John C. Corrigan
I was inspired to suggest this prompt at one of our Quinte Writers’ group meetings after browsing through an old journal that I had faithfully kept for the entire year of 1976. It made me curious to know what my interests were at the time. Had my opinions changed since then? From the physical statistics I recorded on the front page, I can tell that I am now an inch shorter and fifteen pounds heavier that I was then. My hair was longer and all “pepper,” without any of the “salt” that has accumulated in the years since. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that most of the friends I had in 1976 eventually disappeared from my life. I supposed that was not so unexpected. We went off to different colleges or universities. We made new friends, found work, even got married and raised families. Truth be told, I did not meet the most important people in my life until I turned thirty.
Then: For my first entry in my journal, I wrote… “They tell me things will be better this year. Astrologically, 1974 and 1975 were unlucky years for Capricorns, (which I happen to be), and from personal experience I can verify this. I don’t really put too much faith in horoscopes, but I hope just once they are right. I wish I had the faith of my grandmother O’Connor! That is what I remember most about her, while not forgetting her long gray hair and the way she used to scratch our backs with her long slender fingers. I used to wish she would never stop.”
In 1976, my paternal grandfather was still alive. We had both our parents, all five of my uncles, all five of my aunts, all five of my siblings and all sixteen of my first cousins. We had a large family and get togethers were frequent and fun. I do not recall any huge issues among family members, except for our Mom’s sister-in-law. But we only found out about what was going on years later.
Now: I was so lucky to have such significant role models growing up. But, sadly, my grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and even my younger sister have passed away. My twin brother had a very rough go of it when he battled colon cancer several years ago. His quality of life was affected, but he is doing okay. So, my remaining siblings and I are now the “buffer” generation for our children, nieces and nephews, some of whom are now in their forties. And of course there are grandchildren, grandnieces and grandnephews as well. I can only hope that I can be as thoughtful, generous and supportive towards them as my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles were to me.
Then: The journal must have been a birthday gift, as the entries began on January 9th. I was living at my parents' home on Lilac Terrace in Whitby, Ontario. A student, I was enrolled in the Air Transport Technology course at Durham College in Oshawa. On September 5, 1976, I wrote, “I saw something today – hopefully, I will never see again! I went up to the Canadian National Exhibition with Uncle Ed, [his daughters, my cousins] Maureen, Kathy and [my sister] Sheila. Uncle Ed and I went to see the Canadian International Air Show (CIAS). About half an hour after we got there, I was watching a de Havilland biplane with binoculars when it suddenly started to spin and disappeared from view behind some trees, then I heard a loud crack. The pilot and passenger are still alive, but the passenger is in bad shape. BTW: I found out later, ten people died in Timmons when an Auston Airways aircraft crashed. That was the company I was considering working for last summer.” Sadly, that would not be the last time I watched an aircraft crash during an airshow. On September 2, 1995, I watched in disbelief as an RAF Nimrod crash into Lake Ontario during the CIAS. All seven crew members died.
As I have mentioned before, my interest in aviation has been lifelong. The Air Transport Technology course included lessons on Air Navigation, Air Regulations as well as an opportunity to take Flying Lessons. It was a chance to see if I had “the right stuff” to become a pilot. (I should take this opportunity to mention that we had some common subjects with the Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering students. One of these was English, and there was a strong emphasis on technical writing – which explains my current writing style.) By the end of that school year, I had recorded four-hours of flight training.
During weekday evenings and on Saturdays, I was working part-time at the Consumers’ Distributing store at 1810 Dundas Street East near the boundary with Oshawa. (The building is now occupied by an End Of The Roll Flooring Centre.) Because my father worked at General Motors, I was fortunate to get hired at there plant in Canada’s Motor City for the summers while I was in college. The Union Wages we students received at GM helped a great deal with our post secondary school expenses.
Now: Looking back, I realize that I was not cut out to be a pilot. I enjoyed flying, and my math skills were good. At best, I might have made it as a navigator or some other roll on a flight crew. But there were not a lot of opportunities in aviation at the time. Because we had a number of shared credits with the other disciplines, I was able to switch to the Mechanical Engineering course. It was definitely disappointing to see that dream evaporate, but it seemed like my best option at the time.
After graduation, I went to work at Dowty Equipment of Canada in Ajax, Ontario. That led to a 35-year career in the aerospace industry. Starting as an inspector in Quality Control, I retired from the company in 2014 as their Quality Systems and Regulatory manager. (If I knew then, I would have paid more attention during the Air Regulations course in college.) As such, I was able to travel to customer, supplier and sister site facilities all over North America and Europe, working on dozens of different aircraft programs.
By the early 1990s, I had a small collection of aviation art. In June of 1993, I went to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Ontario. I was there with my wife and a friend for an exhibition of art by some noted Canadian Aviation Artists. Before leaving, we stopped by the museum’s gift shop. I purchased a print of Don Connolly’s painting titled From Stage Right, The Red Knight.
That got me interested in learning more about the brilliant red aircraft depicted on the print. In the thirty years that followed, I made many lasting friendships, published three books on the Red Knight, and received a letter “FOR EXCELLENCE” and a Commander’s Coin from LGen A.D. Meinzinger, the Royal Canadian Air Force Commander. I participated in getting the Red Knight inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame, and I worked with the Royal Canadian Mint to design a commemorative coin. Back in 1976, I could never have imagined all this was even possible.
Then: On March 16, I wrote, “I skipped Dynamics class so Rick Bolton and I could talk to Mr. Lee about setting up a slalom course for cars [on the north parking lot at Durham College.] He was extremely helpful, and things look good for setting one up when the snow melts. In the meantime [Rick and I] are designing a [slalom] course of our own.” Slalom racing was quite popular then. A course would be set up with pilons on a large asphalt parking lot. Each car was timed as it drove through the course. The car that went through the course in the shortest time won. Even as a young boy, I was interested in what Formula 1 driver Jackie Stewart called “motour car racing.” I would get pencil and paper out and draw/design open wheel racing cars.
At the age of twelve, when I was a Toronto Telegram newspaper delivery boy, I won tickets to see Indy Cars race at Mosport. Watching cars and motorcycle race became a passion for me.
In 1976, I was sharing a white 1975 Chevy Nova coupe with my parents, costing us $3,400 brand new. (This was the car I used in our slalom race.) Two years later, when I offered to buy their share for $1,700, my parents proposed buying the car from me instead. I agreed and decided to order a black 1977 Chevy Monza 2+2 fastback. This Vega-based V8 powered car had a base price of $3,673.77. But with options, taxes, delivery, and license fees, the total cost was actually $4,960. (As a reference, at that time, the cost of a modest home was about ten times the price of a car.) I had wanted a manual transmission in this car, but the engine had been changed, and they needed to evaluate its durability before they certified it, which meant waiting for the testing to be done or go with an automatic transmission and get it right away. An impatient youth, I decided to go for the automatic.
That being said, the quality of these vehicles was lacking. With the Nova, I had to be careful not to drive through large puddles. Otherwise, water would splash into the engine compartment, get the wires wet and stall the engine. The catalytic converter was introduced in 1975, as was unleaded gas. Similar to planning a trip with an electric vehicle today, you needed to determine which service stations had that type of fuel before going on a long trip. The converters also emitted a smelly odor, which I referred to as a “car fart.”
The Monza was a fun car to drive in every season except winter. Its light weight to power ratio caused the rear wheels to spin on snow or ice. (I can remember spending the whole time a traffic light was green trying to get through one intersection in Oshawa.) My next car, a brand new 1983 crimson red Plymouth Turismo, (Google search that one!), was even worse. The cable on the manual shifter broke, the hydraulic cylinders that held up the back hatch failed. You had to hold it up with one hand, while you put stuff in or took stuff out with the other. And I remember having to bump start it on my street to get to work. It was just two years old when I sold it.
Now: That slalom race was the only one I ever participated in. During the 1980s and 90s, I entered a number of novice car and off-road rallies. Mostly I sat in the passenger seat and navigated, although I did drive on one occasion. We used my friend Steve’s orange VW Beetle to win the Whitby County Town Carnival Rally for our first big win. These rallies were run in stages, with set times for each stage. The vehicle that completed all the stages closest to the time set by the organizers won the rally. We beat sixty other cars to clamed victory.
I have enjoyed racing karts as well. First at Family Kartways in Whitby and more recently at the Mosport Karting Centre north of Bowmanville. There is nothing quite like racing around the track at eighty kilometers an hour when you are just a couple of inches above the asphalt. I follow Formula One racing closely, but I am not a fan of NASCAR. I believe when you are racing, you should turn both left and right, as well as driving up and down hills.
Wow! I just realized my 1975 Chevy Nova would be 50 years old now! While the Big Three North American automakers were producing these poor-quality cars, we had already been seeing Japanese and German cars becoming more popular. The better quality and customer satisfaction they offered attracted buyers away from the domestic vehicles. So much has changed over the past 50 years. Cars were more popular then. Most were available in four different formats: two door, four door, station wagons and convertibles. The majority of trucks were two door pickups, primarily used for work related activities, although they were beginning to be used recreationally as well. The Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) market was small. Limited to manufacturers like Dodge (Ramcharger), Ford (Bronco), GM (Blazer), International Harvester (Scout), and Jeep (Cherokee and CJ-5).
Eventually, the quality of the products produced by Ford, General Motors and who ever owned Chrysler at the time, improved and closed the gap. By then Korean and Chinese companies had also entered the market. The safety and technology have also improved over the years.
That being said, vehicles are also much more expensive than they were in 1976. Today, the average price of a new car in Canada is $66,000. But it is not unusual to see a vehicle with a $100,000+ sticker price on the window. I know bungalows in my area are being listed around $650,000. Closer to Toronto, many homes are selling around $1,000,000+. So, by comparison, I would say that house prices today are still about ten times the price of a car.
Last Then: In 1976, I really was not sure that I would ever meet someone to share my life with.
Last Now: I realize now that the wait was worth it! I was oh so lucky to have had Donna in my life for thirty-two years. She was such a special person. She completed me! I miss her so much!