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.

Base Aérea nº6 is headquartered in the municipality of Montijo, next to the Tagus River and close to the city of Lisbon. Dedicated to the duties of air logistics, dignitaries, maritime surveillance, and search and rescue, it is one of the main bases of the Portuguese Air Force and is home to Squadrons 501, 502, 504 and 751, flying C-130H, C-295M, Falcon 50 and EH-101 aircraft and helicopter types. Another resident of Montijo is the Portuguese Navy with the Lynx Mk95, which are normally fulfill their mission aboard the Navy's frigates. Since its creation in the 1950s, Montijo Air Base has focused its mission on the use of air and naval assets, as a spearhead for maritime operations and is fundamental to support military bases and civil defenses in the remote archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira.

The history of the Esquadra 751

To better understand the history of the Esquadra 751, we spoke to Colonel Diniz who has been in the Portuguese Air Force for about 33 years and has been the Commander at Montijo Air Base for about two years, but he has been assigned to Montijo Air Base (with other tasks in his career) for about 13 years. The origin of the squadron takes you back to the wars in Africa that Portugal took part in between 1961 and 1974. At the end of the ‘60s there was a need for a large support helicopter for troop transport, large assault and infantry. That is why the Portuguese Air Force decided to buy twelve Puma helicopters. The Portuguese Air Force, or Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP) used these in the war from 1969 until 1974. When the war ended there was a political revolution in Portugal, and the nation became a fully fledged democracy again. All their military units and assets from Africa were moved back to the mainland. In 1978, there was a whole reconfiguration of the Air Force.

The Puma helicopters were sent to the Esquadra 751 and 752 (Esq751/752) and their main mission was search and rescue. They were also used for tactical troop transport.

Colonel Diniz continued to tell us the story of how they started the process of selecting candidates to replace the Puma Helicopters. Diniz recalls it was a very long process because it had several setbacks. The first example was delivered in February 2005. These were exciting times for the squadron; they received their first Merlin, then a new example following every few months until they received all twelve they had ordered.

In 2005, the squadron began transitioning to the new helicopters. Colonel Dinez continued that there were two big reasons to replace the Puma helicopters with the EH101 Merlin helicopters. The first reason is that the Pumas were getting old. They were originally built in 1969-1970, with the most recent ones being from 1970. They had been largely modified over the course of years; in 1978 and 1979 external fuel tanks were added, and in 1991 and 1993 the Pumas were equipped with more powerful engines, but they still had the original transmissions. They were very powerful, but due to the original transmissions and rotor blades, their power could not be fully utilized. As the helicopters were quite old, so too were many of their parts, and it became expensive to try to fix everything that would inevitably need to be fixed. Most other countries used newer, more capable helicopters, while Portugal had been left behind, using the Pumas. So, the need was for a more powerful machine, with better overall performance, and that was the main reason to get the Merlin helicopter. The Portuguese Air Force tried to obtain a helicopter that could cover the massive search and rescue area it had been assigned. This is about 5.5 million square km of the Atlantic. The Merlin can technically only go out as far as 400 miles and back (usually only 360), but it was as good as they could get. To cover the area they were assigned, they needed a helicopter that could go out 1200 miles, but nothing was available. Some of the other competitors were the Super Puma, Sikorski S92 and at one point the Blackhawk also joined the competition, but none of these could achieve the same range as the Merlin.

Different Variants

The helicopters were acquired in three variants, the Mk514, the Mk515, and the Mk516 . The first variant is mainly used for SAR missions; there are about six of these. The second variant comes with additional equipment and is used for fishery control and surveillance. There are two of these. The last four helicopters, Mk516s, are used for tactical missions.

Reliability

We asked Colonel Dinez if he was satisfied with the Merlin helicopter. He answered that the Merlin is a fantastic machine. The Merlin helicopter is well-engineered in that, if something goes wrong, it most likely will still continue flying. It is great at dealing with malfunctions; you will need a lot to fail before the helicopter will go down. However, mechanically and on a more practical level, the commander’s impression is that the Merlin is not a very reliable machine. They have not yet lost a helicopter due to technical failure, but it does require a lot of maintenance hours to keep it running smoothly. The Canadians and the Danish also have many issues with it, though the British and the Italians are able to come up with solutions to many of the problems, because they are very close to the manufacturing and engineering side. There is a very long repair time wait for both repairable, and new components.

Operations

Three crews with their respective helicopters are on alert for 24 hours, and have reaction times of 30 minutes during the day and usually 45 minutes at night. If an aircraft declares an in-flight emergency, the alert can be reduced to 15, 10 or 5 minutes. The Lisbon Rescue Coordination Center, linked to the Air Force Command, is the body responsible for activating an SAR mission from Montijo. The RCC contacts the Air Base Operations section and reports the situation, which could range from a coastal cliff rescue to a complex long-range Search and Rescue mission. A start time of thirty minutes is required for a team meeting and mission planning. If the objective is at a great distance, the determined warning time will have to be slightly extended due to the risk of reconfiguration and/or refueling.

The call comes from the RCC (Rescue Coordination Center) which will activate the procedure and coordination. When Esq751 receives the call, first thing needed is the basic information of the mission, where is it, what is it and factors that can affect the mission.

Every time a distress call is declared at a distance greater than 120 miles from the base, a C-295M aircraft of Squadron 502 is activated simultaneously. This information and exact coordinates are sent to the helicopter, as well as direction, wind speed at various altitude levels and weather conditions in the rescue area, aiding in the EH-101's mission planning, reducing fuel consumption and increasing aircraft efficiency, while decreasing the time to arrival and stay in the operations area. If necessary, the plane can also launch lifeboats to help the castaways while awaiting the arrival of rescue.

Asking about the fixed wing aircraft for the SAR missions, he continued, “After a certain distance from our home base or shoreline we always request SAR support from fixed wing aircraft. This is the C295M from the 502 Squadron, and it is very handy in many ways. The C295M has more endurance and more speed than the Merlin, so they will reach the target sooner. The C295Ms will find the target, they will lock the target for us (the vessel or the person to be recovered). They also relay communications for us, because when we travel this distance, we lose communication with the ATC.”

In the future, Portuguese Air Force KC-390s will be used in search missions, reducing the time of arrival to the operations area by half. When employed, the fixed-wing aircraft is the last to leave the site, and in the event of an accident with the rescue aircraft, it is up to the aircraft to plot the position and keep flying in a circle until another rescue helicopter arrives.

Merlin pilot

FHA has also spoken with Major Daniel Silva, a 36-year-old Pilot who joined the Portuguese Air Force in 2003 and started to fly the Merlin in 2010. To become part of 751 Squadron, you have to accumulate a minimum of about 100 flight hours on a helicopter.

For SAR there is a core crew. There is a captain, co-pilot, system operator (winch operator), rescue swimmer and the flight nurse. Those five people are the core of the rescue operation, but sometimes the crew can add extra people, such as a medical team.

Regarding the challenges for a pilot on a nighttime rescue mission, Major Silva mentioned that nighttime rescue is not easy at all. “Flying at night comes with a lot of rules, you are flying low, you fly in bad weather conditions most of the time and a vessel under you that is moving around. It needs a lot of training, focus, and a lot of trust. So, the need is always to work as a team to be able to perform these missions. Besides this, depending on the size of the vessel, some of them are visible, then you get your references, and you can perform. There were a lot of missions where it wasn’t the case, and the vessel was difficult to find because it was so tiny. In those cases it takes time, and it can feel like a year to bring the Merlin into the right position. In those times the pilot needs to trust the winch operator and rescue swimmer (he’s on the cable and must trust the winch operator). So, trust is the keyword in SAR operations, and it needs to become a part of you as Esq 751 pilot.

Major Silva recalled a particular mission that took place when he was a young pilot with the squadron. When asked to take the crew duty for only two or three hours, he complied. Then, he had to respond to an emergency. It was a really terrible day, winds gusting to 50 kts and heavy showers. A lone sailor was 110 nm off shore and his vessel was sinking rapidly. He was in the water near a rescue dinghy. The sailor, a 78 year old man, died just as the rescue swimmer had been lowered into the water. While flying the body to Porto, there were several problems with electrical generators, presumably caused by the severe rain. “You remember more the ones you’ve lost that the ones you have saved,” said Major Silva.