Sky Riders: An Illustrated History of Aviation in Alberta, 1906-1945

A.A. den Otter is a professor of history at the Memorial University of
Newfoundland and co-author of Lethbridge: A Centennial History.

Beginning in 1909, when Reginald Hunt managed to keep his homemade
aircraft aloft for more than half an hour, Alberta’s aviation history
has followed a conventional pattern. Over the next decade, several
adventurers who followed in the Edmonton carpenter’s wake accomplished
little more than shaky hopscotches across the prairies. For the most
part, Albertans relied on outside stunt flyers to introduce them to the
marvels of the airplane. Aviation remained experimental and daring, a
vehicle for entertainment and thrills.

At the end of the 1920s, a program established by the Department of
National Defence to help local clubs purchase aircraft and train pilots
served as an important stimulus for aviation in Alberta. Edmonton,
Calgary, and subsequently Red Deer established successful flying clubs
with large memberships. The airplane quickly gained legitimacy as an
effective means of transportation, and by World War II, the province was
fully immersed in avionics.

Patricia Myers’s successful blending of solid academic research and
popular presentation will appeal to all those interested in the history
of flight.