Airport unveils wall of fame

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This article was published 29/06/2023 (874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of pioneering Brandon aviators were honoured for their contributions to the community in a Wednesday ceremony.

The Brandon Municipal Airport Wall of Fame inducted Ed McGill and Jim Wall for its inaugural class, with members of both families present to celebrate the occasion.

Located inside the terminal, the wall was first announced last year as a way of recognizing locals who have made great achievements in aviation, helped pioneer the industry or demonstrated leadership in the field.

Airport manager Greg Brown said the wall of fame is intended to help showcase more than 75 years of aviation history in Brandon.

He said the airport got its start in 1941 when the Department of National Defence established a flight school as part of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan effort to train pilots for the Second World War.

After the war in 1946, the land was leased to the city for the creation of a future municipal airport.

“One of the main reasons that we’re here today is to start putting some of that history on the wall for our future generations to note,” Brown said.

The wall is located in the hallway leading to the airport’s security screening checkpoint.

Toward the bottom of the wall, a stand holds up the McGill Field sign that used to sit in the airport terminal before renovations expanded the building. Above that are frames containing pictures and short biographies of both men.

Mayor Jeff Fawcett said the two honourees are the “foundation of our airport.”

“We’re grateful to them,” he said. “I think this is a great idea and that the city should be recognizing them.”

In a speech, Wall’s son Dave recounted memories of his father and thanked the city for honouring him and McGill.

He said the journey to acknowledge the city’s aviation pioneers had been an eight-year journey that started with a letter from his mother Beth to former mayor Rick Chrest asking for something to be done to help the community understand who had contributed to the sector.

Dave recounted the story of a blizzard that dumped 65 centimetres of snow on Brandon on Thanksgiving 1959.

His father left from the family’s house on the 800 block of Fifth Street around 7:30 a.m. that day to head to work with another employee.

“They walk together to the airport, fired up the snow plow and plowed their way back to town to pick up some other airport staff and proceed back to open the field for any impending emergency,” he said.

Then there was a story about the time he flew a new Cessna plane up to The Pas in the dead of winter and had to fly an old version being traded in back to Brandon. None of the cabin lights or electrics worked, so he had to use a candle so he could see both the airspeed and a map.

“He laid the foundation for me to pass on the skills to the new workforce to do this work,” he said. “My children and grandchildren seem to have some of his bug for aviation.”

McGill came to Brandon after the Second World War in 1946 to become the secretary manager and chief flying instructor of the then-new Brandon Flying Club. That same year, he founded Brandon Air Services, which was later renamed Maple Leaf Aviation.

In 1952, McGill became the first manager of the airport. He would leave the flying club in 1969 to enter provincial politics, serving three terms as MLA that included positions in the cabinet of Sterling Lyon.

The City of Brandon would rename the land on which the airport sits “McGill Field” in his honour in 1970.

McGill died in 1996.

After the ceremony, McGill’s son Doug said it was a “great honour” to have his father’s accomplishments recognized.

“Our whole lives as a family have revolved around the Brandon airport, the Brandon Flying Club and aviation,” he said. “To see the airport evolve over the years and become what it’s become. Knowing what he put into it to make that happen is something we’re very, very proud of as a family.”

The Brandon-born-and-raised Wall started in aviation at a young age, earning his private pilot’s licence in 1950 at the age of 17. Just four years later, he missed out at winning the Webster Trophy — the award given to the top amateur pilot in Canada — by just one-tenth of a point.

He started out as general manager of Maple Leaf Aviation in 1956, eventually purchasing the business with his wife Beth from McGill in 1971.

His family still operates the business, with his son Dave running day-to-day operations and grandson Grant working as an aircraft maintenance engineer. Granddaughter Brittany also has her private pilot’s licence.

Wall’s accomplishments in aviation were also recognized in the form of a certificate from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 50 years of quality maintenance work and the NAASCO Outstanding AME Award from the Central Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Symposium in 2006.

He died in 2011 after 60 years working at the airport.

Brown said that while the airport is accepting further nominations to the wall of fame, the next class of inductees likely won’t be announced until next year.

A full list of criteria and materials needed for a nomination can be found online at bit.ly/3XsaeeY.

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