Wings of a Hero: Canadian Pioneer Flying Ace Wilfrid Wop May

Patricia A. Myers is a historian with the Historic Sites and Archives
Service, Alberta Community Development, and the author of Sky Riders: An
Illustrated History of Aviation in Alberta, 1906–1945.

This short, well-illustrated book is an attempt by the May family to
make the story of Wilfrid Reid “Wop” May more widely known. The
author is related to the air ace, and May’s son was heavily involved
in the creation of the book.

May is one of Canada’s great aviation legends. He fought in World War
I (encountering the Red Baron) and then barnstormed throughout Alberta.
He was one of Canada’s best-known bush pilots, a dedicated pioneer of
several aviation companies, mail routes, and treacherous northern
flying. During World War II, May ran a training school in Edmonton for
the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and developed and
implemented search-and-rescue procedures for northern flying. His death
in 1952 (he was only 56 at the time) was a great loss to Canada’s
flying community.

This is the kind of biography that never strays far from hero worship.
May’s feats are all here: the race to northern Alberta with diphtheria
toxin, the hunt for the Mad Trapper, the arduous first mail flight to
Aklavik. The absence of documentation makes it difficult for the reader
to distinguish fact from family lore. In addition, there is little
contextual information, which makes it difficult to place May
convincingly in the realm of aviation history.

For young readers, though, Wings of a Hero should prove to be an
exciting story of a Canadian whose daring exploits deserve to be widely
known and appreciated.