By Skies Magazine | June 26, 2019 Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 7 seconds.
The regional finalists for the 2019 Webster Memorial Trophy Competition have been announced.
The annual competition, which has been running since 1932, aims to identify Canada’s top amateur pilot. Pilots first compete within one of nine regions across Canada (British Columbia and Yukon, Alberta and Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nunavut, Western Ontario, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic), completing a flight test and written examination.
The pilot with the top blended score between the flight test and written examination in their region becomes a finalist.
Normally there would be nine regional nominees, but unfortunately the 2019 competition saw no applicants from the Saskatchewan region, leaving eight regional winners who will gather at the end of August to compete for the national title, hosted this year by Moncton Flight College in Dieppe, N.B.
The 2019 regional winners list includes Wesley Li from British Columbia, whose flight training unit is Montair Aviation; Jason Buma of Cooking Lake Aviation will represent Alberta; out of Manitoba will be Keith Bergen of Harv’s Air; Western Ontario’s representative is Tyler Walker who trains at the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre; Central Ontario’s winner is Christina von Bulow out of the Brampton Flight Centre; Fraser Fulton out of Eastern Ontario who trains at Seneca College; Quebec’s Dmitiri Komarov who trains with A.L.M. Par Avion; and finally, Atlantic Canada’s champion Brady Parcels of Moncton Flight College.
In Moncton, competitors will undergo a flight test in an aircraft, a flight test in a simulator, a written exam and an interview with the competition judges. Throughout the various stages of the Webster Trophy Competition, applicants are assessed on the fundamental skills expected of the holder of a private pilot licence.
Sponsored by Air Canada Flight Operations, each finalist is guaranteed a job interview with Air Canada once they are qualified. Among other great prizes, regional winners receive a one-year subscription to Skies magazine, a $1,000 grant towards a flight instructor rating donated by Moncton Flight College, and simulator passes donated by CAE.
The national winner takes home a John C. Webster bronze medallion depicting the Webster Trophy, as well as an Air Canada pass for two to anywhere in Canada, the U.S. or the Caribbean, a professional development day with the Snowbirds, a position as a flight instructor with the Brampton Flight Centre once qualified, and a $2,000 grant toward a flight instructor rating donated by Moncton Flight College, among other great rewards.
