And I Shall Fly

Ross Willmot is Executive Director of the Ontario Association for
Continuing Education.

Canadian aviation history buffs particularly will find this account interesting and worthwhile. From the late ‘20s, when “Lewie” Leigh started prairie barnstorming, to his retirement in 1957 as Group Captain commanding RCAF Station, Toronto, this airman tells about his determination to master all aspects of his trade. Typically, he neglects to reveal to authorities recurring dizziness and blackouts, fearing medical grounding. He attempts to start a flying operation on the East Coast and helps pioneer Mackenzie Valley routes to the Canadian Arctic. He becomes Canada’s first qualified instrument pilot and, as the first pilot hired by Trans-Canada Air Lines in 1937, trains others in this art. During World War II he has a key role in the establishment of the RCAF’s overseas airmail service. After the war, with the RCAF’s Transport Command, he is involved with the Korean airlift, Arctic re-supply flights, and the acquisition of Comet jet transports.

With an airman’s understatement, Leigh glosses over many adventures and misadventures throughout his flying career. Usually these exploits end with drinking sprees in the company of other notable fliers and air engineers of the period. (By means of the name index, you can locate them in the text.)

Z. Lewis Leigh was rightfully awarded the McKee Trans-Canada Trophy, the top civil aviation award in Canada, was admitted to Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame, and received many other honors. He also deserves credit for making public his memoirs, which give a new appreciation of the making of many other airmen who did so much to open up Canada.