Newsletter Archive/Archives du bulletin

webstertrophy.ca Newsletter #008-2013

Good day Everyone.

OOPS!: Recently some of you may have received an update which turned out to be a blank page. My fault. I had Update #7 on record as not being sent and it was only while it was in transit through our new system that I realized that it had been, thus I cancelled the process midstream. This resulted in the message portion being cancelled but some of the list had actually gone out before being stopped. This is the next update in line, so nothing has been missed.

Flight Safety International (FSI): On behalf of the entire Webster Team we would like to sincerely welcome to our growing list of supporters Flight Safety International. FSI has graciously donated a very generous grant to the programme to be used as a scholarship. As most of you know Sennheiser also donates a substantial contribution annually as a scholarship which goes to the Flight Training Unit who produces the maximum number of competitors that year. The grant must be then applied to the furtherance of training for up to four of the competitors from that school. The Webster Team is now discuss where and how the FSI grant will be applied, likely in a different manner. Our thanks to Patrick Coulter, Centre Manager – Toronto for his excellent work in bringing FSI on board.

Webster Week: Webster week is continually filling up with fascinating events each year which results in our nine finalists not experiencing a challenging competition but also a wealth of memories to return home with, along of course with all those great prizes they receive. The following is a brief description of Webster week, Aug. 19 – 24th.

On Monday all finalists arrive in Winnipeg and check in at the Radisson Hotel downtown. Monday evening is informal and usually used to get everyone together to meet each other and perhaps have a casual dinner somewhere.

On Tuesday morning everyone is transported out to Harv's Air at St. Andrews where they sit in on a detailed briefing of what will be happening during the competition and the events planned for that week. Familiarization flights follow along with a planned BBQ around noon. Likely that afternoon at least one if not two of the ground exams will be completed. On Tuesday evening there is a tour of the Winnipeg Centre.

The flying portion of the competition starts early Wednesday morning and continues throughout the day. One flight test will be on Harv's Air aircraft and one will be in their Redbird flight training device. This often leaves the finalists not flying with spare time so this year through the courtesy of Aerofomatech, a portable unit will be on the field during the week and all finalists will have the opportunity of taking fire-fighting training from both the pilot and passenger standpoint. This results in a certificate at the end. That evening there will be another tour of either the Western Canada Aviation Museum or the NORAD facility. Whichever goes on Wednesday evening, the other will go on Thursday.

On Thursday the competition continues and if the weather co-operates, it is likely that the flying portion is finished that day. One of the tours mentioned above is done that evening.

Friday is used to complete the last exam. This year there are three. A flight planning exercise which would have been completed earlier as it is needed for the navigation portion of the flight tests, a long-and written exam on aeronautical subjects based on the Private Pilot Licence requirements and something new, an ATS exam designed specifically for Webster this year. There is a growing disconnect in proper communication between controllers and pilots and this exam is going to be one of the tools used to alleviate that problem. Next year we hope to expand it to all Webster competitors. This exam is not part of the competition marking scheme. Nav Canada is designing a new trophy for display in their headquarters building in Ottawa and the winner will have their name applied to it each year. There will be a certificate or some other award presented to the winner at the banquet. In the event that the weather does not co-operate, Friday can also be used to finish any remaining flight tests. On Friday all the finalists are transported out to Portage to fly helicopter simulators during the evening courtesy of Allied Wings.

On Saturday hopefully the day is free for the finalists to rest up and enjoy Winnipeg for that evening there is the culmination of Webster Week, the Awards Banquet, where numerous well known and highly respected representatives from across the entire Canadian and U.S. aviation sectors attend.

Sunday, everyone goes home, hopefully richer for the experience.

2013 Competitors: At the end of the week on June 15th all applications and flight test reports must be in for the nine finalists are announced the morning of June 16th through individual e-mails to the winner, followed by a mass e-mailing to all the competitors and an announcement on the website later that day as soon as we can get to it. This year we have again had a successful number, currently totally 86 with one withdrawal. There may still be a few stragglers to arrive however this total is pretty much it. The flight test reports from year to year fluctuate in respect to the average marks, but this year they have been exceptionally high for the most part. Those who will win their respective regions deserve to do so. a couple of potential finalists have come very close to a perfect score and overall from what we have witnessed in the submitted flight test reports, it indicates a high standard of training going on out there.

Have great day everyone.

Wayne

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