Through The Mist Darkly

I’m tired, dead tired.  For the last two days I’ve been working as a volunteer at the 2007 Wings and Wheels Heritage Festival put on by the Toronto Aerospace Museum at Downsview Airport in Toronto.

That’s me on Saturday where I spent the day helping on the flightline.  My main job was to sit at the edge of the taxiway to runway 15/33 and remind the pilots that they had to contact the tower before departure.

This year’s festival celebrated the 60th aniversary of the de Havilland Beaver and few, like this old beauty from North Carolina, flew in to be part of the festivities.

Sunday, I got drafted to manage one of the admission booths which was not nearly as much fun as breathing aviation exhaust.  We had some fun joking with the visitors and I got away once in a while.

Best part of the day was the pairing of a Canadian Armed Forces CF-18 Hornet along with the museum’s CF-105 Arrow replica.  You finally get a chance to see the Arrow outside showing exactly how big it is.  The crowd went wild even though the skies were just about to bust open and drench everyone.

The entire set is available for viewing over at Flicker by clicking here.

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Back from Switzerland and I’m really beat.

Yesterday was the longest travel day I’ve ever experienced and I still can’t get a handle on what day or time my body clock really thinks it is.  I had an opportunity to come back a day early which I immediately grabbed but it’s hard to say whether or not it was worth it.

My Friday morning started when the alarm went off at 4:30 (10:30 pm Thursday night Toronto time).  Caught the train at 5 to 6 for the short trip to Zurich airport.  Long crazy time at check-in which didn’t leave me much time to make the flight, only to find that we were delayed by fog.  Then the 2 hour flight to Heathrow.

Heathrow is always a madhouse.  I’m amazed at how busy that place is and anyone who thinks that Toronto’s Pearson International is a major airport only needs to make one connection through LHR to see how bush league YYZ really is.

Of course, I wasn’t in a hurry because my flight didn’t leave for nearly 5 1/2 hours.  Luckily, I was flying business class so I got to hang out in the lounge.  Many coffees later, we finally got to board where we endured another delay as 3 idiots decided not to show up even though their baggage had been loaded.

The trip across the Atlantic was very smooth and the Club World seating on the British Airways 767 is incredibly comfortable (for airline seating).   I actually managed to get a few hours sleep, watched a movie and had a really nice meal of shrimp and salmon.

We arrived in Toronto at the same time that 4 or 5 other international flights came in so it was a sprint to the customs area to beat the crowds.  Got through clean but had a long wait for the luggage to arrive.  My 3 wheeled bag, casulty of the flight over, finally showed up so it was off to grab a limo for the ride home.

3 airports, 2 flights, 1 train, from waking up to hitting the sack, 22 1/2 hours.  What the hell day is it?

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I’m not sure what this represents but I think it’s either that time is on the move or it’s that time is a cloven-hoofed ruminate.

Either way, it stands on guard outside my hotel room in Winterthur.

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Another day of meetings done and time to relax for a bit.  Yesterday’s travels wore me out.  Hop on a plane at 11pm in Toronto, arrive in London at 11am, wait 2 hours and then off to Zurich.  By the time I got to the hotel here in Winterthur I was beat.  Unfortunately, I had to immediately jump on a conference call that went well over an hour.  Needless to say, I slept pretty well last night - just not long enough.

Long day in a humid conference room followed by a walk in the driving rain from the train to my room.

Am I having fun yet?

Grabbed this before I turned in last night. 

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Got a ton of things done today in preparation for my flight tomorrow.  So I decided to treat myself and grab the camera and head over to the park.  Spring is really springing.

A riot of tulips swaying in the breeze.

Closeup of a particularly striking tulip.

Trees in full blossom.

As well, the cats got to go outside for a while.

Sarah posing.  She always poses.

Maggie, on the other hand, just lays around.

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As near as I can tell, this ashtray commemorates the building of new offices above the main terminal at Gatwick airport.  Even found pictures of the construction.

Not the prettiest item in the collection.

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A few more eBay items arrived in the last two days.

This one doesn’t advertise a specific airline but, instead, celebrates the “Glory of America” in both English and French.  Strange and mysterious.

Aerolineas Argentinas is Argemtina’s national airline.  Still flys today.  Small and delicate item.

I really love the BOAC items.  This aluminum ashtray is the most vibrant shade of blue.  It’s in such good shape that I have my doubts as to whether or not it is original.

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Last night, Jan and I went down to Mississauga for a nice dinner.  On the way home we headed up highway 410 towards Brampton.

Two cars in front of us started leapfrogging each other in the fast lane, one would pull out and pass the other who would then return the favor.  The moves got more and more agressive until one got in front of the other and put on the brakes.  The following car swerved into the centre lane and accelerated looking to continue the game.  Instead, the car in the fast lane turned right into the other causing both to swerve with one ending up in the left ditch and the other, now turned backwards, slid across the median and ended up on the edge of an on-ramp.

Thinking that someone might be hurt, I stopped and went to assist the couple in the car now sitting in a dangerous position due to ongoing traffic.  The driver and his female passenger were shaken up but apparently not injured.  He had already phoned 911.  The other driver, was making overtures to cross 3 lanes of high-speed traffic to have a “discussion” with his “bumper car” playmate.  I suggested that staying where he was until the police arrived was a much better alternative than being splattered.

Finally, the procession of response vehicles arrived.  First the towtruck - vultures to the feast.  Then firetrucks and an ambulance (both not needed thankfully) and finally a couple of OPP cars.

Ok, here’s where the story gets personal.  I could have left right then and there but I thought it was my duty as a witness to stay and provide my information.  I did, but everyone thinks I should have just driven off.  I’d looked into the condition of the participants, I’d gotten the one driver to turn on his 4-way flashers to avoid being hit again.  I’d done my good deed.

Instead, I ended up sitting in the back of a cruiser going through the whole thing in minute detail.  Nearly an hour of questions, answers, more questions, more answers……  By the time I was finished the officer, my wife and I were the only ones left at the scene.  Both cars had been towed, the emergency response vehicles gone.  Just us on a busy freeway late at night.  Hundreds of cars whizzing by wondering what *I* had done wrong.

Pehaps it’s because my mother once worked for the OPP or maybe it’s because I’m from an age when we were taught to do the right thing.  The questions are - why does everyone think I did the wrong thing and will I do it again if faced with a similar situation?

I really don’t know.

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Another day, another batch of treasures in the mail.  Three more aviation ashtrays for the collection.

The second TWA item.  Well used but still a great little piece.  Probably sat on a travel agent’s desk where it “subtly” reminded him or her to “SELL TWA CONECTIONS”.

Can’t get a picture that shows the delicate etching that announces that this advertises Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS).  Quite scratched on the base, it’s still a beauty.

This one fell into my hands.  I didn’t win the original auction because the reserve price hadn’t been met.  The seller contacted me and let me have it for my bid price.  A true historical treasure celebrating 5 years of NASA.  He also sent 2 old pens reading “NASA MANNED SPACEFLIGHT CENTER”.  From the golden days of space exploration.  1963 marked the last flight of the Mercury program and preparations for the first Gemini mission.  I was 11 years old.

Still more to come.

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The mark of a good collector is that he or she concentrates on one item.  For years, I’ve collected beer bottles from around the world and although some are real keepers, after a while you only see brown and green bottles.  I have hundreds and only a few are really special.

With my love of aviation rekindled by working at the Toronto Aerospace Museum, I started looking at the offerings on eBay.  I’ve picked up some books, aircraft models and posters but what has really caught my eye are the ashtrays.  Strange choice perhaps but let’s look at the reasons that they were made.

Back when smoking was tolerated and actually enjoyed, the airlines saw items like ashtrays as cheap advertising.  They showed the logo and the cathphrases.  Now that smokers are being legislated into their basements, the supply of ashtrays is drying up.  That, to my mind, makes them worthwhile to collect.

Here’s a few of the ones I’ve picked up so far with some of the history behind them.

BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) was one of the great flag carriers.  They proudly flew the Union Jack from 1939 until 1974 when they became British Airways.  This fine piece is unused and beautiful in its design and simplicity.

KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines is still one of my favorite airlines.  Their Dutch heritage is proudly displayed in their advertising.  This pair of handpainted Delft ashtrays came from different vendors and really show the individual brushstrokes of the artists as well as the traditional touches likes the groups of 3 dots in the inner edges.  KLM still celebrates by giving business and First Class passengers small ceramic houses.  I have 2 out of 50 something and eBay does a booming business as collectors bid to fill in their missing houses.

What can you say about PAN AM?  Everyone knows the distinctive logo of Pan American Airways.  One of the greatest airlines ever to fly, now sadly best remembered for the bombing of one of their “Clipper” 747s over Lockerbie Scotland.  This item has seen some wear but still retains its beauty.

This one has seen some use.  Careful placement in front of the camera hides the big blotch of white paint on the pack and most of the biggest dents.  Trans World Airways is another of the late, great carriers of the golden age of air travel.  This one was made in Varese Italy by a company called S.C.O.T.A.  I don’t think Howard Hughes ever used this but a person can dream.

That’s it for now.  I’ve got 4 more to share with you and probably a dozen more on their way through the mail.  Let me know if you’re interested in seeing more. Clicking on any picture takes you to the original on my Flickr page.

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