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Winnipeg Zone Contacts
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Business
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Residence
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Fax
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Cell
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E-Mail
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| Commander |
Chuck Wilson |
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| Deputy Commander & Treasurer |
Jerry Roehr |
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981-4239
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| Chief Pilot |
Bill Karras |
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| Asst Chief Pilot |
John Hall |
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| Chief Navigator |
Bill Hilash |
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| Chief Spotter |
Trevor Mueller |
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| Asst Chief Spotter |
Bill Evans |
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| Secretary |
Al Fraser |
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| Equipment Officer
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Alf Northam
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| Safety/Training Officer |
Jim Bell |
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786-4809
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| CASARA Base |
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338-2868
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338-2868
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For
additional contact information, please check our latest
newsletter. |
Winnipeg Zone 1
Executive Members' Biographies
Chuck Wilson - Zone
Commander
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I first became a
member of the CASARA Winnipeg Zone in 1992. Since the beginning, I have
believed that if you want to be an active participant of an
organization, you step forward and make it be known. That is my case
with CASARA.
From the start I
would "hang around", kind of like the kid at the airport fence. Through
the years, I have been given the opportunity to learn, run exercises,
take part in the Executive and now the chance to add my personal stamp
to the organization. My aviation interest was kindled during my younger
years and hasn't waned one iota since. I started flying in 1977, worked
through to my commercial licence and haven't looked back. Aviation is a
constant learning process, never ending challenges and no one knows it
all. There is always something new to learn and that is the motivator.
During the day, I
manage a diverse group of folks in a company undergoing constant change,
MTS Communications. In this case, the driver of the change is the
rapidly advancing technologies, which appear to change almost weekly. I
am responsible for the care, feeding and second level support of a
number of corporate and customer systems, which reside throughout
Manitoba. |
Jerry Roehr - Deputy Zone
Commander and Treasurer
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Jerry
Roehr joined the Civil Air and Rescue Association of Manitoba, Inc (CASARA)
seven months after it was organized in 1986. In 1987 he was elected
CASARA's treasurer for the Province of Manitoba and served in that
position until 2001. Since 1991 he has served as the Deputy Zone
Commander for the Winnipeg Zone and more recently is also the Zone
treasurer.
Jerry has over
3,000 flying hours mostly on his Cessna 182 and Lake Buccaneer
aircraft. He is qualified in every CASARA crew position, and has
participated or conducted well over 170 CASARA exercises and has
conducted or participated in over 70 air searches. Jerry has promoted
CASARA as a speaker at various functions outside the organization, and
continues to conduct or promote CASARA training activities.
Jerry is a past
board member of the Winnipeg Flying Club and the Winnipeg Airports
Authority. He is a member of the Canadian Owners and Pilots
Association, and the secretary of the St Andrews Airport Inc. He also
serves as president of C.Y.A. Ltd., a holding company for privately
owned aircraft hangars.
In his "regular"
life Jerry is the President of Honor Homes (1981) Ltd., a company that
was involved in construction and is still in real estate. He has served
as treasurer and president of the Canadian Home Builders Association and
is actively involved in the real estate management of properties owned
by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. |
Bill Karras - Chief Pilot
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Bill Karras
obtained his pilot's licence in 1988 and joined CASARA in 1991. For
many years, he flew principally as a navigator because "I enjoyed the
challenge. It's a difficult job to do well." In 2001, he began flying
with CASARA as a pilot and represented Winnipeg Zone 1 at the 2006
Western Canada Search and Rescue Exercise and competition (SAREX) in The
Pas, Manitoba.
From 1993 to 2005
Bill was active with Winnipeg Sport-Air, a local flying club that owned
a 1966 Beech Musketeer.
In his day job
Bill is the Winnipeg Location Manager for Sierra Systems Group Inc.,
providing management consulting, technology related solutions delivery,
and managed computer services. Sierra employs over 800 people in 14
locations in Canada and the U.S. |
Bill Hilash - Chief
Navigator
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In 2005
Jerry Roehr insisted that Bill and his wife Monique buy tickets to the
annual CASARA Wings Presentation Banquet. During the presentations and
speeches at the banquet Bill realized that CASARA could be a very
interesting way to further his aviation experience while providing an
important public service. He quickly qualified as a Spotter and then as
a Navigator.
Bill has
been lucky enough to have participated on several actual searches in the
relatively short time that he has been with CASARA. One ELT call-out,
flying with Jerry Roehr and Chuck Wilson, resulted in the location of an
aircraft crashed in a ditch. A trip on the Herc in which the crew found
a crashed floatplane
in northwestern Ontario is described as, "15 hours of adrenalin, 15
hours of being in an adventure movie. The crew on the Herc are
unbelievably good at what they do and they treat CASARA crew as full
members of their team."
Bill
spends most of his flying time in his Cessna 172 and enjoys cross
country trips with his wife, Monique, who is also a pilot. During the
day, Bill is kept away from the airport by his responsibilities as the
head of Palliser Furniture's worldwide logistics operations. |
Trevor Mueller - Chief
Spotter
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Ever since I was
a young lad aviation has always been in my heart.
Although I had completed ground school by the time I was 16,
I chose a university education over flying. The one way I found
to keep a foothold in the aviation world was through volunteering at
local air shows. It was here that I eventually teamed up with local
CASARA members who encouraged me to join in the summer of 1995.
Trained first as a
spotter, I remained in this role for almost
10 years while working as an educator in the Manitoba University system
before joining the executive as an assistant, then Chief
Spotter in 2005. Since then I have completed Navigator and Search
Co-ordinator training to help assist, plan and conduct training
exercises.
In this
organization we perform a vital role, we help save lives,
and we do this on voluntary but professional basis. You can
perform as active a role as you wish, and we encourage you to stay
current, qualified and fulfilled. If you would like to do more
just let us know. |
Bill Evans - Assistant
Chief Spotter
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My interest in
flying began in 1951 when I attended air cadet camp. Cadets were treated
to plane rides and on three of these I was allowed to take the control
of the aircraft for a short period. I obtained a private pilot licence
in 1960 but allowed it to lapse in 1961 for financial reasons, when I
went to graduate school. In 1963, I joined the staff of St Paul’s
College as a lecturer in Biology. In 1964, I took a similar position at
United College in Winnipeg. Two years later, I was off to graduate
school again, but this time to the University of Glasgow in Scotland. I
returned to Canada, in 1969, to the Biology Department at the University
of Winnipeg where I worked until I retired as a full professor in 1999.
At the university, I taught several courses in Zoology, carried out
research in Parasitology and delivered papers on my research in various
cities of Canada, the United States, and Europe. I served as Chairman of
the Biology Department for six years and, representing the University
administration, I worked on projects in Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Kenya,
and the Philippines.
Though I never did manage to take up flying again, my interest in it
remained, and, in 2005 when a fellow movie extra, namely David Latour,
told me about CASARA, I joined at my first opportunity.
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Al Fraser - Secretary
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I joined CASARA
in February 2002 after I retired from the active work force, and had the
time to devote to something that I had wanted to do for years. I have
been interested in aviation most of my life, and was involved in the air
cadet movement for about twenty years as an instructor, officer, and
commanding officer.
The day I took my
Phase One training I was able to get two flights in. Since then I have
been involved in as many different activities as possible, flying all
the different search patterns, survival training, overnight in the cold,
acting as a target on CASARA exercises and for 435 Squadron. I received
my Navigator wings in 2005.
I have been
fortunate to have flown a number of searches as a Spotter with 435
Squadron to such places as Lake Winnipeg, Moosonee, Iqualuit, Lake
Nipigon, Sault Ste. Marie, and as a Spotter for a RCMP search over
southern Manitoba. This can be very hard work, but also very gratifying
when the search is successful.
I feel that you
get out of an organization what you put into it, so I volunteer for as
many activities as time permits, and I currently hold the position of
Zone Secretary. |
Alf Northam - Equipment
Officer
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I came to CASARA
about six years ago, when we were in the old tower building. Since then
I have been Spotter and Navigator. Currently I am the Equipment Manager
of the material and things used by the Zone. Essentially it is “My
Stuff”, and I have occasionally let other people use it, provided they
return it.
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Jim Bell - Safety/Training Officer
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Jim joined CASARA
in 1996, and soon qualified as a navigator. He qualified as a CASARA
pilot in 2001. He became Chief Navigator in 1998, and has since served
as Assistant Chief Nav, Training Officer, Assistant Training Officer,
and Chief Spotter. He became Zone Commander in April 2005.
In real life, Jim is
an aircraft maintenance engineer at Air Canada, working on Airbus A320
aircraft. He spent many years in the Canadian Forces, most recently as
an aviation technician on de Havilland CT-142 Dash-8 aircraft.
Jim owns a
Challenger II
ultralight airplane. He also volunteers as the president of the local
chapter of the
Canadian Aviation Historical
Society.
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