Lights out - Toronto Pearson International Airport

More documents

Recommendations

Info

TORONTO’S AVIATION HISTORY Last issue, we celebrated the Canadian Centennial of Flight with a special piece by leading aviation writer Kenneth Schwartz. This issue, we continue with our look back on history with Toronto’s Aviation Pioneers. Submitted by Kenneth Swartz, Special to Toronto Pearson Today. Toronto’s Aviation Pioneers The Toronto area’s association with early aviation began in August 1859 when the balloon “Europa” carried Professor John Steiner of Philadelphia from Toronto across Lake Ontario to Minetto, New York. Other balloon exhibits followed, often in association with local fairs. The Toronto aviation story began in earnest in 1907 when Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, took an interest in fl ight and fl ying machines. In 1907, he founded the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) at his summer estate at Beinn Bhreagh, near Baddeck, Nova Scotia, “to build a practical aeroplane that will carry a man,” with his wife Mabel fi nancing the venture. His partners in the AEA were four young men who shared his passion for fl ight. Frederick W. ‘Casey’ Baldwin of Toronto and John A. Douglas McCurdy, the son of Bell’s long-time assistant in Baddeck, were recent mechanical engineering graduates from the University of Toronto. Lt. Thomas Selfridge was an observer from the U.S. Army, and Glenn H. Curtiss was an American motorcycle and small engine manufacturer, who at the time held the world land speed record of 219.31 km/h (136.36 mph) achieved on a motorcycle of his own design. Like the telephone before, Bell’s experiments with fl ying machines took place in Canada and the United States. Much of the early work with kites took place at Baddeck, and then shifted to Hammondsport, in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York where Curtiss had his engine business. The members of Bell’s team were aircraft designers, builders, pilots, mechanics and aviation promoters long before these ever became the professions that employ tens of thousands of Canadians today. The first Canadian to fly was Casey Baldwin of Toronto, who piloted the Red Wing, the fi rst powered AEA aircraft, off from frozen Keuka Lake near Hammondsport on March 12, 1908 for 97 m (319 ft.) flight. This was the first public demonstration of a powered aircraft fl ight in the United States, although early aircraft developments by the Wright brothers in the U.S. were cloaked in great secrecy and not observed by the general public. The Red Wing was followed by the further refi ned White Wing, which was flown by all of Bell’s boys in May 1908. It was the first to incorporate ailerons for flight control, an invention claimed by the AEA but contested by others. Curtiss led the design team for the fourth AEA aircraft, a yellow winged aircraft called the June Bug. On July 4, 1908, before a large crowd, Curtiss fl ew the aircraft 1553 m (5,360 ft.) and won the Scientific American trophy for the first straight fl ight of more than one kilometre. The event was photographed and widely publicized, earning widespread international recognition for the AEA. On July 10, the June Bug, flown by Curtiss, became the first aircraft to navigate a complete turn. On August 29, the June Bug achieved another aviation first when Canadian John McCurdy flew it on a three kilometre figure eight. On September 17, Thomas Selfridge died from head injuries he received in the crash of a Wright brother’s airplane in which he was a passenger at Fort Meyers, Virginia, becoming the first fatality of powered flight. The fourth and last AEA-designed aircraft was designed by McCurdy and improved upon the design of the June Bug. Named the Silver Dart, it got its name from the silver silk used to cover its wings. It was test flown at Hammondsport by McCurdy in December 1908 and then shipped to Baddeck for its record setting flight in Canada on February 23, 1909. In the summer of 1909, the Silver Dart became the first aircraft to fly in Ontario when it was demonstrated to the Canadian Army at Petawawa. That same year, the AEA was dissolved, with McCurdy and Baldwin carrying on aircraft development in Canada, and Curtiss developing his business in the United States where he became the first major challenger to the leadership of the Wright brothers. Toronto’s First Aircraft Flight The first aircraft ever built and sold in the world was the Curtiss Golden Flyer which also was the first aircraft ever flown in Toronto when Charles Willard demonstrated it at the Scarborough Beach Amusement Park in the current Beach neighbourhood on September 1909. Willard was the first barnstorming pilot in North America. The aircraft arrived in Toronto on August 28, but the exhibition organizers had no idea how large a field the aircraft required to takeoff. A wooden trough to guide the aircraft’s wheels was constructed between the various buildings and ran to the top of a breakwater on the lake shore, to ensure the wings would not strike the buildings on the takeoff run. Willard flew on September 2, 7 and 11 with the Golden Flyer landing each time in Lake Ontario. The longest flight on September 7 covered a distance of five miles and lasted about five minutes. Six years later in 1915, John McCurdy and Glenn Curtiss teamed up once again to establish Canada’s first aircraft factory, flying school, seaplane base and flying field – all in the Toronto area. The Curtiss Aeroplanes and Motors, Ltd. factory was located on Strachan Avenue, north of the CNE grounds, the seaplane base at Hanlan’s Point on the Toronto Islands and the airfield located south of Lakeshore Boulevard at Long Branch, near Lake Ontario. You can read more about the history of flight in Canada in Aviation in Canada: the Pioneering Years, by Larry Milberry. Just published and now available from the Canadian Air & Space Museum gift shop – wwww.CASMuseum.org. 12 Toronto Pearson Today First Quarter 2009
PEOPLE at PEARSON Going behind the scenes with the people that make the airport work. CLAUS HOFF STATION OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTRE Sitting behind an elevated desk lined with six computer screens is certainly not the average offi ce space for many people. However for Claus Hoff, Manager General Operations, making sure that all Air Canada aircraft are safe and operational are decisions made from his desk at the Air Canada’s Station Operations Control Centre (STOC). Claus became an Air Canada employee in 1976 in Montreal as a ramp lead. Over the years, his positions have varied but remained within an aspect of operations for the carrier. He then became a training instructor and was later promoted to Manager of Winter Deicing. As Claus gained experience within Air Canada, the promotions continued as he then became Manager of Customer Service, Passengers; Manager of Customer Service, External; and Manager of ACFT Services & Cabin Grooming. An aspect of each of these positions helped provide the knowledge and experience needed to prepare Claus for his current role. STOC is responsible for managing all Air Canada aircraft at Toronto Pearson International Airport including contract carriers, Star Alliance partners and Jazz Airlines. The Toronto STOC is the largest of Air Canada’s operational control centres in Canada, acting as the driver for the entire force. Claus maintains daily contact with other airports across Canada, ensuring that communication is open for all departing and arriving fl ights for Air Canada from Toronto Pearson. While the STOC team works together, their responsibilities are divided into different sections of operations. Each group takes care of various aspects of operations such as: ramp handling, fueling and catering. Managing operations for Claus means micromanaging the overall responsibilities of each team while maintaining the integrity for every customer and ensuring that safety is always the primary focus. Communication between Air Canada STOC and the GTAA is ongoing. The connection between the GTAA and STOC is strong because of the nature of the relationship. Claus explains, “We need to be in contact with one another on a regular basis especially when dealing so closely through weather events, malfunctions and baggage system issues.” On February 15, 2007, Air Canada implemented a new Visual Matrix System (VMS) at Air Canada STOC. The VMS system helps monitor and manage multiple sources of operations for Air Canada aircraft around Toronto Pearson. Working closely with the VMS system, Claus can track what is going on at multiple locations across the airport at the same time. “Each piece of technology that is used is among the best, making sure that every aspect of care and quality assurance is taken,” Claus says of the VMS system. Speaking about a typical day at STOC cannot be done since so much can change from one day to the next. “There is never a dull moment but knowing that at the end of a shift we worked as a team and the results were all of the highest quality and performance makes it a good day,” Claus says. Remember the next time you are boarding an Air Canada flight, Claus and his team at STOC are the people making sure that your flight is cleared for take off. From left: Air Canada’s STOC teams busy in action; Claus Hoff manning the head station; A sea of screens – Claus’ view of the busy STOC. Toronto Pearson Today First Quarter 2009 13
Page 1 and 2: T O R O N T O P E A R S O N TODAY F
Page 3 and 4: Published by: Greater Toronto Airpo
Page 5 and 6: DARKNESS FALLS EARTH HOUR AT TORONT
Page 7 and 8: GTAA HAS A PLAN FOR WEATHERING THE
Page 9 and 10: YEARS OF DEDICATION Steve Shaw reti
Page 11: CATHAY PACIFIC TORONTO PEARSON TEAM
Page 15 and 16: ARRIVING SOON: A380 Photo courtesy
Page 17 and 18: ART EXHIBITIONS and Because there
Page 19 and 20: CARGO EXCELLENCE According to the 2

Lights out - Toronto Pearson International Airport

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?