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In the 1940s & 1950s, the National Film Board of Canada documented Canada’s then new national airline to educate the Canadian public about the new mode of travel.

Thousands of feet of Hollywood quality cine film on Trans-Canada Air Lines was dormant in NFB archives for decades, until we discovered this never-before-seen eyeball-popping footage, which is presented in this narrated historic program.

The quality of the footage is the best archival classic airline footage we have ever seen. It was all shot on 16mm employing professional filming techniques and the subject matter has to be seen to be appreciated. It truly is amazingly high quality footage.

You’ll see WWII era Lodestars & Electras filmed across Canada, unbelievable Lancastrian footage filmed air-to-air,lots of Canadair DC-4M2 North Star, Douglas DC-3, Lockheed Connie, Avro Jetliner and Vickers Viscount footage of TCA airliners from the era that is unbelievable in quality and rarity.

The live filming of a TCA Viscount air-to-air with onboard engine shutdown demo complete with original sound is an unbelievable find. You can actually hear the Rolls Royce Dart engines spooling down and then winding up, recorded on board the actual aircraft during this demonstration.  Along with all the other footage, this program is nothing short of a major historic treasure to be enjoyed over and over for years to come.

DVD Programs
Chapter 1) Intro
Chapter 2) TCA Lockheeds at Vancouver
Chapter 3) TCA Lockheeds in the Prairies
Chapter 4) TCA Lockheeds at YYZ & YUL
Chapter 5) TCA Avro Lancastrian
Chapter 6) Canadair North Star
Chapter 7) Avro Jetliner
Chapter 8) Canadair North Star first flight
Chapter 9) TCA DC-4M2 North Star roll-out
Chapter 10) TCA DC-4M2 North Star in service
Chapter 11) TCA DC-3 in service
Chapter 12) TCA Viscount action
Chapter 13) Viscount engine out demo
Chapter 14) End Credits
Chapter 15) DVD Previews

Total running time: 51 minutes

This DVD is available in NTSC region-free format (which will work on all current European DVD players).

FROM AIR CANADA ARCHIVES:
By many counts, it can be said that Gordon R. McGregor was the father of Canada’s National airline. When he became President of the company in 1948, Trans-Canada Air Lines was a fledgeling carrier operating a rag-tag fleet of mostly obsolete WWII surplus aircraft.

In 1968 when he retired after twenty years as the company’s Chief Executive, much had changed for the airline and the industry. The company had re-named itself to Air Canada and was a leading world airline. From Air Canada’s archives, we are honoured to present two films which celebrate the achievements of Gordon McGregor.

The first film is G.R. McGregor’s re-cap of the airlines operations in 1962, which marked TCA’s twenty-fifth anniversary. The airline had just entered the jet age with the introduction of the first Douglas DC-8 jetliners, and the Vickers Vanguards were recently introduced on the trunk Canadian services as well longer haul Caribbean services.

The second film is from G.R. Mcgregor’s retirement party filmed in 1968. This film opens with G.R.’s speech to the guests at his party, and follows with a thirty minute in-depth history of G.R.’s working career, which more or less is a parallel history of the development of Trans-Canada Air Lines.

We’ve included a number of Air Canada TV ads from the 1960s which makes this DVD a fascinating look back at Gordon R. McGregor’s achievements in the making of a truly great airline.

Please be aware that these films are presented for their historical importance, and not for their production values and/or image quality. These films are distribution copy prints that were made 70 years ago, and the image and production quality is not the same as we are used to today. In some of the films we experienced film breaks, film warpage (which result in the film being unable to hold focus), broken film sprockets, and blown out sound levels. So these films are by no means perfect. But we believe their historic value over-rides their technical imperfections, and we present them as a look back on a past era.

DVD Programs

Chapter 1) Introduction
Chapter 2) TCA Vanguard promo
Chapter 3) G.R. McGregor’s 1962 Report
Chapter 4) Air Canada Vanguard TV ad
Chapter 5) 1960s Bahamas TV ad
Chapter 6) Let’s Go DC-8 TV ad
Chapter 7) G.R. McGregor retirement speech
Chapter 8) G.R. McGregor career history
Chapter 9) Air Canada 1966 DC-9 TV ad
Chapter 10) 1960s Visit Canada TV ad
Chapter 11) 1960s Caribbean TV ad
Chapter 12) TCA Viscount DVD Preview
Chapter 13) TCA DC-8 DVD Preview

Total running time: 60 minutes

This DVD is available in NTSC region-free format which will work on all current European DVD players.

FROM AIR CANADA ARCHIVES:
In the 1940s people travelled abroad by ship, and domestic travel was either by bus or car, or rail. The concept of travelling by air was new, and airlines in Canada (like elsewhere in the world) were very much in their infancy. Trans-Canada Air Lines was created in 1937 by an act of Parliment, as the flag carrier to serve Canada, and the airline operated a fleet of silver Lockeed 10As and Lodestars up until Canadair Northstars were acquired in 1947. These aircraft are featured in the early TCA films on this DVD.

Very little footage exists within the Air Canada film archives from this era, but we were able to find two little gems that provide a snap-shot picture of what air travel was like back in the day when when almost nobody had travelled by air. The films talk about being “air-minded” in the same context as being “open-minded” .. and it is interesting how a new vernacular was created to promote the new method of transport by aeroplane.

The first film “Swift Family Robinson” was produced by TCA in 1943, when the world was at war, and the economy was in a constrained state due to shortages and the war effort. Although filmed in colour, the master prints are long gone and we were able to digitize one of the two period distribution 16mm cine prints that remain within the archive. This film charts a family’s trans-Canada journey from Montreal to Vancouver via Lockheed Lodestar. (colour 31 min)

“A New Map for Canada” was produced by TCA in 1947 and explains how Canada’s new airline was fostering economic growth across the country during the 40s. We used the camera original air-to-air 16mm footage of the TCA Lodestar, DC-3 and Northstar which was re-mastered into this film just for this DVD. It was very lucky that we were able to find the camera original films for the aircraft sequences, but it might be noticeable that the image quality of the other parts of the film is not as clear, reason being that the master print does not exist, and we had to digitize a distribution print. This film takes you across Canada by TCA Lodestar, and by Canadair Northstar, which was brand new when this film was made.

Please be aware that these films are presented for their historical importance, and not for their production values and/or image quality. These films are distribution copy prints that were made 70 years ago, and the image and production quality is not the same as we are used to today. In some of the films we experienced film breaks, film warpage (which result in the film being unable to hold focus), broken film sprockets, and blown out sound levels. So these films are by no means perfect. But we believe their historic value over-rides their technical imperfections, and we present them as a look back on a past era.

DVD Programs

Chapter 1) Introduction and Pre-Show

Chapter 2) Swift Family Robinson (31 min colour)

Chapter 3) A new Map for Canada
(21 min colour)

Chapter 4) TCA Vickers Viscount DVD Preview

Chapter 5) TCA Vickers Viscount DVD Preview

Total running time: 52 minutes

This DVD is available in NTSC region-free format which will work on all current European DVD players.

In the late 1950s, Douglas Aircraft of Long Beach, made a significant marketing push to draw Trans-Canada Air Lines as a customer for their new, revolutionary jet transport, the Douglas DC-8.

When TCA selected the DC-8, a number of promotional films were made by the airline and the manufacturer to promote the new aircraft to the travelling public.

From the Air Canada historic film archives, this DVD exclusively presents four period films about the Douglas DC-8 that cover the development and marketing of the aircraft to airlines of the day, as well as films about the aircraft in the TCA operating theatre of the very early 1960s. Between films we have included a number of fabulous 1960s era TV ads produced by Air Canada which feature the DC-8.

The film “4 Hours and 40 Minutes” is particularly significant as it was filmed live on the occasion of the first ever pure jet passenger service in Canada, a TCA DC-8 flight between Toronto and Vancouver on Friday, April 1, 1960. The film revolves around a young boy and his mother who travel on the flight and marvel at the new form of jet passenger flight. The film features live flight deck footage, cabin footage, and plenty or airport terminal and exterior footage, and is truly a gem of a film that we are pleased to have uncovered in the archives.

The Jet Pilot films tracks a TCA DC-8 crew on their duty operating a routine service from snowy Montreal down to sunny Jamaica, also circa very early 1960s. This film was also filmed live on board, with live cockpit footage, engine starts, and is a really fabulous documentation of the inner workings of jetliner travel when the mode truly was in its infancy, and the travelling public the world over only knew travel by propeller driven aircraft.

It was our intention to bring these long forgotten films to the forefront so they could be properly enjoyed for their nostalgia value today, as well as in the future. And we are very grateful that Air Canada kindly provided us with the necessary access and support to make it all possible.

Purchasers should be aware that the picture quality of these films is not the same as which we are used to today, and these films are presented for their historic content first and foremost.

SPECIAL NOTE TO CUSTOMERS:
This DVD was produced using compact low environmental impact packaging, which results in considerable manufacturing and shipping savings. As such, we are happy to pass these savings on to you in the form of
FREE worldwide postage for this DVD title.

DVD Programs

Chapter 1) Introduction and Pre-Show

Chapter 2) TCA DC-8 B&W early DC-8 TV commercial

Chapter 3) TCA DC-8 Inaugural YYZ-YVR “4 hrs 40 minutes”
Friday, April 1,1960. Company documentary (12 min BW)

Chapter 4) Air Canada 1960s era DC-8 TV commercials

Chapter 5) TCA Jet Pilot Montreal to Jamaica
circa 1960/1961 (18 min BW)

Chapter 6) Air Canada 1960s era DC-8 TV commercials

Chapter 7) Birth of a Jet
Development of TCA DC-8s early 1960s (13 min colour)

Chapter 8) Air Canada 1960s era DC-8 TV commercials

Chapter 9) Sleeping Giant Cargo DC-8s
With DC-8F delivery to TCA early 1960s (22 min colour)

Chapter 10) Air Canada 1960s era DC-8 TV commercials

Chapter 11) TCA Vickers Viscount DVD Preview

Total running time: 87 minutes

This DVD is available in NTSC region-free format which will work on all current European DVD players.

In the early 1950s, Vickers Armstrongs made a significant marketing push to draw Trans- Canada Air Lines as a customer for their revolutionary Viscount turboprop airliner.

When the airline selected the Viscount, a number of promotional films were made by the airline and Vickers to promote the new aircraft to the travelling public.

From the Air Canada historic film archives, this DVD exclusively presents five period films about the Viscount that cover the development and marketing of the aircraft to airlines of the day, as well as films about the aircraft in the TCA operating theatre of the mid- 1950s.

Of special note is the film “Red Carpet” which was produced in house by TCA in the mid 1950s, to explain to the travelling public how the inner workings of the airline come together to make the flying experience a pleasurable and efficient endeavour. Of course the then brand new jetport Vickers Viscount was the most technologically advanced airliner in North America, and the airline uses the new aircraft as the centre-piece for promoting its services to passengers.

The routine flight film takes the viewer for a tour of the Winnipeg maintenance base where the advanced Rolls Royce engine of the Vickers Viscount is explained as being more advanced, reliable and comfortable than piston engines of the day. And the viewer is taken for a specially laid on flight in a brand new Vickers Viscount, where the pilot shuts down not one but two engines in-flight, to demonstrate the reliability and safety that the Viscount brings to travel.

It was our intention to bring these long forgotten films to the forefront so they could be properly enjoyed for their nostalgia value today, as well as in the future. And we are very grateful that Air Canada kindly provided us with the necessary access and support to make it all possible.

Purchasers should be aware that the picture quality of these films is not the same as which we are used to today, and these films are presented for their historic content first and foremost.

SPECIAL NOTE TO CUSTOMERS:
This DVD was produced using compact low environmental impact packaging, which results in considerable manufacturing and shipping savings. As such, we are happy to pass these savings on to you in the form of
FREE worldwide postage for this DVD title.

DVD Programs

Chapter 1) Introduction and Pre-Show

Chapter 2) Vickers Viscount Intro – early 1950s (10 min BW)

Chapter 3) Viscounts Intl. – mid 1950s (15 min colour)

Chapter 4) TCA Delivery flight – mid 1950s (11 min colour)

Chapter 5) TCA routine Viscount flight – mid 195s (28 min BW)

Chapter 6) Magic Carpet – promotion of the Viscount with TCA
– mid 1950s (13 min colour)

Chapter 7) DVD Previews

Total running time: 88 minutes

This DVD is available in NTSC region-free format which will work on all current European DVD players.