Headingley Community Foundation - Headingley

A recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, John Davidson has been immersed in Canadian Aviation for 50 years. He has served as National President for 15 years, Manitoba President and member of the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association for 33 years. As a Mooney owner he has been a member of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association for 45 years and has served as the Manitoba Nunavut Director for 11 years. A 20-year member of the Experimental Aircraft Association he has also belonged to the Canadian Aviation Historical Society for 50 years. A continuous board member of the Western Canada Aviation Museum (now the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada) for 49 years, he served as President when HRH Queen Elizabeth opened their new facility in 1984. Currently First Vice President and a Building Committee member, he is overseeing construction of the new $46 million RAMWC facility to be opened in 2022. He is also the Membership Chair for the Royal Military Institute of Manitoba and is a Board Member and Past Treasurer of Jim’s Vintage Garages, Inc here in Headingley. Raised in a First Nations community, he graduated from the University of Manitoba with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and spent his professional career managing the development of military and civil airports, and air navigation projects across Canada. These included arctic airports as far north as Eureka, accumulating first-hand knowledge of Cold War operations across the north, as well as the growth of arctic airlines and off-strip operations. He and Elaine have been married for 30 years, have 2 adult kids and 1 grandchild; they moved to Headingley in 1993.