Making space for aviation history

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This article was published 05/04/2022 (1439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Municipal Airport is looking to create a wall of fame that would feature plaques of people who have made an impact on aviation in the city across three different categories.

Airport manager Greg Brown presented on the project at Monday’s city council meeting.

The first category is for people who have made great achievements in aviation either in significant events or over a lifetime.

The second category would recognize those who pioneered or built aviation programs, infrastructure or business at the airport.

The third category would acknowledge people in aviation who have been leaders in the industry or in the Brandon community.

Plaques for successful nominees will be hung on a wall at the Brandon Municipal Airport, in the corridor leading from the entrance to security.

“People, when they think of the Brandon airport, they think of the military history when it was built as part of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan in World War II,” Brown told the Sun on Tuesday. “But really, that was 1941 to 1946. The City of Brandon has been leasing that land, and actually now owns [it], since 1946, so there are decades of history as a municipal airport.”

Since then, there have been plenty of people who have been involved with the airport’s transition into a civilian facility, working at the Brandon Flying Club and maintaining operations.

In 1970, the field at the airport was named McGill Field after Ed McGill’s contributions to Canadian aviation. McGill, Brown said, is a prime candidate for being honoured on the wall of fame.

The commemorative plaque from that event has already been set up in front of what will become the new wall of fame. It had been in storage since the airport terminal redevelopment project was initiated.

Other possible candidates Brown identified include members of the women’s league known as the 99s, who arranged in the 1970s for the installation of the monument made from a Royal Canadian Air Force training jet that sits at the entrance to the airport off of Highway 10.

There are also candidates from the Brandon Flying Club, which has been active since before the airport existed.

Though details on the nomination process are still being worked on for release later this week, some information has already been revealed.

A five-person selection committee made up of the city’s director of transportation, the airport manager, airport chargehand and two airport stakeholders would review nominations submitted by the public.

“We initially were talking about having five inductees this year and then one every year after that, but we quickly realized that if we put limitations on it, there might only be six [nominations] one year. Why do you say one has to wait?” Brown asked. “How do you make that decision? We decided to make decisions based on the nominations we receive and go from there.”

Nominations will have to be submitted in writing to Brown with the primary nomination letter taking up no more than a single regular-sized piece of paper. There must also be two letters attached supporting the nomination written by other people along with support documentation like evidence of other awards or citations, newspaper articles and pictures.

Nominees can be either living or deceased.

Those who are interested in submitting a nomination or who have questions are encouraged to contact Brown by email at greg.brown@brandon.ca.

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