Page 3 - March 2019

Roland Groome Chapter - Regina
Departures Hall Project
The current departures hall (aka check-in area) is the area of
the airport where guests’ check-in with their airline on the
day of their travel. This area was last updated in 2002. As
our passenger traffic continues to grow additional space and
new technology are required to ensure efficient guest
processing.
This project will include an esthetic upgrade, expansion to
the check-in area, and adopt new common-use technology
that will allow guests to complete their own check-in and
print their own baggage tags independent of airline staff.
Written by Will Chabun
Vincent Murphy was having “the greatest time of his
life.” Until he wasn’t.
It was the summer of 1956 and he was working as a
roustabout or general helper for Central Northern
Airways at the floatplane base in his hometown of Flin
Flon, Manitoba. And having long been captivated by
aviation in that air-minded northern Manitoba
community on the border with Saskatchewan, he was
delighted to be aboard a CNA Norseman just out of
repair and being test flown. Aboard were the pilot,
Vincent’s brother, who was an air maintenance
engineer with CNA, Vincent and another ramp rat, the
latter two piled into the cabin. The engine was happily
roaring and the lake-studded terrain around Flin Flon
made for a terrific view – until “all of a sudden, the
roaring stopped.” As the aircraft climbed, then headed
down, Vincent recalls how he couldn’t move other than
to flop on the floor of the aircraft and instinctively grab
a piece of nearby rope – that wasn’t attached to
anything. Pretty soon, he became of something else:
that his brother and the pilot were “absolutely
hysterical” at the sight of the two aviation rookies.
“They thought it was the funniest thing they’d ever
seen in their lives,” Vincent told our January CAHS
chapter meeting. ” Me— trying to hold onto this piece
of rope! ”
That was his introduction to the weird and wonderful
world of aviation, especially northern flying, where he
was dispatched to get a “five gallons o’ prop wash”
“50 feet of shore line” and all of the other practical
jokes played on newbies. Entitled “High Flight and
Other Airborne Adventures”.
Vincent’s PowerPoint presentation taught us he’s still in
awe of it and its people. Flin Flon was a good place to
learn this. When he was growing up, the floatplane
base on nearby Schist Lake saw aircraft from Central
Northern Airways (soon to be renamed Transair),
Hudson Bay Air Transport (the aviation arm of Hudson
Bay Mining and Smelting), Parsons Airways, Teal Air
(we hadn’t heard of it either, but a Google search