William Sydney May

William Sidney May was born in Madawaska, Ontario, on December 24, 1909. He was educated in Melville, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he worked as an apprentice for Canadian National Railways. In 1928 he had his first airplane ride in an Avro Avian and was determined to learn to fly. In 1930 he began flight training at the Northwest Aero Marine and earned his Commercial Pilot's Licence that year. He was hired by that company, and in 1933 attended the Instructor's course given by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) at Camp Borden, Ontario. On his return to Winnipeg, he became Manager and Instructor for Northwest Aero Marine until it was taken over by Wings Limited of Winnipeg.

After several years of instructing, barnstorming and charter flying, in 1935 he went to England and was hired as a pilot by Imperial Airways Limited. In 1936 he was assigned as First Officer aboard the airline's new Short Brothers flying boats and two years later received his own command. In this, the largest aircraft of its type in world service, he flew established routes from England to Palestine, the Persian Gulf, South Africa, Singapore, and Karachi. On the eastern route he was called upon to land on the Sea of Galilee, then fly across five hundred miles of desert. His southward route carried him up the Nile River to Mozambique, and to Durban in South Africa.

British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) absorbed Imperial Airways in 1939 and May was placed in charge of pilot training for the new company. During this period he had flown all of the company's routes as Captain-in-Command and had earned Licences for Navigation, Engineering and Wireless Operation.

In 1940, when Britain was at war with Germany, many of the routes usually used to the East were cut off, and May was asked to find an alternate route. He flew the first flying boat from Lisbon, Portugal, down the west coast of Africa to Nigeria and into the Belgian Congo to connect with an established overland route.

The following year, May was assigned to the Return Service Ferry Command at Montreal, Quebec, an organization operated by BOAC personnel, and administered by the Royal Air Force (RAF). His job was to pilot high priority passengers and cargo to Britain across the North Atlantic Ocean, and return with pilots who had previously ferried operational aircraft to the United Kingdom. By the end of World War II he had completed 280 flights across the Atlantic in modified B-24 Liberator bombers. His foresight and planning resulted in the selection of Reykjavik, Iceland, as a refuelling point for westbound flights, which was required because of strong headwinds encountered during most of the year. He then commanded the first Liberator flight to that airport.

During the latter stages of the war, he captained a Consolidated Liberator over the 2,200 mile (3,540 km) route from Newfoundland to Great Britain in six hours and 20 minutes, a speed record that lasted until the introduction of jet aircraft on that route. In 1949 he completed flight training on the Stratocruiser at Boeing Commercial Airplane Company in Seattle, Washington. He then took delivery of BOAC's first Stratocruiser and ferried it to England, where he trained 35 crews on the aircraft as well as flying the line himself.

A desire to return to Canada along with the possibility of taking early retirement from BOAC prompted May to retire in 1951. He returned to Calgary, Alberta, and accepted an invitation from W.R. “Wop” May (no relation), Manager of Canadian Pacific Airlines new repair depot ‘C.P.A. (Repairs) Ltd.’ to manage the test flight section. In this role he test flew a number of different aircraft types following repairs. The following year he accepted a position with Queen Charlotte Airways to establish new routes along the coast of British Columbia.

With the amalgamation of Queen Charlotte Airways and several other small airways, Pacific Western Airlines (PWA) was formed under the management of Russ Baker. May's vast experience was put to good use with PWA, flying many types of aircraft. In early 1969 May was qualified as Captain on the Boeing 737. He retired from active flying shortly thereafter, with 41 years of experience and 29,000 flying hours. He remained with PWA to take charge of their flight simulator training program at Vancouver, British Columbia. He retired permanently in 1975, and died in Vancouver on July 29, 1981.

In 1966 Bill May was recognized for his pioneering of the North Atlantic route, his high level of qualifications, and his exceptional record, when he was awarded the Master Air Pilot Certificate by the British Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators. The presentation was made by the Grand Master of the Guild, Prince Phillip. In 1980 he was made an Honorary Member of the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association (CALPA).

William Sidney May was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1979 at a ceremony held in Edmonton, Alberta.