Great Canadian Flyers: Fred McCall Pt. 2

Upon his return to civilian life, Fred took advantage of his skills as a pilot to explore western Canada as a Barnstormer for several years. He performed stunts at fairs and exhibitions across the prairies, thrilling crowds with his amazing flying machine, still a rarity in those early days of aviation. On July 5, 1919 he had one of the most legendary landings in aviation history.


Notorious for his wartime exploits and his daring as a Barnstormer, Fred was a regular at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede. On this fateful day, he strapped the Exhibition Manager's young sons into the front seat of his open cockpit Curtiss Jenny and took of for a thrill that would win Fred worldwide renown.  While flying high above the crowds, the Jenny's engine suddenly quit (it was discovered later that one of the boys had accidentally closed the throttle) and the plane began to drop. A car race in the stampede infield precluded an emergency landing there, in what appeared to be the only open area.


Relying on his amazing skills, Fred spotted the only open area on the Exhibition grounds. Aiming his craft with precision, McCall stalled the Jenny and dropped it squarely on top of the carousel. The flagpole pierced the fabric floor and pierced the seat between the two boys.  Remarkably, no one in the airplane or on the ground was injured.


Once Fred, the boys, and the aircraft were safely on the ground crowds of spectators crowded in on a quest for souvenirs. People began ripping pieces of fabric off the wrecked plane as a memento of the occasion. The clever stampede manager quickly put up an awning over the Jenny and charged people 25 cents to take a piece of the plane away. He split the proceeds with McCall and suggested he do the same thing at an upcoming fair in Edmonton. Fred took him up on the offer and, by summer's end, he was able to finance the purchase of a new airplane.

Next Installment: More of Freddie's peace time adventures. Dynamite and Nitroglycerine!

Great Canadian Flyers: Fred McCall Pt. 1

Fred McCall was born on December 4th, 1896 in Vernon, BC. His family moved to Calgary, Alberta in 1906. In February 1916, he joined the 175^th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and attained the rank of Sergeant. Tired of slogging about in the muck and mire of the trenches, in March of 1917, Fred transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and in December of that year he began flying bulky and slow R.E.7 and R.E.8 observation aircraft for Number XIII squadron, snooping on enemy activities.

Even though the R.E. 8 aircraft was not designed for combat, in January of 1918 Fred found himself in a battle for his life in the sky versus a German Albatros D.V. and scored his first victory. He shot down two more German aircraft in short order and earned the Military Cross for his actions. Only two weeks later he shot down another enemy aircraft and was awarded a bar on his Military Cross (equal to a second medal). Shortly thereafter, Fred was transferred to 41 Squadron and given the nimble S.E. 5a aircraft to fly. In May of 1918 he scored another four victories and earned the DFC and a promotion to the rank of Captain.

Between June 27-30, 1918 Fred shot down 11 enemy aircraft and was awarded the DSO for this impressive feat. On August 17^th, he shot down an additional three aircraft in one of the most lopsided aerial battles of WWI.

McCall and his wingman William Claxton were out on patrol and suddenly found themselves attacked by a squadron of forty German aircraft.  Plunging into the fray, whirling and diving, guns blasting at anything that crossed his sights, Fred was able to return to base not only unscathed but with three more notches in his belt. Claxton however was shot down and held as a prisoner until the end of the war.  

Shortly after this battle Fred took ill and was sent back to Canada to recover. As he was preparing to return to the fight, news of the Armistice was announced and the fighting days of Cpt. Freddie McCall came to an end with 37 victories in only seven months, ranking him fifth among allied pilots.

Coming soon: McCall proves his mettle as a barnstormer and flying businessman.

My First Blog Post

Not much exciting to share yet, but I'm sure there will be very soon.  I am going to post lots of random thoughts, profound insights, rants and general tomfoolery. I am an information junkie so I will probably be waxing poetic about lots of random things. Mostly though this will probably be a commentary about my life, my passions, and my desire to be heard by an anonymous audience.