User:Todowd/Sir John Carling (aircraft)

Sir John Carling

The Sir John Carling was a Stinson SM-1 Detroiter monoplane, purchased by Carling Breweries of Canada in 1927 for a promotional flight from London, Ontario to London, England, the first ever flight between those two places. A competition was held to select two Canadian pilots for the flight and two Irish pilots who had migrated to Canada, Captain Terrence Bernard ("Terry") Tully and Flight Officer James Victor ("Jimmy") Medcalf, were ultimately selected. After several delays, the aircraft departed Harbour Grace airfield, Newfoundland on 7 September 1927, intending to fly to London, England. The aircraft and its crew disappeared without trace over the North Atlantic.

The Competition
The flight originated with Carling Breweries' offer of a prize of CAN$25,000 for the first Canadian or British pilot to fly from London, Ontario (where the company was based) to London, England. After it emerged that there were no qualified applicants who could provide an aircraft suitable for the flight, the company decided to purchase a Stinson SM-1 Detroiter monoplane and to select a pilot or pilots to fly it from one city to the other.

Captain Terrence Bernard Tully, AFC
Terrence Bernard Tully was born in Carracastle, Co Mayo. Ireland on 18 December 1891. He was a relative of Jasper Tully, MP for South Leitrim from 1892 to 1906.

At the outbreak of World War I, Tully enlisted as a trooper in the London Yeomanry. He was subsequently enrolled in the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps in which he reached the rank of corporal. Tully saw action in the Gallipoli Campaign and was wounded at Suvla Bay.

In August 1916 he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps with the rank of Temporary Second Lieutenant. He was made a Flying Officer in April 1917 and promoted to Temporary Lieutenant in September of the same year. Tully was mentioned in despatches, was presented to King George V at Buckingham Palace) and was awarded the Air Force Cross in June 1918. He became an Acting Captain (while so employed) in August 1918. He was placed on the unemployed list in May 1919 but was granted a short service commission in November 1921. In June 1922, Tully was granted the rank of Captain upon resigning his short service commission. From April 1923 later held a commission with the rank of Flying Officer in the Royal Air Force Reserve,  which he relinquished on completion of his service in April 1926.

Having being employed by the Avro Aircraft Company for a number of years after the end of the war, Tully migrated to Canada. At the time of the flight of the Sir John Carling he was Superintendent and Chief Instructor of Ontario Provincial Air Service, as well as the chief pilot of the Northern Ontario Air Patrol.

He married Anne Mary O'Malley in 1915 in London.

Lieutenant James Victor Medcalf
James Victor Medcalf was born in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, Ireland on 29 May 1899. He served in the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I and, after its establishment in 1918, in the Royal Air Force.

Memorials
Following the disappearance of the two aviators, Carling Breweries decided to divide the prize money of CAN$25,000 between trust funds for the benefit of each family.

The Ontario Surveyor General named two lakes after them—Tully Lake (50.47°N, -91.63°W) and Medcalf Lake (50.95°N, -90.53°W). This was part of a naming programme which honoured aviators who had perished in World War I or in the late 1920s, the latter mainly in attempting oceanic flights.

The main lake so named is St Raphael Lake (50.64°N, -91.08°W) in northwestern Ontario, named for the aircraft St Raphael; Tully Lake is approximately 50km to the southwest of St Raphael Lakeand Medcalf Lake is approximately 50km to the northeast of it.