Newsletter Archive/Archives du bulletin

webstertrophy.ca Newsletter #001

Good Day Everyone.

Webster 2012 Still Not Quite Over: At approximately 1030 on Saturday evening, August 18th the Awards Banquet concluded and for most of the participants the 2012 competition and associated activities were over. For Amy and I however it has continued fairly constantly for thepast few weeks as we conclude all the outstanding items that must be dealt with such as thank you articles, letters, bills to be paid, photos and bios to be placed on the website, etc. etc. etc. It is however now almost completed = just in time to start working on 2013 in earnest. 2013 is discussed below.

A quick Final 2012 Update was put out shortly after the banquet however we cannot officially close off 2012 without formally acknowledging the efforts of a few key people without whose efforts the competition would not have been as successful as it was. Let me start by thanking Brenda Reid, Jean rene de Cotret and especially Robert Desjardins representing our host school this year, Rockcliffe Flying Club(RFC). Their efforts were outstanding and the workload that they alleviated from Amy and I was phenomenal, resulting in an extremely slick and exceptionally run competition all week long. We thank them and we definitely thank the RFC volunteers, Janice Templeman, George McKeever, Jim Mantle & Bill Shaw who were continuously available at anytime needed throughout the entire event and did such a marvellous job of transporting the finalists to and from the airport and to all the various evening events.

Two Transport Canada(TC) inspectors, Martine Dumas & Ray Beland were responsible for the flight testing of the finalists this year and it was a year of major testing change in the Webster programme. Simulators were introduced into the mix and the actual flying portion included major alterations as well, by introducing new precision flying exercises while maintaining some of the standard ones from previous years. The testing programme is being modified extensively to make it more challenging than in the past. All of the TC Flight Standards inspectors have been involved in Webster over the years and all have contributed to the development of the new tests as well. A special thanks also goes out again to Martine Dumaswho was responsible for updating the specially designed written exams again this year that the finalists must take. Their high degree of = interest and=20 involvement in the programme is deeply appreciated and on behalf of the entire Webster Team we thank them for it.

The Webster Team. It must be realized that Amy and I are not all of the Webster Team. It is made up of four more people whodedicate a lot of personal time to maintain the standard of the programme andcarry it forward to greater exposure and higher standards. Our Webster Team members consist of Arlo Speer Transport Canada, Kevin Psutka Canadian Owners & Pilots Association, Capt. Brian Shury Jazz and Tim Mell Sennheiser. Over the past few years that they have been part of Webster, the contribution and support from each one of them has kept our enthusiasm high and it is through their involvement that Webster is where it is today.

A thank you to our supporters must conclude this section and of course it would be difficult to mention everyone here ---- therefore that is being done in the aviation trades. An extensive thank you article has been sent out already to the various Canadian aviation trade publications and some of them have already published it on their websites. The main printed article annually appears in the edition of COPA FLIGHT following thecompletion of the competition. It is already up on COPA website.

You Tube Video: During Webster Week, one of our judges Kevin Psutka was quietly experimenting with his new I-pad and unknown to us forming an eleven minute video of Webster Week activities which he subsequently had blended in with stirring music and captions and placed on You Tube. As of the writing of this article it has had hits on the You Tube site however is is also on Sennheiser website and gone to numerous countries around the world so I am uncertain as to the number of times it has been seen through that means. If you have not seen it you can do so by going to the Webster website at webstertrophy.ca where it is featured on the main page or connect through the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D_uyZ5EsWF-o

Webster 2013: Work toward the Webster competition of 2013 has already begun on a number of fronts. As has been announced the national finals next year will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba hosted by Harv Air. We attempt to keep as close to the third week in August as possible therefore the dates of Webster Week 2013 will be from Aug. 20th to 24th inclusive. Negotiations have been launched to have the Awards Banquet at the Western Canada Aviation Museum which should afford a similar experience to that enjoyed this year at the Canada Aviation & Space Museum. There are also a series of evening events being proposed and currently being worked on as well which always enhance the finalists experiences during the competition.

As the programme moves forward over the next number of months updates will be sent out to inform you of what happening. We are looking forward to joining up with a couple of major supporters presently on the horizon and showing definite interest, as well as further changes in the testing process and general evolvement of the Webster into bigger and better venues. All of your support and interest is appreciated and needed to assist us in that task.

Have a great day.

Wayne

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