The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Pilot Kevin Choy's search and rescue team did something no other Manitoba team has done: they won the Western Canada SAREX 2005 competition. What's even more impressive is they did it in the mountains in southeast B.C. The only person with flying experience in the mountains was Choy, but never in B.C. "I was very proud of my team," says Choy, via phone interview in Brandon. Larrie Happy, deputy director for Search and Rescue Manitoba, said the main goal of the challenge is to bring members together to share in expertise and gain knowledge from others. "It builds on everyones abilities and builds camaraderie,"says Happy. "It's a great thing." Choy's crew was made up of Ken Fox, Gord Foote and Flin Flon resident, Liz Rodnisky. Taking place in Nelson, the team defeated another Manitoba crew along with teams from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. The Manitoba team's flight took them from Nelson over to Castlegar, Trail, Salmo and back to Nelson. "We found it (the experience) very exciting because there was a lot of activity," explained Choy. "The weather created challenges with the wind. It was all exciting." One of the activities performed was locating targets in the forest. Letters were spray-painted on a material measuring three metres in diameter. The symbols were an 'F', which stood for food and 'LL' for all is well. Choy said Rodnisky, who was a left spotter, did very well. It was the first time the two flew together and it worked well. "I joked with her that I'm pretty strict," he says with a laugh. "She said that's okay. I'm proud of Liz. She was used to bush, but not mountains." "He was strict, but in a good way Ð you just knew what he was talking about," says Rodnisky. She admitted it was difficult to locate the targets, but the pilots and navigators were so good it wasn't hard to find. "It was amazing, especially flying in the mountains," she says. "I was very impressed with the whole crew, they were great. Near the end, the team performed an Emergency Locating Transmitter (EMT). This is a device that aircrafts and ships carry and sends a signal to a satellite if a crash occurs. The team's performance with that was excellent. Choy's direction and leadership paid off in leading a Manitoba team to its first victory in this competition, which first began in 1999 and takes place every year. "Our team won because we worked as a team, we were disciplined and we stayed focussed," says Choy. When it comes to working with people he said "it has a lot to do with personality and gelling together." To him, the most beneficial part is sharing knowledge with other crews. The event was organized by CASARA, which stands for Civil Air Search and Rescue Association and the hosting is shared between B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northwest Territories. Manitoba is scheduled to host in 2006.
