And the Winner Is …

September 2019 - The EAA Canadian Council recently announced a new partnership with the Webster Memorial Trophy organization, facilitators of the annual competition to identify Canada's top amateur pilot. We are proud to have joined a long list of leading aviation organizations in Canada to support this most worthwhile endeavor.

The author, Jack Neima, with his wife, Lianne, at the Webster Memorial Trophy banquet.

The rigorous application and assessment process results in the selection of regional finalists who are notified in the early summer that they will represent their region at the weeklong testing and assessment phase held in alternating locations across the country. This year the finalists, judges, and coordinators were hosted August 19-24 in Moncton, New Brunswick, by the Moncton Flight College.

The 2019 regional finalists:

• Wesley Li, British Columbia
• Jason Buma, Alberta
• Keith Bergen, Manitoba
• Tyler Walker, Western Ontario
• Christina von Bulow, Central Ontario
• Fraser Fulton, Eastern Ontario
• Dmitri Kamarov, Quebec
• Brady Parcels, Atlantic

Webster trophy finalists.

During the intensive weeklong assessment process, the finalists were given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills to a panel of distinguished judges. In addition to the usual knowledge test, developed in association with NAV CANADA, the judges assessed the contestants' ability to handle a wide range of routine and not-so-routine piloting events. All participants reported being challenged by the scenarios and by the flight tests conducted in a variety of training aircraft and a sophisticated Redbird simulator.

On Saturday evening, August 24, the finalists, many family members, judges, organizers, and sponsors gathered for a gala banquet to award prizes and to announce the Top Amateur Pilot winner and runner-up. The EAA Canadian Council was pleased to participate and to present complimentary one-year EAA memberships to each of the finalists, any one of whom would be a deserving winner of the top pilot award.

Jack presents one-year EAA memberships to the finalists.

There was lots of excitement in the room when Dmitri Kamalov was announced as runner-up for 2019, and Brady Parcels was acclaimed Canada's Top Amateur Pilot and recipient of the John Webster Jr. Memorial Trophy.

Jack Neima congratulates Brady Parcels.

In addition, Wesley Li of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, won the NAV CANADA Trophy for achieving the highest score on the written examination. EAA Canadian Council congratulates all of the contestants and the entire Webster organization for an outstanding event.

The Webster Memorial Trophy.

Planning is already underway for the 2020 Webster Memorial Trophy Competition, which will be held in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.