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This photograph was made in the spring of 1966 at Edmonton Municipal Airport and it shows Wardair's brand new Boeing 727 CF-FUN being introduced to the public. That's Wardair's DC-6 in the foreground, on that day becoming something of a relic having been ussurped by the Boeing. Max Ward is at the back door of his Imperial sedan, helping Mrs Ward out for the christening ceremony. Note the airstairs lowered at the front port side. For the christening, the stairs were retracted into the fuselage and Mrs Ward whammed a champaign bottle onto the narrow door that covered the aperture. Twice! At that point the engineer rushed up and stopped further damage to the fragile aluminum. A large steel hammer was then placed against the skin, the bottle was swung yet again, and a successful eruption of champaign splashed upon the new aircraft now christened Cy Becker.
The public was invited to inspect the aircraft, entering by the airstair door that dropped from the rear of the fuselage and exiting by way of the front airstairs, now safely extended after the christening. I had become fairly familiar with this airport as I was a student at NAIT at the time and often visited the Northwest Industries hangar where I was photographing the restoration of a Grumman Goose aircraft (see under photographs button). On this day, I walked out onto the tarmac to photograph Ward's DC-6B as it framed the newcomer, made this shot that includes Pacific Western's own DC-6B, and then walked back and photographed the christening. I didn't ask security for permission to wander about as there wasn't any. Ah, glory days at airports!
According to Wayne Albertson (Wayne's Wings), CF-FUN served with Wardair until sold to a Brazilian operator in 1973. It continued in airline service for another 20 years then was sold to a Columbian operator. It was withdrawn from service in Bogata, Columbia in 1997 and converted to a restaurant on a Columbian army base.
I thought it would be a good idea if I sent the original negatives to Mr Ward and did so (something I have never done since!). He wrote me a very nice letter of thanks that can be viewed under the photographs button and CF-FUN.
This image was made from a 16 x 20 print that I made at NAIT for an assignment. The print is over 50 years old and hasn't received the best archival storage. I used the limited tools in Aperture to make this digital copy.
Be safe, everyone, get your shots as soon as possible, keep the masks on and look out for each other.
Tim
This photograph was made in the spring of 1966 at Edmonton Municipal Airport and it shows Wardair's brand new Boeing 727 CF-FUN being introduced to the public. That's Wardair's DC-6 in the foreground, on that day becoming something of a relic having been ussurped by the Boeing. Max Ward is at the back door of his Imperial sedan, helping Mrs Ward out for the christening ceremony. Note the airstairs lowered at the front port side. For the christening, the stairs were retracted into the fuselage and Mrs Ward whammed a champaign bottle onto the narrow door that covered the aperture. Twice! At that point the engineer rushed up and stopped further damage to the fragile aluminum. A large steel hammer was then placed against the skin, the bottle was swung yet again, and a successful eruption of champaign splashed upon the new aircraft now christened Cy Becker.
The public was invited to inspect the aircraft, entering by the airstair door that dropped from the rear of the fuselage and exiting by way of the front airstairs, now safely extended after the christening. I had become fairly familiar with this airport as I was a student at NAIT at the time and often visited the Northwest Industries hangar where I was photographing the restoration of a Grumman Goose aircraft (see under photographs button). On this day, I walked out onto the tarmac to photograph Ward's DC-6B as it framed the newcomer, made this shot that includes Pacific Western's own DC-6B, and then walked back and photographed the christening. I didn't ask security for permission to wander about as there wasn't any. Ah, glory days at airports!
According to Wayne Albertson (Wayne's Wings), CF-FUN served with Wardair until sold to a Brazilian operator in 1973. It continued in airline service for another 20 years then was sold to a Columbian operator. It was withdrawn from service in Bogata, Columbia in 1997 and converted to a restaurant on a Columbian army base.
I thought it would be a good idea if I sent the original negatives to Mr Ward and did so (something I have never done since!). He wrote me a very nice letter of thanks that can be viewed under the photographs button and CF-FUN.
This image was made from a 16 x 20 print that I made at NAIT for an assignment. The print is over 50 years old and hasn't received the best archival storage. I used the limited tools in Aperture to make this digital copy.
Be safe, everyone, get your shots as soon as possible, keep the masks on and look out for each other.
Tim