I just got off the phone with Rollie Hammerstedt in Kenora.  Rollie has been an invaluable resource for material for my next book about Ontario Central Airlines.  Never one to let moss grow under his feet, Rollie has been lending his expertise to the Save the Canso project.

At the end of his last visit, he was interviewed and reminiced about his early days and Canso aircraft.  Of note, he mentions CF-OWE, Barney Lamm's last Canso that was specially fitted out for high end passenger traffic to Ball Lake Lodge.

I worked under Rollie at Ontario Central Airlines' hangar at Redditt, ON. and can remember when OWE was brought inside for its annual winter maintenence.  Much about the airplane is included in my new book, which should see publication in the spring of 2012.

 "The video below shows Rollie Hammerstedt, retired Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) from Kenora, Ontario, talking to  Don Wieben about the Canso PBY and his vast experience with this and other types of historic aircraft.   Rollie's knowledge of aircraft maintenance and the PBY is tremendous!  The Canso Crew was very fortunate to have him with us for 2 weeks.  Rollie's wife Shirley had planned a golf trip with her lady friends and was worried about Rollie being left home alone but he said, "Don't worry about me - I'm going to Fairview to help the boys with the Canso project."  (Quote from website)

Rollie's interview

Here is a picture of CF-IDS tied to the end of the dock at Ball Lake Lodge.

(Click here for larger image)

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E-mail me at  -      author@EdZaruk.com

The following is taken from material supplied to me by Kyle Mills

Be sure and check out the new Robert Ludlum book written by him- 

                          The Ares Decision 

  Pacing a thriller is the key to sustaining momentum in your readers. Things move in a thriller. Action is the essence of the read. Move the story along. Now if you&rsquore starting to see a regular rhythm to my opening, you spotted bad pacing. Notice though how the preceding sentence broke the cadence because it was a longer sentence and had a different content. That&rsquos pacing. (Short sentence again)

Kyle Mills stressed that "It is important to grab them (the reader) right up front." Think of any James Bond movie. First scene- fast and furious, then the hero is placed in a much slower scene while we catch our breath. The secret here is that this opening 'piece of action,' should focus on "the plot point." In other words, don't have action for the sake of action. Additionally, Kyle suggests this opening action should "involve a major personal issue with the character." Remember "People are not so much interested in explosions, as how explosions affect the people."

Center the action on the character, "not a long unbroken description of a dead guy." In one of my first thrillers that sits in a drawer, I opened with a funeral. Dumb, dumb, dumb. How much action is there at a funeral. After my wife got through editing it, I placed the funeral as a three line dialogue about four or five chapters in. Next time we&rsquoll discuss dialogue and its relationship to pacing.

Avoid regularity. Bring in the unexpected by the skilful use of your plot. Get your reader&rsquos heart thumping, then bring him down. Not too far. Change the pacing with content, then get him running again. Short chapters are a great way for beginning writers to learn this. Rule of thumb, when your writing seems to be falling into a pattern, or flat-lining, look seriously at what came before, and what you are going to place after. It should be unpredictable. Above all, Kyle"s advice, "Move it along."

 Clive Cussler, when he actually did the writing himself, was the master of the prologue.  I fully agree that there is a place for prologues in some fiction.  My pet peeve is that most writers just use it for back story.  

In June 1919, the Canadian government established a Canadian Air Board of seven members to regulate and control commercial and civil aviation throughout the Dominion. The Board was also charged with the air defence of Canada, having oversight of the newly formed Canadian Air Force. 

On January 1, 1923, Parliament passed legislation creating a centralized Department of National Defence.  It incorporated three previous divisions - the Militia, the Naval Service, and the Canadian Air Board, which functioned within the Civil Aviation Branch of the DND.

The Department of Transport Act in 1938, combined functions of the Department of Railways and Canals, (created in 1879)  the Department of Marine (created in 1867), and the Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of National Defence within one government agency, the Department of Transport.  From the start, the DOT had authority over aircraft regulation and inspections.

The Act also changed the name of the Air Board to the Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada. This independent, quasi-judiciary regulatory agency was given authority over inland waterways and airlines, along with jurisdiction over railways, telegraphs, telephones, and express companies, inherited from its predecessor, the Board of Railway Commissioners.

In the aviation sector, the Board had power of approval for licensing and rates for air service between specified points in Canada, or between specified points in Canada and outside, but the actual points and places of its jurisdiction would be determined by cabinet.

The Board's role in aviation was unclear from the first. The Transport Act stipulated that the Board had jurisdiction over points and places that were specifically named by cabinet. In several instances, when the Board made a decision regarding an air licence, the cabinet overruled the Board removing it from the Board's jurisdiction. Also, if the Board turned down a licence for an air operator to fly to a place which had been named by cabinet, the ruling could be circumvented by the air operator flying to a place nearby.

The Department of Transport Act was amended On September 11, 1944, to remove commercial air services from the jurisdiction of the Board of Transport Commissioners.  The Aeronautics Act, enacted at the same time, created a new Air Transport Board.  With the  transfer of regulatory powers to the Air Transport Board, the government was given considerable powers of policy intervention to provide licensing and regulatory functions with the airlines.

The Air Transport Board's role was clearly laid out in the Act as an administrative body, subject to close ministerial control. It could issue licences and regulations, but only subject to the approval of the Minister of Transport. Also, the Board was responsible for recommending policy changes to the Minister. In effect, it had none of the independence of the previous Board of Transport Commissioners.

The first chairman of the Air Transport Board was R.A.C. Henry, who had worked for CNR and had been deputy minister of Railways and Canals in 1929 to 1930. In 1940, he had assisted in the development of the Department of Munitions and Supply. The two other members were Air Vice Marshall Alan Ferrier of the Royal Canadian Air Force, an aeronautical engineer, and J.P.R. (Roméo) Vachon, a pioneer in the Canadian aviation industry with experience in both flying and aeronautical engineering.

In future years, many of the members appointed to the Air Transport Board were drawn from the civil service. This practice reinforced the already close relationship between the Air Transport Board and government, making it necessary at times for airline owners to go political.

The National Transportation Act passed in 1967 merged the Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada with the Air Transport Board and the Canadian Maritime Commission into a new Canadian Transport Commission. 

COMMENTS

E-mail me at  -      author@EdZaruk.com

 Canadian Airways Limited at one time was poised to become Canada's national carrier. Lack of a clear focus of aviation by politicians and interference from the armed forces during the 1930's dashed any hopes James Richardson's airline had of becoming Canada's national carrier.

I was visiting Don Watson recently when he took me down the hallway in his home to show me the insignia pictured with this article.  His father designed it in 1930 and received thirty dollars for his efforts.  The design is un-directional, fine for office buildings and one side of an airplane.  He had great difficulty getting approval, and another thirty dollars, from WCA's office on Marion Street in Winnipeg for a mirror image.

When Canadian Pacific Airlines took over Richardson's company, the logo went with it and graced CP Air Lines planes until Pacific Western bought them out.  The stylized logo followed and became part of Canadian Airlines International until it too became a fallen flag. 

 COMMENTS

E-mail me at  -      author@EdZaruk.com