tampa to Malton airport, now known as Pearson International or YYZ.

At 9:32pm, Mount Pleasant - Brampton, Ontario time, Captain Ramsay vectored his large and brand-new 1.5 million dollar Constellation to line-up with Malton airport's northwest runway. He coaxes the graceful bird into position, drops his wheels, drops his flaps, throws his canteen out the window, and brings her in to land.

Trouble is…Norman and his TCA Constellation…are 12 miles from the airport.

Very soon, Norman's Super Constellation's fuselage and delicate underbelly is being ripped up by the very rough, and very frozen, unforgiving farmland fields of Mount Pleasant in Brampton.

All 27 passengers aboard the TransCanada Airlines flight had only just been told, and had only begun to prepare, moments before, for landing at Malton…when their unexpected disaster struck.

On the descent, the Super Constellation struck several trees which sheared off one of the wings of the ill-fated airliner. Good grief. The speeding airliner stared sliding along the frozen Brampton tundra for nigh of a 1000 feet. When the botched-landing airplane came to rest, it was on the farmland of Clure Archdekin. And fortunately, for the passengers and crew, Clure was right on hand to give help.

Some of the passengers were able to escape through the large fuselage hole created when the Connies' wing was torn away. Other dazed survivors just jumped to the ground unassisted from the former aircraft, while Clure got the rest of the passengers, and all three crew members, out from the other end of the burning wreck. Everyone survived, and as they ran from the fire engulfed airplane, it proceeded to explode sending a huge ball of orange flame that went a hundred feet into the air.

At the time, 1954, it was the most miraculous escape in Canadian aviation history.

Marlene Stewart, herself, sustained only slight injuries from the accident. Not only did everyone survive, but miraculously…no one was even seriously injured!

These TCAL air crash survivors were cautiously sent to Brampton and Weston hospitals. Brampton firefighters who had rushed to the scene mostly assisted the crash survivors by getting them into arriving ambulances, as they were not able to save the burning airplane. TCA's pride of the fleet, the Lougheed Super Constellation, was stuck 1000 feet from the nearest road, on frozen, rough farmland…and remember Brampton at the time did not have the elaborate fire hydrant system that it has today. In short, the firefighters were not able to get any significant amount of water out to the airplane, in order to save her.

Very shortly after this crash, Malton Airport's flight approach route was altered, so that descending airliners would no longer take this approach…and fly over the centre of Brampton.

Good idea.

This Trans-Canada-Air-Lines crash, and Hurricane Hazel's terrible October flooding of Brampton two months earlier, convinced Brampton politicians that the city needed full-time firefighters, modern equipment, and a disaster plan for this growing community of British and Portuguese immigrants.

Only 16 short years later that very disaster plan would have to be put into effect for another large airplane that would crash in Brampton, this time, at the other end of the city.

That would be Air Canada Flight 621 on July 5, 1970.

Only this time there would be no miracles, because there would be no survivors.

Marlene Stewart Streit as we know survived the forgotten Trans-Canada-Air-Lines crash of 1954, and went forth to become the most accomplished Canadian amateur golfer…in Canadian history, male or female. Marlene also became the only golfer in world history to have won the Australian, British, Canadian and United States Women's Amateur Golf Championships.

In total career wins Marlene won 11 Canadian Ladies’ Open Amateurs, nine Canadian Ladies’ Close titles and four Canadian Ladies’ Senior Women’s Amateur tournaments. She won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1956, and again in 2003.

When Marlene was 69 years young she became the oldest person to win a USGA championship.

She claimed her third US Senior Women's Amateur Championship at this time.

Today, she is 76 years old.

In 2004, Marlene Stewart Streit was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame becoming the first Canadian to be so honoured.

Marlene resides in Florida, but was not able to be reached for comment related to this post. I hope to do a follow-up piece interviewing Marlene about herself, and her TCA experience.

A special thanks to Carolyn Crawford who helped me find the location of the accident, and provided me with some background details about the community at the time of the accident. Carolyn's father resided on the farm beside, and south of Clure Archdekin's. Both her aunt and her father boarded their tractor that fateful evening, and drove out to the accident to see if they could lend a hand, only to find the passengers rescued, and the airplane burning out of control.

An additional special thanks to former Brampton firefighters who helped me identify the "famous" golfer who was aboard this flight, and to Rhonda Glenn, for additional details about Marlene's career.

The TOP photo is a TCA Super Constellation
LEFT photo is part of the crash in Mount Pleasant
CENTRE is Marlene at 20
RIGHT is the location of the crash arena in Mount Pleasant, Brampton



FAMOUS QUOTES from Marlene:

"Don’t be a spoiled brat; get out there and do it. Beat everybody. Don’t go around with a chip on your shoulder. Just beat ‘em."

“When you write about me, don’t forget Canada. Canada (fist clenched, tapping it on her heart) is right here!”

THIS CRASH Part 1: www.flickr.com/photos/78215847@N00/4066337145/

THIS CRASH Part 2: www.flickr.com/photos/78215847@N00/4066337145/




+++++MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL in 2010!+++++



(As with all my articles…this is a first post that will be revised several times over time.)