Trio inducted into aviation wall of fame

The Brandon Municipal Airport inducted the first living member into its aviation wall of fame on Thursday.

Roy Sobchuk, the 86-year-old inductee, received the recognition during a ceremony at the terminal attended by about 100 people.

“I don’t know what else I can say other than that I’m extremely overwhelmed,” Sobchuk told the gathering. “I really appreciate this honour. And I just don’t know if I’m nervous.”

A biography and a photograph of Sobchuk were added to the honorary wall at the airport terminal. More than a dozen family and friends surrounded Sobchuk to photograph themselves beside the wall following the ceremony.

Leonard Fisher and Cecil Leech, two deceased members of the Brandon aviation community, were also inducted.

Sobchuk is an active pilot, a lifelong member of the Brandon Flying Club and a founding member of the Brandon Civil Air Search and Rescue Association. He served as director of the club from the 1970s through 2000, and has helped rescue efforts in the area.

Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett, addressing the crowd and Sobchuk during the ceremony, said the event was a great way to shine light on people’s accomplishments.

“To read through everybody’s contributions, it’s unbelievable, and to be recognized, I hope you hold that in high regard,” Fawcett said. “For Cecil, Len and Roy, this is awesome.”

Fawcett said the city still makes an effort to keep young people involved in the aviation community that the inductees helped build.

Leech is known partly for helping to establish the Brandon Flying Club, which was formed in 1936 following financial hardship at the Brandon Aerodome.

His grandson, David, accepted the induction on his behalf.

“It is a real honour to be here today to recognize Cecil,” David said. “It is really an honour.”

Leech, known as a “builder” of aviation in Canada, had a 20-year career in aviation in which he served as the first chief flight instructor in Brandon for Manitoba’s first Provisional Pilots Group. He trained pilots such as R.E. Morrow of Toronto, who later became a war hero.

Leech entered full service with the RCAF during the Second World War and was stationed at Rockcliffe, Ont. He transitioned into commercial aviation following the war and flew for Trans-Canada Airlines, among other outfits.

He passed away in 1989, and his “legacy endures through the Brandon Flying Club, the many pilots he trained, and his contributions to Canadian aviation,” his bio said.

Fisher, a former Second World War-era RCAF pilot who passed away in 2016, was also inducted on Thursday.

Fisher had a 62-year career in aviation with more than 24,000 hours of flight time across commercial and military roles, his bio said.

He worked as a commercial pilot following his honourable discharge from the military in 1945. He later moved to Brandon and worked for Brandon Air Service, flew charter and taught air cadets.

Fisher worked as an instructor and manager of the Brandon Flying Club, and certified “countless” Canadian pilots as a flight test examiner with Transport Canada.

Greg Brown, transportation manager for the City of Brandon and airport manager, said the wall of fame was designed to promote Brandon’s history in civilian aviation. The wall is located so that travellers can read it while waiting for flights — it is in the main terminal between the check-in desk and the departure area.

“We want to capture that history for the travelling public,” he said.

Brown, who hosted the ceremony in the terminal, said that it was the best-attended wall of fame induction he has witnessed.

“It’s an amazing turnout,” he said. “By far the largest number of people we’ve had at these events. It warms my heart.”

With Thursday’s additions, the inductees list now consists of six people, including Edward Robert McGill, James Douglas Wall and Ruby MacDonald.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com