Sad, sad scene -- so long, DC10's
 

I was out for a drive in the countryside this afternoon, and stumbled upon a scene that was at first surprising, then a little sad. I was about 50 miles/80 km east of Vancouver, out in the Fraser Valley, driving past the small Abbotsford Airport, where I came upon 3 blue and white DC10s, all in a row. They were obviously CP's equipment -- the first was one of the "signature" aircraft, but all had the Canadi>n markings removed. I presume they were there for storage, until they are disposed of.

Made me think of all the times I'd ridden on a CP DC10, my favourte plane, in my favourite seat, 1E or 1F. I also thought about all the places I went, where the journey included a ride on a DC10. It was quite remarkable. All over North America, Europe, Asia, even India and the Middle East.

I then began to think about all the people each of those planes had carried, the places they went, the things they did, the effect on their lives. I imagined people going to meet newborn relatives for the first time and say goodbye to recently passed friends for the last time, going to work or school in a new city or country, going on a honeymoon, or going on vacation and meeting new people, maybe even a future spouse. And all those transient friendships that last the length of the flight, but somehow are never forgotten. The excitement of a first time flyer, the nervousness of a regular but white knuckle flyer, the boredom of the frequent flyer who's spent too much of a lifetime in airports and airplanes.

And the stuff it carried. Souveniers from Hawaii, human transplant organs to Toronto, mail to Vancouver, a replacement part on its way to Halifax. The imitation food in coach, the gourmet meals in business, the suitcases that would never fit in the baggage sizers but somehow always seemed to get on as the FA looked the other way.

And the crew. The first time First Officer, comforted by the knowing tone of the Captain's voice, the FA having a bad hair day, the Customer Service Director that could move mountains to solve the simplest of problems. The mechanic who cussed the plane when he couldn't get that bolt loose, and the cleaning team that was so proud of a refreshed airplane that they turned around in record time.

What a remarkable story those planes could tell, if only the could.

So long DC10s. Thanks for the ride.

I remember my first trip to Canada in 1986... It was on the orange CP Air DC-10 and although it was not a smooth trip (an unexpected layover in NRT), the aircraft brought back beautiful memories. Due to the strike at CX this summer, Canadian flies a couple extra DC-10 run from YVR to HKG. It is such a beautiful aircraft.

I think Canadian is going to retire more DC-10s and use the Boeing 767s more often, due to lower cost.

Sad to say goodbye...

Ken,
I'll miss the DC10's as well, I have made over 35 flights on them in the last 16 months, and have fond memories.

Stewart.

[This message has been edited by SCMM (edited 11-08-1999).]

It is indeed very sad to see it go.

I remember my most memorable experience with the DC-10 is when they were still CP Air, I flew between YVR-HKG, that flight was delayed for 11 hours due to mechanical problems. We had takeoff attempts before they finally announcing the delay of the flight. CP gave us hotels and meals for the night. When we landed in HK, the whole plane actually applause.

Other memories in the recent days about DC-10 is that they are very hard to get upgrades on!!

Let's look on the bright side though... hopefully retiring the DC-10s will save CP some money. It'll even be sader to see the whole company go. One of the reason I am against Onex, happy to see them back off.

I guess we should enjoy them while they are still around. I think they are using them to fly YYZ/YVR - HNL now instead of the 767s.

Regards,
Empress

I remember them from Wardair days with real china even in economy--but then maybe we don't want to remember since that was the start of CP/Canadian's demise. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif