AVRO AIRCRAFT of CANADA 1959: STUFF That Didn't Fly Then…

…and stuff that wouldn't fly now!

To the LEFT…a snow-melter powered by Avro's Orenda 10 jet engine for the Germans.

To the RIGHT…husband's and wives's duties at breakfast time. I have no comment, here.

The original state of the magazine is coloured with age, is a little beat up, and readily observed in the centre.

THE ORENDA Magazine published for the Orenda Engine Division of Avro Aircraft of Canada Limited…is sadly dated January 30, 1959. Three weeks, exactly, from the cancellation of Avro's main projects, the Arrow and Iroquois programmes, by the treacherous Diefenbaker government.

None of these folk saw it comin'.

Everyone, all 14,500 workers, were let go.

Must view LARGE to read floating articles…

...:::.. I LOVE Canadian Aircraft ..:::

YOU KNOW, when its all said and done, I do.

You know its true.

I LOVE CANADIAN AIRCRAFT!

When I first saw the "I love Canadian Beef" ads put out by the Beef Producers of Canada, I knew their message was good. Oprah had slammed beef on national TV, and her worldwide zombies hang on every word.

But others slammed beef too. Mad Cow, you know.

SO the Beef Producers of Canada did the one thing I like best about Canadians, they fought back at the disinformation. Right away.

I knew THEN…the "I love Canadian" concept had be taken to higher ground.

So I designed MY OWN bumper sticker. The Arrow illustration is fantastic, but not my own.

Now, in case there was any doubt, everybody, past, present or future…knows where I stand.

'nuff, said—

::::: We All Need Answers…

…it's just you're not likely to find them at an air show~

::: In CANADA, in 1955…the FUTURE was WIDE-OPEN! ..::.:.

…and don't let anyone EVER tell you otherwise.

And ALTHOUGH these men gave us the C-102 Jetliner, the CF-100 Canuck, the Avrocar, the CF-105 Arrow and the Orenda jet engine line-up including the mythological Iroquois…although these men gave us their all, their everything…one man would throw it all away!

Hey, these folks could take the hint.

When the, then Prime Minister of Canada, John G. Diefenbaker (I can't even bear to repeat his name), cancelled the Avro Arrow Interceptor and Orenda Iroquois engine programmes only four years later in 1959, these guys took it all in stride.

They knew it. They weren't wanted.

And what did these aeronautical engineers do? Where would they go?

Fall back into obscurity?

Flip burgers somewhere?

Lie down, and die?

Are? You? KIDDING? Me?

The Brits and the Americans knew what these ex-Avro guys were capable of!

And British and American aviation firms came right to the parking lots at Avro Aircraft Ltd. in Toronto, and hired these guys on the spot…as they wrapped up their last few days of employment at Avro. Jim Floyd, Vice-President of Avro Aircraft of Canada Ltd. even placed some of these designers, his own team, himself… with the explicit intention to woo them back when the Diefenbaker nightmare finally ended.

It didn't end.

But justice is always sweet. So we threw away these guys in 1959…but by 1969, they had their ominous revenge.

In 1969, the Concorde flew with well-documented contributions towards that Anglo-French SST achievement coming from Mr. Jim Floyd, himself.

And again in 1969, Ex-Avro engineers, in only a few months after the 10th anniversary of the demise of the Arrow and the Iroquois…were watching deep within the confines of NASA, from their command posts, as their newest creation, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Then for the very first time in world history a man descended down a ladder on the lunar module, and proceeded to walk on the moon.

These extraordinary aviation and aerospace feats, made possible, because of SIGNIFICANT contributions from our ex-Avroites (ex-Avro employees)!

Just 10 years previous these guys were at Avro in Toronto!

Arrows to the moon, baby…Arrows…to the moon!

If you don't understand that last quip, back to sleep, Canada.

And I, am, outta', here!

Good night, Canada!

TORONTO! You'll NEVER…have a finer hour~



(This version of the photo: © Paul Cardin - Special Projects in Research)

IRAN ::: a time for Reapers

::: JOE FIORITO: Phony as a Three Dollar bill .:.

MY NEIGHBOUR called up the other day asking,

" Do you by chance have any diagrams of the C-102 Avro Jetliner's Pilot's and Co-Pilot's side panels?"

I responded,

"Do you just need diagrams, or the actual side panels?"

"YOU HAVE THE ACTUAL SIDE PANELS!?!?!?"

(kidding)…but it would be nice.

My buddy goes on…"Hey, did you see what that hammerhead Toronto Star columnist said the other day about cancelling the air show (Toronto-CIAS)?

"Yeah, I read Joe…who? (we laugh, *inside Canadian joke*).

Just another zero unCanadian whose mouth is a yawning grave.

It's sad really. Canada used to hang Communists, now we allow them to write for the city newspaper.

CIAS (Canadian International Air Show) has been held for the final three days of the C.N.E. since, I dunno, 1949…a mere 60 years! A proud Canadian tradition. An actual Toronto tradition. The Avro Canada C-102 (seen in the photos above) flew in one of the first air shows, although the ever famous Arrow almost…but, never did. The Jetliner's spectacular (and loud) air show appearance is one of the few memories we still have of the illustrious Canadian airliner, that was once the heartthrob of millionaire Howard Hughes.

That very proud beginning beckons to us today to continue the irrepressible air show tradition.

But it must be a real air show.

And air shows are never polite.

Doubtful, if Joe even knows what the C-102 was, or about its chief designer and still Toronto resident, 96 year old Jim Floyd—nope, not even on Joe's radar…but if two parking lot attendants are scrapping it out…he'll will be right there with the complete story!

Saints preserve us!

Fiorito's reasons for wanting to end the air show are as asinine, and incredulous, as they come.

Hey, he needed fodder for that day's column. His column's air show commentary, quickly descends into a sheer kaleidoscope of intended (and therefore phoney) stupidity, including these gems:

"Canada has no need of American fighter jets…"

Well, Joe exactly one F-16 fighter jet from the USAF participated in CIAS this year, and we really don't need to hear your veiled anti-American slurs.

Most Canadians like Americans…and a lot of us have American relatives. And we do need American fighter-jets Joe, because past do-dos like you cancelled our homegrown Arrow interceptor programme a long, long, time ago. We now no longer make the best, or even make an air defender. We still need to buy the best, the F-35*, to defend our borders which are STILL the largest in the world, last time I checked.

"Unless, of course, you think it is useful and instructive to remind your neighbours, many of whom come from war-torn countries — Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq — that they are lucky to live in Toronto, except when the jet fighters are in town."

Pretty flimsy reason, suggesting, no conjuring CIAS as a PTSD trigger.

I know…but these Politbüro types, well, this is the stuff they try to float…to the masses.

"…the planes turn swift and low over our rooftops, loud enough to rattle windows, wake babies, disturb the elderly, frighten dogs, prevent shift workers from knitting up the ravelled sleeve of care, and cause the sick at St. Joe’s to roll over in their beds of pain."

What, and emergency vehicles disturb no one?

With that line of reasoning…we should also end the disruption of the peace caused ANYTIME 24/7, 365 days of the year by reckless emerg vehicles…because dogs, babies, and some elderly people, somewhere, maybe even in Toronto…could be adversely affected by these screaming mimis.

We know mealy-mouthed sissy types can be offended or even frightened by such loud vehicular displays of assertiveness. At the CNE, or elsewhere, in TO.

Park your ambulances and squad cars boys, someone with early on-set senility doesn't embrace sirens (noise), or progress.

Therefore, ditto, we must also ban the hundreds of daily scheduled airline flights going in and outta Pearson, and similarly, from the same airport, the myriad of daily biz jet flights with their gratuitous displays of raw jet turbine power.

Joe, no likey.

Next, ban all freight and commuter trains that sound the horn of warning, and trigger those pesky, noisy, train-crossing standards.

…and ban citywide construction.

And all industry.

Noise, folks, noise, upsets Fior-io-io-io.

And masculinity.

"Because we do not need to bask in the militarism of the past…"

Actually, we do Joey.

Proud Canadians never forget, nor trivialize those who really sacrificed their tomorrows…for our today. You will, of course, but most Canadians remain decent.

There is no way we can repay those true Canadians who literally gave all.

The Canadian International Air Show is one of the few remaining ways we still publicly tip our hat to these patriotic Canadian warriors, whether past or present, and give them their due. Hence, this year's 100th Year Canadian Naval Celebration display at CIAS 2010.

BUT because of femboy ninnies like Fiorito, the HMCS Fredericton's guns couldn't actually celebrate by firing her guns into Toronto harbour…in recognition of the Navy's 100th.

No, them guns remained quieter than worthless fans at a Blue Jays game.

Besides…Joe's Parkdale disconnects would probably have thunk the city was under attack, anyway.

And jammed TO's emergency lines. Or flood texted Joe to help'em.

So, as usual, the eclipse-of-reason minority green freak agenda crowd ruined it for the rest of us, the majority~

And that's why we had a toned down air show this year.

And why I never went.

I support authentic Canadian traditions…not Kyoto makeovers.

SEE the complete stupidity, here:

www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/857067--fiorito-it-s-tim...

*The F-22 is better than the F-35, but only the USAF gets to purchase the F-22 Raptor.

JILL HETHERINGTON : Streetsville Secondary School ALUMNI

WHEREVER, JILL HETHERINGTON is tonight…she still adorns the athletic wall at Streetsville Secondary School in the City of Mississauga. Streetsville was once, the "City within a City", but we'll leave that for another day. And a school that should remember her…doesn't have a clue~

Jill, now head coach of the Washington Huskies tennis team…had an illustrious tennis career (for a Canadian) gathering 14 pro doubles titles. Doubles play was her forte. Jill became the first Canadian player to reach the semifinals and finals in Grand-Slam tournaments, the semi-finals at Wimbledon, and the 1988 final of the US Open. These were some of the highlights of her tennis career, certainly not the whole story.

The Huttonville girl's potential gift for tennis was first spotted by a tennis coach at Brampton Tennis Club where Jill's family had gone to play family…badminton.

Extraordinary hand-eye co-ordination. Speed. Enthusiasm. And soon she was attending high school, but was allowed to cut classes to bus it down to Cobblestone Courts for specialized tennis instruction.

There was some loudmouthed guy at Streetsville who once challenged Jill to a tennis match…stating he could beat her. So why wouldn't she prove to everyone that she could beat him, if, she was so good, etc. Blah, blah, blah…

Of course, he could only win in such an arrangement. All the pressure would be on Jill.

However, Jill's coach soon "fixed" that guy.

Her coach told him that Jill would indeed play, but for money. $1000!!

So Jill's coach would put up Jill's $1000, and the challenger would put up a matching grand, with winner taking all!

Suddenly, Captain Tennis wasn't so keen on the arranged tennis match! He backed right down, and out.

My connection to Jill came because I used to weightlift with her brother, Phil.

Jill became the first person any of us knew who actually owned a Sony Walkman at the time. I listened to Phil Collins on that marvel and couldn't believe the excellent sound quality! I had asked Jill to pose as my girlfriend once to save me from the affections of a rogue female who lived next door to me at the time. So we struck a bargain.

I never followed through on my end.

Jill, I'm sorry I didn't take you to the Dominion Dance as promised.

It's been a few years…but I'm going to go out on a limb here…all is forgiven, right?

Right? Hello…?

:::: Will AIR CANADA Keep Crashing? ..:::..

Apparently.

You know for any business, and certainly for an airline PR is usually a big part of the biz package considering it encompasses how you present yourself to the community, and the rest of the business world at large. Getting public relations right is usually a biggie.

But NOT always.

Certainly NOT with Air Canada.

Air Canada Flight 621 (DC-8-63 registered as CF-TIW) crashes in Castlemore, Ontario on July 5, 1970.

Everyone is killed, all 109 pax (passengers) and crew.

In the most horrendous way possible.

In a 150 tonne missile that went nose first into a Castlemore farmer's field at 400mph. All occupants onboard…absolutely terrified right up to the very end. And then crushed, or worse, atomized.

Three minutes previous these people were safely landing at Toronto International Airport…for the first leg of their long journey…and now they were high in the sky above Castlemore, until finally nosing down toward the ground…when the spent DC-8's structural integrity finally burned away the last secured section of that airliner's starboard wing.

The fatally crippled jet now lurched downward on its final descent. Yes, now these people who were almost safe at Toronto International moments before…had actually touched momentarily on Toronto's 33L runway…just 180 seconds previous…now all these people suddenly, unexpectedly, were going to die.

When I recalled aspects of this tragedy to a friend, I added an unusual question, and the response was venomous.

Harsh. Instant.

How could I even say such a thing…even suggest such a thing?

I had asked the seemingly disrespectful question, what if Air Canada's Flight 621 crashes again??

Seemingly being the operative word.

Because my question was a very real question, a very pertinent question…in the world of Air Canada.

It is not common knowledge, but… AIR CANADA, unlike JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER airline in the world (as my friend assumed, incorrectly) does not, I repeat, DOES NOT, retire the affected flight number when one of their own flights crashes…with lives lost.

Say , what?

You heard me.

Well, why would they?

Why treat your customers with the ultimate dignity and respect…and as the irreplaceable human beings that they actually are by solemnly retiring flight numbers? So, silly~

As it turns out, Air Canada no longer uses Flight 621, though!

There is just too much on the internet NOW connected with that flight. None of it good. So I guess that flight number was set aside out of utility, not respect.

But what about other deadly Air Canada flights?

TCA (the precursor to Air Canada) Flight 831(118 lives lost), Air Canada Flight 797 (23 lives lost), and Air Canada Flight 189 (two lives lost) continue to fly again…as a DIRECT INSULT to surviving family members of all the victims, on all these ill-fated flights.

But Air Canada will AT LEAST change the flight route. The start point, and/or destination.

How thoughtful.

So Air Canada Flight 831, 797, and 189 keep flying today!

And yes, THEY COULD crash again or have loss of life!

Can you believe it?? Can you actually believe it??

It gets better, folks.

No, I won't tell you here about the Air Canada Flight 621, and the Alfred Hitchcock connection, since that will be saved for the book, but…

AIR CANADA, back in1970, had promised a memorial to the crash victim's families of Flight 621…ON SITE!

Yes, at the crash site in Castlemore!

AIR CANADA later changed the memorial location to adorn the Mount Pleasant FLIGHT 621 cemetery plot in the centre of Toronto. There, a little over 50 of the victim's bodies are buried to this day.

Yes, the promised memorial is there, in Toronto, some 30 kms away.

NOT where, or what, the Flight 621 families were promised at the time regarding said memorial.

But when you aren't even retiring flight numbers when tragic death is involved, can an airline like that really be expected to honour promises of on-site memorials that were to be a token and permanent sign of consolation, made in good faith, to the then-grieving family members?

C'mon, get real.

In fact, from July 5th to October 1970 over a hundred people a day were visiting the crash site. Many indeed were family members.

But there's more…

Eric Weiczorek, who lost his stewardess wife, Gundi, in the Flight 621 crash can be seen in the incomplete heart-wrenching film clip above. Taken at the 40th Anniversary ceremony last month, right at the crash site, Eric relays his grief at being so shabbily treated by Air Canada at the time of the crash.

He wasn't the only one.

A phone call, a limousine, a letter, and (hey!) Air Canada's duty to Eric was done!

Linda Fishman (author - Repairing Rainbows), who lost her mother and two sisters on that flight made a recent overture to Air Canada just before this summer's 40th Anniversary event. An olive branch extended, if you will, to AC a week or so, before the event.

When does the dawdling airline get back to her? Two days before the actual event. And they have conditions you, know. They want to meet with Linda and any other victim's family members only two hours before the start of the event! And whatever the outcome of that meeting…they are to be allowed to attend the 40th ceremony!

Habitually posturing, using pressure tactics with the still grieving, even after all these years, as if AC is still in the driver's seat… still trying to unsuccessfully manage the continuing fallout from Flight 621 without actually doing something new. Something uplifting, something positive.

Well, in short order, because of the disrespect, once again shown to the families…Linda told those AC execs to well…go fly a kite.

Because…we know they can't fly airplanes.

Well, actually they can…they've kept a pretty clean record since…its their public relations that won't fly!

I do want to be fair to Air Canada. They were named best North American airline for 2010.

AC was also capable of doing some good leading up to the Flight 621, 40th Anniversary Ceremony event.

Bruce Sultan, who lost his wife and two kids was given free tickets by Air Canada to fly up to Toronto to attend the 40th Anniversary. Lucie Raymond, who lost her father on the flight was also given tickets to fly to the ceremony. Both parties were thankful for the olive branch offering. There may have been others, as well.

These people, the victim's families, are being quite reasonable in their final demands.

If I was running Air Canada, I could solve this festering PR disaster in one day.

In a single day.


And here's how I'd do it.

1) Pay for the new monument at the crash site, plaque, benches etc.

2) Assess where the deficits are and issue formal apologies to all the victim's families acknowledging those especially wronged. Many wanted a genuine apology at the time. Eric saved the apology he received from the Navigator's Association at the time. It was handwritten, the writer expressed sorrow (likely by placing himself in Eric's shoes*hint*) and thoughtfully and earnestly attempted to reach out to Eric in his time of sorrow with offers of emotional support.

Air Canada sent him…an open, unsigned, letter of condolence!

How important is a current apology from AC, admitting as an airline that maybe we got some of the process wrong, back then? Is it important, even after forty years??

Well, one widower turned down over $200,000 in compensation from Air Canada for the loss of his whole family BECAUSE the financial recompense offer DID NOT COME with a written apology from the airline. He walked away from the table, never to return. Judas kept the money, and Mr. –––––––– kept his dignity.

So yes, a new apology would make a huge difference. Put your teams of lawyers away, no one is looking for money, people want acknowledgment that they were treated shabbily. If you doubt me, meet these people! Stop hiding behind your lawyers, and an unforgivable wall of silence.

3) Give all victim's family members free flights to the official opening of the Flight 621 memorial in 2012. The Castlemore on-site memorial process is going forward regardless. Air Canada has to decide if they want to be a part of the remaining healing process of 621 families, or not. As Air Canada CEO for a day, I would decide that we do want to be a part of that process.

And we, as an airline, don't need to lead the way. We can walk with these people in their sorrow. And not just for PR reasons. Because its the right thing to do. Now.

Remember the present "open" status of Flight 621 is most unusual. It won't be resolved until 2012.

There are still victim's bones being unearthed in the crash field to this day. And that is not Air Canada's fault. One has to look to the Office of the Coroner for that one. But AC could certainly commiserate with the families on this delicate issue. It wasn't only customers who were lost July 5, 1970. It was also some of the Air Canada family that was lost. AC employees.

4) Officially retire Flight 621, and all other Air Canada flights that crashed and/or resulted in loss of life.

That Flight 831, Flight 797, Flight 189 still fly to this day is a horrendous and UNBELIEVABLE lack of respect for the families who suffered untimely loss of their cherished loved ones. Did their untimely deaths not earn them this, at the very least? Is Air Canada run by communists, or Canadians?

Air Canada does a lot of good works in the community, helping aviation museums nationwide with notable donations, which I personally consider quite important.

More importantly though, Air Canada is "involved in a broad range of initiatives to improve the lives of children" through their KID'S HORIZON'S program.

So why leave these crash flight situations, unresolved…a recurrent black mark when it could so easily be resolved!

Air Canada can't bring those family members back…but they can ensure these people are properly acknowledged by additional positive action taken today.

Amen, brother.



Addendum: CF-TIW crashed and killed all 109 occupants. C-FTIW was reregistered and flown again.

In 2007 C-FTIW crashed killing the sole occupant.

SEE: www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2007/a07q0063...

And C-FTIW flies again today as a chopper. Sheer stupidity. Yup, those are call letters I would want!

The Crash of AIR CANADA FLIGHT 621 : The First Hour : The Mike Quatrale Collection

HERE IS SAD HISTORY, that you're looking' at. On July 5, 1970 Air Canada FLIGHT 621 crashes in Castlemore. It would become the worst accident in the Toronto region with 109 people killed.

Within the first hour, Mike Quatrale, Emergency Services, was there.

And here is the first roll of pics that he took. This is the contact sheet that was hastily created so that photos could be selected for worldwide publication. Four of Mike's photos were published internationally.

I came across Mike's photos first in the Montreal Gazette. And through further research I was able to find Mike who is now retired and resides with his wife, Audrey, in Brampton. I was welcomed into his home to see the rest of his Flight 621 photos. Mike's photos appear in the Documentary: Disasters of the Century: Out of the Blue episode which covers the story of Flight 621.

Mike's photos have been invaluable to our Flight 621 research, in putting some of the pieces together.

Mike's photos are unique because he was the only media photographer allowed to photograph throughout the entire crash arena. Within the cordoned off crash site, itself. Other local photographers took photos using zoom lenses. Mike was right there amidst the crash, he didn't need to.

::: AIR CANADA’S WORST CRASH: Flight 621, DC-8 Radome Artifact ..::..

IT'S STILL HARD to believe, what one can find…even now.

With Apple iPhone 3GS in hand I find a nosepiece of Air Canada's "Stretch" DC-8, CF-TIW that was lost on July 5, 1970. A part of the radome, specifically. I photo capture the GPS co-ordinates. At almost 9 pm at night. July 2, 2010, almost 40 years after the crash.

FLIGHT 621 has remained AIR CANADA'S WORST aviation accident with 109 lives lost in Castlemore, Ontario. Seven years previous, TCA lost 118 people, in St. Therese du Blainville, Quebec.

But that was Trans-Canada-Air-Lines…not Air Canada.

What's a RADOME??

The RADOME is usually found on the nosecone of any aircraft.

FLIGHT 621's Air Canada DC-8, numbered internally 878, it's radome housed the jet airliner's radar antenna and thus protected the aircraft's sensitive radar from the elements, both at 40 below and at 600 mph. The spherical covering also reduces drag so that DC-8 is more aerodynamically streamlined as she hopscotches across the continent.


By the numbers…

1) GPS co-ordinates of the actual radome find.

2) Thin, crushed, painted black metal of 878's radome. Remember, only a very small section of the Air Canada's DC-8 livery was painted semi-gloss black. The upper nose portion, as pictured. The fuselage aluminum just up from the nosecone, or radome area, is about double the thickness of the radome aluminum and is tempered to a harder standard.

3) ORIGIN AREA of the radome artifact, its actual area of location…as highlighted on an Air Canada DC-8.

FLIGHT 621 : Brampton (Toronto/GTA's) WORST Aviation Disaster - Denise Goulet

MY RESEARCH PARTNER out in Quebec, Pierre Tremblay, who has done extensive research on all Flight 621 victims from the province of Quebec, disclosed to me that he had actually known Denise Goulet (pictured above) back in the summer of 1967!

Pierre had spent a good part of his summer at EXPO 67 which was being held in Montreal. He went several times to the Bell Canada Telephone Pavilion, and there chatted with the ever cheerful hostess Denise, as he was then fascinated by telecommunication.

And maybe a little by her, as well.

The crash of Flight 621, of course, was front page news in the Montréal-Matin on July 6th, 1970, the day after the crash.

Pierre saw the Montréal-Matin crash headline, and was immediately riveted by the coverage of this unexpected Air Canada crash that had occurred the previous morning, on the clearest of days, somewhere in the Toronto region. Still in a state of shock and wonder about the horrific DC-8 crash that had claimed all 109 lives, he quickly read through the front page coverage and followed up on page three. There, his eyes fell on those ominous row pictures of the now deceased Air Canada flight crew, and its stewardesses.

One picture stood out.

Pierre was floored!

There was Denise!!

Oh, poor Denise—

While Pierre had met the exotically attractive Denise when she was then working at the EXPO 67 Bell Canada pavilion, she had already applied to, and been accepted to take the stewardess course. Immediate employment for Denise in the fall, at Air Canada, once EXPO 67 had wrapped up in October.

Aviation, not tele-communications, was Denise's first love.

At 17, Denise already had her first parachute jump under her belt.

And while Miss Denise Goulet had been working as a stewardess for Air Canada for almost three years, she had set her sights on being a pilot!

And guess what? Her father, Henri-Paul, was a pilot!

I guess the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, as they say…

When her father was reached for comment on his daughter's premature death, he told the media,

“Denise always dreamt of aviation. Aviation was in her blood.”

Mr. Goulet, himself a pilot for 25 years, was on duty the morning of the crash when he learned about the terrible tragedy. Henri-Paul was a pilot for the Yvon Fournier company from Trois-Rivières, and had to sprinkle insecticide on the transmission lines of Alcan in Lac St. Jean.

Denise, who was to be 23 on July 12, died seven days short of her birthday.

She had made special arrangements to be aboard the Air Canada "California Galaxy" (Montreal-Toronto-Los Angeles) flight, one of the airlines' new connoisseur flights, in order to meet with her brother, Andre. She was looking forward to journeying to Los Angeles to see her brother, who now resided there. She was going to take a few days off.

In August, Denise was quite excited to be travelling to Paris, with her mother, on an already arranged vacation for the pair.

It was not to be.

On July 10th, sadly just two days before she was to have turned 23, a funeral mass was held for Denise at 10.00 A.M. at St. Odilon Catholic Church, in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec. There was a large turn out of family and friends to pay their final respects.

Had Denise not died that day, today she would be 62 years old.

And now she looks back at us from eternity, forever only twenty-two…

FLIGHT 621 | Brampton's LARGEST Air Disaster

FLIGHT 621 | Toronto's Largest Air Disaster *** REVISED ***


ONE OF A FEW book cover mock-ups I'm considering for my book about Flight 621.

This is the only one I'll be showing. For now. I like another mock-up I did… that I feel is much better, more sombre, reflective… but I'm always curious about feedback.

So have your say, below, if you wish.

I was reviewing an OPP police photographer's 40 year old Flight 621 crash photos recently, when I saw something in one of the photos.

So I called Mike and said, "Mike, tell me, tell me, THAT ISN'T what I think it is."

After, both his wife, Audrey and he looked over the photo in question, the sad response came back.

"I think you're right, Paul."

I thought to myself, God… always prepares the way. And you won't see that until you're right in the middle of it. If you see it at all. Whatever He has, later for you… to be right in the middle of.

Only six months ago I was watching the excellent series about World War II, entitled, "The World at War" which, of course, is the definitive documentary about that war. Had I not seen the plentiful war stills of the battleground deceased, I might never have spotted "the clue".

But half a year later, there I was… now "prepared" to make an unsettling discovery.

"Paul, you're right… it is a little girl. I don't know how I didn't see that before!"

Mike had taken the photos forty years ago, yet had somehow missed that sad detail.

Those World at War documentary stills had captured so many soldiers, then at rest, with deceased hands launched in so many distinctive angles and positions that I guess my mind was imprinted with these sad images.

When I chanced upon similar in Mike's photo… I was compelled to look closer.

So, in the Flight 621 photo, I saw her peaceful hand, emerging from a sleeve, and lifelessly draped over an inner tubular structural piece of smashed DC-8.

I followed the hand to its source.

Somebody's little girl was sitting there, right there… in her final resting spot.

Her thick black hair, untossled. A defiant, thick, white hair tie-back-clip could readily be seen, keeping her hair perfectly in place amidst the horror!

The clip, however, could actually be one of those funky 70s style pair of big glasses pulled back over her forehead.

We'll never know.

I sat, in silence, with that photo for quite a while.

The picture was taken in the first hour of the crash. There are police officers and first responders busily walking around in the background, obviously, oblivious, to her.

I bet that didn't last long.

She is right out in the open, but also concealed within a medium sized mangled piece of fuselage wreckage! And somehow, she remained INTACT!

INTACT!

How did that happen?

I imagine that within the second hour, maybe the third, after these first hour photos were taken, she was found.

Likely, someone just walking by who had to do a double-take.

What a horrible, horrible, discovery.

It certainly was, for me. And I was only looking at a photo.

I'll be interviewing an OPP first responder this weekend. John Cooper. He was there the first day of the crash and also the second.

I'll keep you posted.

Finally, THE COVER above…that's how 621 looked seconds before impact. She corkscrewed over onto her back. This remains the primary reason why there are no crash photos of the wrecked Air Canada DC-8-63 with her tail readily seen… as one can see in most airliner disasters these days. The tail is usually spared in every airline disaster.

Nothing was spared when Flight 621 crashed in Castlemore, Ontario on July 5, 1970.

::.:. FLIGHT 621: 40th ANNIVERSARY - Two Boys, a Cat, and a Dog ::..

The Last Will and Testament of brothers Jacques and Jean Belanger

"IF WE DIE, WE GIVE…"

POUPONNE, MY CAT, I leave to Mionne Mallette.

Sports equipment to Daniel and Benoit Maillette. My typewriter to Evelyne Mallette, and my coin collection from Expo´67 to Jason Gagnon. Jacque's tape recorder to Norman Dupres. Handkerchief to Denis Perrault. Jean's Apollo XI rocket to Pierre Guertin…and so on…until all of his toys and possessions, and those of his younger brother, Jean (12), were given up to his friends and cousins.

Jacques (16) was mesmerized with the progress of aviation at the time.

The teenager knew about aviation, first hand, as his father was currently an Air Canada mechanic. So Jacques was really excited that he, indeed his whole family, would be flying on a brand new DC-8 "Stretch'…the very largest, and most advanced airliner at the time.

And yet, there was something wrong.

Did Jacques have a premonition?

Why did he think he might not return?

What did he feel?

Why did he insist on making a will, and giving it to his cousin, and best friend, Jean Mallette, just before boarding Air Canada Flight 621?

I'm sure Jacques' family made jokes about his insistence on creating a will for both him, and his brother. Their sister, Rosanne (10) did not create a will. I wonder what the Belanger family thought and said to one another…as they sat together on the ill-fated airplane, and events tragically unfolded. The knowing looks; the sad heads shaking.

Did his mother acknowledge, as mothers so often do when their own children amaze them, "Oh Jacques…you were right!"

These preceding paragraphs are only speculation but you can be sure some sort of exchange occurred.

On July 5th, 1970, at 8:10 am in the morning, Air Canada Flight 621 crashed in a farmer's field beside the West Humber, in Castlemore, Ontario nose first, left wing high…killing all 109 passengers and crew. A caged dog also perished.

And the whole Belanger family, all five of them, died together in Castlemore, 40 years ago.


Flight 621 In Memorium

Adams, Celine Fradette
Adams, Pierre J
Beaudin, Gaetan
Belanger, Mrs.
Belanger, Jacques
Belanger, Jean
Belanger, Roland
Belanger, Rosanne
Benson, Helen
Benson, Leonard
Benson, Mary
Benson, Richard
Bertrand, Ginette
Boosamra, Lynn
Boulanger, Guy
Bradshaw, Dollie
Cedilot, Robert J
Chapdeleine, Jeannine
Chapdeleine, Joanne
Chapdeleine, Mario
Charent, Jean Maurice
Clarke, Devona Olivia
Cote, Francine
Daoust, Yolande
Desmarais, Brigitte
Desmarais, G
Dicaire, Alice (Marie)
Dicaire, Gilles
Dicaire, Linda
Dicaire, Luke
Dicaire, Mark
Dion, Suzanne
Dore, Jacqueline
Earle, Lewella
Earle, Linda
Filippone, Francesco
Filippone, Linda
Filippone, Marie
Gee, Bernard
Goulet, Denise M
Grenier, Madeleine
Growse, Mrs.
Growse, Jane
Growse, Roger
Hamilton, Karen E
Hamilton, Peter Cameron
Herrmann, Ronald Alvin
Hill, Harry Gordon
Holiday, Claude
Houston, Irene Margaret
Houston, Wesley
Jakobsen, Vagn Aage
Labont, Gilles
Leclaire, Marie Rose
Leclaire, Oscar
Leduc, Henri W
Lepage, Claudette
Mailhiot, Claire Gagnon
Mailhiot, Gerald Bernard
Maitz, Gustave
Maitz, Karoline
McKettrick, Winnifred
McTague, John
Medizza, Carla
Mohammed, Dolly
Molino, Antonio
Molino, Michael (Michel)
Moore, Frederick T
Partridge, Andrea
Partridge, Carnie (Carnis) Ann
Partridge, Cyril Wayne
Phillips, Kenneth William
Poirier, Rita
Raymond, Gilles
Raymond, Martial
Robert, Aline
Robert, Georges E
Robidoux, Lionel
Rowland, Donald
Silverberg, Marci
Silverberg, Merle
Silverberg, Steven
Simon, Istvan
Simon, Mark
Smith, Dwight Lee
St. Laurent, Blanche
Stepping, Glenn Thomas
Sultan, Celia
Sultan, Jerald. M
Sultan, Robert. L
Szpakowicz, Borys
Szpakowicz, Serge
Tielens, Carmen
Tielens, Frederick
Tournovits, George
Tournovits, Soula (Athanasia)
Weinberg, Carla
Weinberg, S
Weinberg, Wendy
Whittingham, Jennifer
Whittingham, John
Whittingham, Reginald
Whybro, Mary Baker
Wieczorek, Hildegund
Witmer, Edgar
Wong, Ngar-Quon
Wong, Suzie
Wong, Wong (Mansing)
Woodward, Dallas J



© 1970 Mike Quatrale (OPP police photographer)
© Pierre Tremblay - Friends of Flight 621
© Paul Cardin - Friends of Flight 621

::.:. FLIGHT 621: 40th ANNIVERSARY - 621 Families at Ground Zero ::....

FLIGHT 621 VICTIM'S FAMILIES lay 109 white roses representing the 109 people who lost their lives on July 5, 1970.

Diarmuid Horgan (CANDEVCON Limited) and the landowners put together this 40th Anniversary Ceremony to bring the victim families together for the first time, to mark this solemn occasion together…and not alone…this year!

I PLANTED the Mayor of Brampton, Susan Fennell's flower, at her request…and everyone followed suit by either planting or laying their white rose down.

The flowers mark the spot where Flight 621 went nose first into the ground.

It was very hard for many of the families to EVEN THINK about coming to Ground Zero.

However, after Eric Weiczorek gave his heart-wrenching speech about the tender love he had for his wife, a wife who was taken from him after only 33 days of marriage, that just brought the house down.

Eric had been waiting 40 years to share his sorrow with those who understood.

He was now in good company.

The Flight 621 families understood.


Left to Right: Chris and Mike Holiday (Claude Holiday), Sikh land-owner, Lucie and Véronique Raymond (Marital Raymond) and the FAMOUS Boris Spremo!

The Weinburgs (Wendy, Carla, and Rita) are in the background.

Persons in brackets are the Flight 621 deceased… and the reason why the 621 families marked the 40th anniversary loss right here… at the former crash site.


See Mike Strobel's excellent Flight 621 article:
www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/mike_strobel/2010/07/0...

FLIGHT 621 ::: 40 th Anniversary ::: BRAMPTON'S LARGEST AIR DISASTER

LESS THAN 3 WEEKS away.

July 5, 2010 marks the 40th.

LYNDA FISHMAN, nee Weinburg, has emerged with the first book about Flight 621. Lynda lost her mother and two sisters on the ill-fated flight.

REPAIRING RAINBOWS is Lynda's personal account of the devastating effect Toronto's largest air disaster had, both on her, and her father.

You can get it here: repairingrainbows.com/index.php

Well, people ask, what is a DC-8?

Was it a big airplane?

How does it compare in size to a Jumbo…that's an airplane I know?

The Concorde is no longer flying…are any DC-8s still flying?

So many recurring questions…

My pictorial graphic answers MOST of these questions through exact 1/200 Air Canada replicas of a DC-8-63 (the exact type of DC-8 that crashed) and a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet.

The JUMBO JET is the airplane that is the bulkier one in the pic, and the one with the hump. The DC-8 Stretch (there were many un-stretched versions) is the skinner one seen in the foreground).

As you can see the DC-8, or Stretch 8 (in air lingo slang), is a very big aircraft.

And on July 5, 1970, CF-TIW, tail number 878, with the exact livery seen in this photo, crashed nose first, left wing high in Castlemore, Ontario, 40 years ago.

All lives lost.


(ABX still flies a former Air Canada Stretch 8 into Toronto. A 71 version of the DC-8. The DC-8-71 is a modified 63 model having, larger, quieter, more fuel-efficient engines.

SEE: www.airliners.net/photo/DHL-(DHL-Airways)/McDonnell-Dougl... )

If the answer is NO…can I change your mind?

the Killers - Hot Fuss

::::::: How a Canadian Feels…about Victoria Day!

May 24…Happy Victoria Day, CANADA!

Victoria, who?

Exactly~

YOU KNOW that if my political party ever ascended to the win, the biggie, we'd be changing loads of things REAL fast.

Can anyone say steamroller?

Victoria Day would be one of them!

Consider that holiday already rewritten.

The fact that Canadians get a day off to celebrate a forgotten queen—and not a day off to remember the hundreds of thousands of Canadians, hailing from our past and present, who spilled their blood—many, MANY, even giving their greatest gift, their very lives…for our PRESENT FREEDOM…is simply unconscionable.

Here's how the rewrite would go down.

November 11, Remembrance Day…becomes a National Canadian Holiday.

November 8-10, whichever falls on the last school day, previous the holiday…would be spent at the classroom level…as an important part in the yearly curriculum in remembrance of Canadians who fought to keep Canada free. There are, of course, challenges in keeping this part of our history relevant to teens who are often distracted with other aspects of life! But we must rise to that challenge, right?

And while we're on a related topic, how 'bout our national anthem, folks?

A NATIONAL LAW would quickly be tabled that O'Canada is to be played every morning, in every school across Canada, whether public or private, without any exceptions. Individuals can abstain, as always has been allowed for religious reasons. Canadian tradition. Abstainers cannot demand, however, that the Canadian national anthem NOT be played…as recent foreigners in Nova Scotia demanded, and who's anti-patriotic concerns WERE ACTUALLY accommodated in a real Canadian school!!

With my political party at the helm, any school official found guilty of a refusal to play the national anthem, O' Canada, this individual or collective, would immediately be (we'd do it faster-if we could) arrested, tried that very week by special extraordinary court session, and subjected to an immediate 5 YEAR imprisonment.

NO LIVING CANADIAN, and certainly no un-Canadian, has the right to challenge the patriotic sacrifices of those Canadians who have gone before us. Our national anthem links present Canadians to those Canadian heroes of our sacrificial past.

And folks…jus' getting warmed up, here—

::: FLIGHT 621 — Picking Up the Pieces ::: DC-8, DC-8, DC-8 Parts to be ID'd.

WHEN A BRAND NEW 300 TONNE AIR CANADA DC-8 AIRLINER with a 109 people on board…slams nose first into a Castlemore farmer's field in 1970…at 400mph…well, parts of that airplane are going to be driven deep into the ground.

For a very long while.

Sooner, or later, however, those shattered pieces will work their way to the surface.

Whether human or aircraft.

These are some unidentified DC-8 parts from AIR CANADA CF-TIW, tail fin 878.

CAN any airmech ID any of these?

Air Canada's Galaxy FLIGHT 621—Toronto’s LARGEST AIR DISASTER

EVER SINCE I WAS A BOY, my first memories of looking at a newspaper were of the July 5, 1970 Flight 621 crash in Toronto-Gore. We got the Toronto Telegram delivered to our door and, Johnny Lynch, my next door neighbour on Blackfriar Avenue in Etobicoke, delivered the Daily Star throughout the rest of the neighbourhood. He always had papers leftover. And when he did—we got one.

I remember all the grim crash photos from both competing papers.

Later, through the years the Toronto SUN, and the Toronto Star, would run articles revisiting the Flight 621 crash, usually when another significant air disaster had just happened.

I always wondered where the 621 crash location actually was. It bugged me that I didn't know.

Oh, well I thought. I guess I'll never know.

How wrong I was.

After a November, 2001 Mike Strobel article appeared in the Toronto SUN which revisited the Flight 621 crash by talking to eyewitnesses, I discovered that the crash site was somewhere less than three miles from where I had just purchased a new home!

Fancy that! I assured myself that now, I could indeed, even 33 years later, find the mysterious crash site.

I was right.

That's all I'll say for now. About that.

With the front page of Carol Parr's (Flight 621 crash eyewitness) Toronto Star in hand, Toronto Daily Star back then, I was able to stake out the crash arena quite accurately—just from that front page photo!

And with a little help from my friends.

Eventually, those friends would be known loosely as the Friends of Flight 621. Comprised of eyewitnesses and the concerned, we would discover a lot of things about the crash. I mean, things other than the human bones of the crash victims that kept popping up, through the years, in the poorly cleaned-up field. It was bad enough discovering someone's skull pieces, finger joints, kneecap, arm or leg bone shards mixed amongst abandoned Douglas Aircraft parts…but then I discovered the truly unexpected!

That the crash didn't have to happen!

That EVEN AS the Air Canada DC-8 was on fire quite spectacularly, and in the early stages of crash sequence…there was still ample time to turn it all around…and save everyone on board! No lives need have been lost!!

Not one!!

'nuff said, for now—

Wait—one more thing—in the lower part of the picture the reader sees the ominous caption, "Pilot faced terrible choice-and nothing could help him".

Well, that's not true.


(this article, as all my articles are in this format, are usually revised several times , even days after posting)

Our MIGHTY, MIGHTY, LANC is going across WESTERN CANADA this summer!

FIRST, ONE HOP down to the States.

Our Mighty, Mighty, Lanc ALWAYS gets a HERO'S WELCOME in the United States of America.

Always.

Because there ain't nothing' like American neighbourliness. And the Lancaster is a poignant reminder to Americans that we Canadians are a littl' bit different. We even have different warplanes!

But we always had one common cause. FREEDOM!

And we really did defeat Hitler, and his Nazi's, together…when flailing Europe couldn't do it!

When Europe was on the ropes and out for the count…we bombed those Nazi's right off the map.

The AVRO LANCASTER was created for one purpose, and one purpose only…to bring Nazi Germany to her knees.

I can think of a few more places around the world, RIGHT NOW, that need a total war solution!

"And, …says the drug-addled Peacenik, what has war ever, really, solved, Never Was?"

OTHER THAN ENDING slavery, fascism, nazism, and communism…nothing!

NOTHING!!!

Dummies.

'nuff, said.

After the USA tour, the former RCAF Lancaster flies on to Manitoba, Alberta, and BC.

Sorry, no Saskatchewan! Don't even think about it, suckers! Remember, a certain anti-Canadian, anti-Arrow, Prime Minister jughead, farmer grew up there. Diefendowner.

So it's personal now— And the Lancaster has a long memory.

When the Lancaster hits Manitoba, Alberta and BC…expect a hero's, long lost friend, type of welcome.

This, may very well be, the LAST TIME our Mighty, Mighty, Lanc makes such a cross-country flight. She ain't as spry as she once was, folks! Miss her…and you're indolent. Non-Canadian. And a whole lotta' things I can't say here…

But the warriors will be there! Damn straight!

Our heroic WW II CANADIAN VETS will be there.

One. Last. Time.

To hear that music, that song, that only those four, mighty, Merlins, will be singing in unison for OUR MOST VALIANT CANADIANS of all time.

And when the Mighty, Mighty, Lanc makes her low, friendly pass, over that truly Canadian crowd; there'll be tears in many an eye, and ramrod straight salutes aplenty.

Yeah, I'll tell it like it is…there won't be a dry eye in the house!

And salutes for an old friend, an old girl, also in the very twilight of her life, who just had to make an appearance.

For Western Canadians.

One. Last. Time.

And then, it be will all be said, and done—

I'm kinda' choked up myself, jus' thinking about it.

But…don't ever say…I never told ya'!

Get ready!! Be prepared! Camera or cam in hand!

BE THERE!!!


HERE'S THE 2010 DATES


June 4, 5, 6 …READING, Pennsylvania


July 26, 27, 28…THUNDER BAY, Ontario


July 29 - August 3… WINNIPEG, Manitoba


August 4 - 12… CALGARY, Alberta


August 12 - 16…ABBOTTSFORD, BC


August 17… EDMONTON, Alberta


August 18 - 19…BRANDON, Manitoba


…and then, back home for MANY Ontario visits.


ORIGINAL Photo Size:

www.flickr.com/photos/78215847@N00/4574401335/sizes/o/