48th Induction Ceremony - Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame

Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame has announced its second Induction Ceremony for 2022.
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The 48th Annual Induction Ceremony will take place at The Crowne Plaza at the Montreal Airport on Thursday, October 27, 2022. Individuals slated for induction at this event are Thomas Appleton, Maryse Carmichael, John Croll, James DeLaurier, Marc Parent, L. Russ Payson, and Joseph Randell. The Belt of Orion Award for Excellence will be presented to the Brampton Flying Club.

Profiles for each inductee follow below.

Information on individual tickets, ways to sponsor the event, donations for the silent auction and table purchases can all be found here.

If you would like to attend, please purchase your ticket as soon as possible as seating is limited. We look forward to celebrating these incredible people with you!
Thomas Appleton

Born in England in 1941, Thomas Edmund ‘Tom’ Appleton has had a varied and influential career in Canadian aviation. His interest in aviation began early and led him to join the Air Cadets in Ottawa. Imperfect vision precluded qualification for an RCAF Flying Training Scholarship, but it did not stop him earning a pilot’s license at the Ottawa Flying Club. In the early 1960s Tom joined Spartan aviation as a navigator conducting magnetometer and geophysical surveys in northern Ontario and the high arctic. He landed at de Havilland Aircraft of Canada in 1966 where he flew the Twin Otter, Buffalo, and Dash 7 respectively as a demonstration, instructor, and development test pilot. Along the way, Tom acquired time and experience while also developing management skills.

Following completion of an executive MBA in 1981, he was appointed Director of Customer Support and took on an increasing number of files, becoming Vice President of Marketing and Sales five years later. By 1991, Tom was Executive Vice-President of the Canadair Regional Jet Division, where he oversaw the successful production and sale of CRJs and Dash 8s. Throughout his career, Tom Appleton has been recognized by his peers, including his election as Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

In further recognition of his outstanding and ongoing contributions to Canadian aviation, Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame is pleased to induct Tom Appleton as a member for 2022.
Maryse Carmichael

A 22-year veteran of the RCAF, who has logged more than 3,500 hours flying time, Maryse Carmichael served as the first female pilot and Commanding Officer of the Snowbirds demonstration team. After learning to fly as an Air Cadet, Maryse joined the Canadian military in 1990 and completed pilot training in 1994. In addition to her time with 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, she served as a Flying Instructor at Moose Jaw, with 434 Combat Support Squadron, 412 Transport Squadron, and 436 (Transport) Squadron.

After retiring as a Lieutenant-Colonel, Maryse joined CAE, where she has worked in several capacities, including Communication and Government Relations Manager for Canada and Operations Manager, a position that oversees five Canadian CAE Defense and Security Training Centres. Widely recognized for her leadership in and out of the air force, Maryse is a member of the Ninety-Nines, the International Chapter of Women in Aviation, the Snowbirds Alumni Association, and the Honourable Company of Air Pilots. She has also been named as one of the 100 most powerful women in Canada, named a YWCA Woman of Distinction, and is recipient of the Northern Lights Aero Foundation “Elsie” award for Flight Operations.

In recognition of her pioneering contributions to Canadian aviation and to her ongoing commitment to the aviation community, Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame is pleased to induct Maryse Carmichael as a member for 2022.
John Croll

John Croll has had a highly accomplished career as a test pilot for the RCAF and National Research Council of Canada. A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada with a degree in engineering physics, John excelled at flight training in the RCAF. As a testament to his potential, upon graduation he was sent temporarily to CFB Cold Lake at Canada’s Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment, where he was introduced to flight testing in 1971. Following a posting to West Germany, he was selected for and completed the air force’s Fighter Weapons Instructor Course. John was next selected to attend the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, where he was the first non-American awarded the Liethen-Tittle Award. Exchange duties followed as Canada’s Experimental Test Pilot at USAF 6512 Test Squadron at Edwards. Returning to Canada in 1980, John was posted to AETE as a Qualified Experimental Test Pilot and head of Aircraft Flight Test for the Canadian air force’s aircraft fleets. Later, he was the senior CF18 test pilot.

John retired from the RCAF in 1988 and immediately joined the National Research Council’s Flight Research Laboratory, where he flew in support of Canadian Space Agency astronaut microgravity training and many environmental research projects. By the time he left the NRC in 2008, John had amassed over 7,000 hours in 55 different aircraft types in the advancement of military and civilian aviation.

For his outstanding contributions to aviation in Canada and abroad, Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame is pleased to induct John Croll as a member for 2022.
James DeLaurier

A professor at the University of Toronto’s Aerospace Institute (UTIAS), James DeLaurier’s career has been spent at the leading edge of research and development of aviation. After earning his PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, he worked at NASA during the Apollo Program, then at the Sheldahl Co. before joining the UTIAS, where he founded the Subsonic Aerodynamics Laboratory in 1974. Some of his most enduring work includes his contributions to the Stationary High Altitude Relay Platform (SHARP), multiple iterations of flapping wing flight and ornithopters – including ‘Mr Bill’ and ‘Great Flapper’ as well as the Snowbird Human-Powered Ornithopter, aerostats and airships, and the Atlas HumanPowered Helicopter, which, along with ‘Snowbird’ were instrumental in CAHF’s awarding of AeroVelo the Belt of Orion Award for Excellence in 2015.

For his outstanding contributions to the development of the science and engineering of aeronautics in Canada, and for his research and mentorship over the course of more than four decades, Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame is pleased to induct James DeLaurier as a member for 2022.
Marc Parent

Deeply passionate about aviation, Marc Parent earned his pilot’s license at 17, before he could even drive a car. Now the Chief Executive Officer of CAE, he has been a leader in Canada’s aerospace industry since the 1980s. Although there were few French-Canadian mentors in the aviation industry when Marc graduated from university with an engineering degree this did not stop him from joining Canadair. Over the course of the next two decades, he assumed greater managerial responsibility, eventually rising to the position of Vice-President and General Manager at Bombardier. In 2005 he joined CAE as Group President, Simulation Products. Four years later he was President and CEO. Under his leadership the company has flourished, expanding beyond the aviation simulator market into healthcare, where it has played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2020, Marc Parent’s leadership and contributions to aviation and to his wider community have been recognized by the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, among many others.

For his longstanding commitment to the growth and development of Canadian aerospace, Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame is pleased to induct Marc Parent as a member for 2022.
L. Russell Payson

Russell Payson founded Skyservice in 1986. His aviation career had begun almost a decade earlier when he began flying for an airline. By the early 1980s, he was working in charters and managed aircraft, but when hangar space became available at the Montreal International Airport, he and two partners saw an opportunity to start their own fixed-base operator. Skyservice expanded in 1989 to include air ambulance and business aircraft operations (later Skyservice Business Aviation Inc.). While under his leadership, the FBO, ambulance, and business services grew from 8 to over 500 employees.

In the mid 1990s Skyservice grew again, first by negotiating a joint venture with Imperial Oil and then with the creation of a leisure charter airline, Skyservice Airlines. Until their respective sales, Russell was principal shareholder of and either President or CEO and Chairman of Skyservice FBO Inc., Skyservice Business Aviation Inc., and Skyservice Airlines Inc. In 2011 Russell founded Sky Regional Airlines, under the Air Canada Express banner, which operated upwards of 125 flights per day until halting operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Widely respected by his peers and committed to supporting his community, he received the ATAC Lifetime Honoree Aware in 2005 and was awarded the CBAA Honorary Lifetime membership in 2009.

For his leadership and innovation in the Canadian airline industry, Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame is pleased to induct Russell Payson as a member for 2022.

Joseph Randell

President and Chief Executive Officer of Chorus Aviation Inc., Joseph Randell was born in Curling, Newfoundland in 1954. He has been devoted to Canadian aviation, and the regional airline market especially, for over three decades. In 1984, Randell pursued an MBA that examined the airline industry – work that led to the founding of Air Nova two years later. Recognizing that Canada’s vast geography was ideally suited to regional carriers, his company, which had previously relied on a fleet of turboprop aircraft, pioneered the use of regional jets.

Success with Air Nova led to its eventual purchase by Air Canada, after which he oversaw a series of regional carrier mergers. In 2002, having overcome significant regulatory challenges, Air Canada Jazz was launched. A successful re-organization stemming from Air Canada’s filing for bankruptcy protection soon followed, and, in 2006, Jazz was brought public. Renegotiation of its relationship with Air Canada has continued apace, as has the airline’s profitability. Chorus Aviation, Randell’s next venture, which acquired the regional operation Voyageur Airways in 2015, has become a global player in aircraft leasing.

A widely respected leader in Canadian aviation, Joseph Randell is a strong supporter of his alma mater, Dalhousie University, and his professional and philanthropic support for the aviation and broader community more generally has earned him well deserved awards of recognition Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame
2022 BELT OF ORION AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE - Brampton Flying Club

The Brampton Flying Club (BFC) got off the ground in 1946 with just one instructor, Bud Young, who trained students on a de Havilland Tiger Moth. Today, it is one of Canada’s busiest general aviation hubs. A not-for-profit corporation, the BFC owns and operates a certified airport, Brampton-Caledon Airport – the largest privately-owned airport in the country. It is home to a world-renowned flight school, the Brampton Flight Centre, that boasts a modern fleet of 24 aircraft, plus the original Tiger Moth (now fully restored), and two flight training devices operated as part of a comprehensive instruction program. Thousands of pilots have earned their wings at BFC, from recreational pilot permits to private and commercial licenses with multi IFR ratings.

Hundreds of students have also graduated from its Transport Canada approved Integrated Airline Transport Pilot Licence and Flight College programs and have landed successful careers with domestic and international airlines.

The BFC is home as well to maintenance and refuelling services, a pilot shop and restaurant, the Toronto Chapter of the Recreational Aircraft Association, the Great War Flying Museum, the 892 Snowy Owl Air Cadet Squadron, and many privately owned aircraft and hangars. Since its beginnings, the Club has promoted the growth of Canada’s aviation industry and has contributed to the local and broader economy. It remains an active citizen within the greater Caledon area through numerous initiatives such as the annual Airport Day fly-in and “Light Up the Runway” in support of the Bethell Hospice in Inglewood, Ontario.

Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame recognizes the exceptional nature of the Brampton Flying Club’s contributions to Canadian aviation and is pleased to induct the club into the Hall with the Belt of Orion Award for Excellence for 2022.