Yvonne's new earrings!!!

Gander, Newfoundland is home to the North Atlantic Aviation Museum, where we visited today. It was a yucky, rainy day, so it was a good indoor activity. During WWII, the British Air Force used Gander to ferry aircraft manufactured in the USA to Europe. Although it is a quiet town now, it has been a very important military spot. The highlight of the day is the 9/11 display with thank you notes and a video about how all of the maritimes' people helped the people diverted out of USA air space on that aweful day. In Gander alone, they had 39 wide-body aircraft stranded and 6,500 people to feed and house. The thank you notes brought tears to my eyes. They have two big binders full of them. They say that as soon as the public found out about the people being stranded and where they were being housed, donations of everything from food to clothes to bedding just came pouring in. No requests for donations ever where made, people just knew what to do. People volunteered at shelters and also took passengers into their homes. It was a huge example of how wonderful human beings can be. After the museum, we stopped off at the Gander Airport for a snack so I could reminisce about my flying days. Spent many an hour at the cafeteria waiting for the weather to clear!!!!!

The exciting thing of our day is Yvonne got her ears pierced!!! I made a flippant remark that she could get them pierced if she quit sucking her thumb. I thought it would never happen, but a few weeks after I said it, she stuck out her thumbs and asked for the "gucky stuff" on them so she'd quit. Unbelievably, she's gone two weeks with no hitch, so we had to follow up on our side of the promise. They had two girls pierce an ear each, so they were both done at the same time. She didn't even say "ouch". No tears and no screams. She was very brave.

Jim's Notes: Sometimes biggest is not always the best. This little museum and airport in Gander has been the home 0f some of the best and worst of aviation history. It is the home of the first trans-atlantic flight of military aircraft on Nov.10th 1940. It paved the way for 15,000 military aircraft from Canada and the United States to be ferried across the Atlantic. Without those planes the Battle of Britian and the outcome of the Second World War might have been quite different. Sir Fredrick Banting co-founder of insulin was working with the RCAF on high altitude eguipment and was flying out of Gander to England. They had aircraft trouble and 30 minutes out of Gander they crashed. Mr. Banting died later from his injuries. On Dec. 12th, 1985, the worst disaster in Canadian aviation history occured. An Arrow Air DC 8 was carrying members of the 101 st Airborne Division back to Fort Campbell, USA. It veered off the runway and crashed into a mountainside where it exploded into a fiery ball. All 248 military personell and the 8 crew members perished. As Leslie mentioned the 9/11 display was very impressive. What surpised me the most are the friendships that developed and the many Americans who were on those flights who have returned to see their friends in Newfoundland. One American traveller remarked. " I left France to fly to New York, and landed in heaven".

Aviation Humour (actual mechanical complaints and the response from maintenance crews):

Problem: "Test flight OK, except autoland very rough"

Response: "Autoland not installed in this aircraft"

Problem: "Dead bugs on windshield"

Response: "Live bugs on order"