Early in 1920, the May brothers decided to expand their
operations and united with another First World War flying veteran,
George Gorman, to create May-Gorman Airplanes Ltd. The goal of
the company was to offer transportation into the north where the
wilderness and difficult conditions made other types of travel slow and
treacherous. The new company was the first to offer northern air
transportation.
The northern excursions began with Wop May’s flight to Grande
Prairie for the fair in late August 1920. This was a very risky
flight as there was still a significant distance of unmapped
wilderness between Edmonton and Grande Prairie where a downed
pilot could be lost. To assist with the flight, Wop May took
along Lieutenant Colonel G.W. McLeod, who was also one of the
directors of the company. McLeod was an experienced surveyor and
knew how to survive in the wilderness. The two took off from the
airfield near Prince Albert on 19 August and made it to
Whitecourt, where they stayed the night. The next day they made
it to Grande Prairie for the fair.
May continued to fly at fairs and do demonstrations for six
weeks in the area between Grande Prairie and Peace River until
cold weather set in. May headed south with Pete Derbyshire but
engine trouble near Whitecourt forced them down. After
attempts to find help proved unsuccessful, they returned to their aircraft and worked
on the engine. Using wire and tape they were able to get the
engine going and flew to Sangudo.
The experience showed everyone how dangerous northern flight
could be, and that many more precautions needed to be taken
before setting off on such a flight.
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