What’s New – The Wop May Chronicles

Keep an eye on this spot for information about what’s new with wopmay.com!

September 18, 2020 – Now you can own a model of Wop May’s Sopwith Camel!

https://www.flyingmule.com/products/CG-AA38110
September 11, 2020 – “The story of a legendary Canadian aviator will soon be brought to life by local filmmakers with the help of an Edmonton museum.”
https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/legendary-wilfred-wop-may-focus-of-new-documentary-1.5101532
https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2033745
June 18, 2012 – “The Wopmay orogen is a Paleoproterozoic orogenic belt in northern Canada which formed during the collision between the Hottah terrane (north of the Hottah Lake), a continental magmatic arc, and the Archean Slave Craton at about 1.88 Ga (billion years). ” (from wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wopmay_orogen
July 15, 2017 – the Fort Vermilion (Alberta) Airport was re-named the “Wop May Memorial Airport” at a ceremony in the community.
July 1, 2017 – The Fort McMurray Heritage Village was re-opened after four years of renovations following the disastrous flood of the Saline Creek which destroyed the village in 2013. In the village you will find, among other wonderfully restored houses, the family home of Wop & Vi May (1929-1935) and where I spent my first few months. The house has been lovingly restored thanks to the financial support from the Fort McMurray Aviation Authority.
June 24th, 2017 – the 90th Anniversary of Blatchford Field was celebrated with a ceremony recognizing the establishment of the airport in 1927 thanks to the efforts of “Wop” May and Mayor Ken Blatchford. Speakers at the ceremony were Denny May (son of Wop May) and Patricia Barford (Granddaughter of Ken Blatchford). The photo below shows Denny & Patricia posing with the Cirrus Moth on display at the Alberta Aviation Museum.
June 24, 2017 – visitors to the Alberta Aviation Museum this day delighted in the new life-sized dioramas featuring real aircraft and great backdrops. They also had the opportunity to see two new display windows with many artifacts. One window features Blatchford Field and all the activities, the other window is the “Wop” May window with a large backdrop of his accomplishments and in front are many artifacts donated by the May family over the years. The photo below shows Denny May standing in front of the window.

This is the backdrop for the Wop May display window
April 3, 2016 – the Edmonton stamp Club issued two stamps for the 2016 Spring National Stamp Show. One showing the Noorduyn “Norseman” bush plane that on a pedestal outside the Alberta Aviation Museum win Edmonton. The second stamp shows “Wop May standing beside his Curtiss JN4D “Jenny” in 1919. Two first day covers were issued and a few are still available – check out the website of the Edmonton Stamp Club at: http://www.edmontonstampclub.com/ – the set of covers cost $6.00 + postage.
April 2016 – There are two artifacts on display in the Observation area at the Fort McMurray (Alberta) Airport – a wooden monkey that “Wop” always hung in the window of his Bellanca “Pacemaker”, and his rifle case.
April 2016 – In Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame at Wetaskiwin Alberta you’ll find a new exhibit relating to “Wop” May – a diorama made by his son Denny May – it includes two aircraft flown by”Wop” May – a Junkers W-34 (CF-ARI) and a Bellanca CH-300 “Pacemaker” (CF-AKI). The Junkers is sitting in the water along side the dock at the Fort McMurray seaplane base that used to be at the snye of the Clearwater River. The Pacemaker also sits in the water. Both aircraft are in the Canadian Airways Colours as you can see in this photo.
August 28, 2011 – Denny May has published a new book entitled “More Stories About Wop May” – a 100-page piece that features many never before published photos. This is a ‘must have’ book for any fan of Wop May.
November 14 , 2009 – Added a new article by John Chalmers about the 1919 Manhunt for the Mad Trapper. As well, a page celebrating the “Century of Flight in Canada” is now available.
February 23, 2008 – We’ve updated the information on this site with some interesting new stuff!
August 11 , 2007 – A new catalogue of Wop May related materials is available! Download the PDF and see!
March 14, 2006 – The 1979 Mercy Flight Re-enactment page is updated. The pictures all have a better aspect ratio. OB
June 15 , 2005 – New home for wopmay.com! Thanks to the kind folks at the Edmonton Public Library, wopmay.com will be hosted for a long time to come in there web. The site re-design is intended to simplify the user interface and allow Wop’s fans to find information easily and quickly. We are focusing on the content to make this resource a rich and valuable reference for remembering the life and times of Wop May. -OB
October 4, 2004 – NASA names Mars Rock after Wop May! The mars unmanned explorer “Opportunity” photographed a rock that the NASA scientists named “Wopmay.” -OB
May 3, 2004 – “Wop” May was named as one of Edmonton’s “Edmontonians of the Century” by the Edmonton 2004 Celebration Committee at a press conference at Edmonton City Hall. The program celebrates Edmontonians, past and present, who have made significant contributions to Edmonton’s development as a community over the past 100 years. The committee had a tough time determining the 100 as close to 1,000 nominations were received by the committee. The 100 were honoured at a special ceremony in Edmonton on October 6th and a book will be produced to tell their stories.
January 2, 2004 – 75 years after the 1929 Mercy Flight it was re-enacted again (as it was in 1979). Bob Horner & Denny May – sons of the original pilots along with their wives – Gloria Horner & Margaret May took part in this great celebration. The event was the first of many events held in Edmonton in 2004 (Edmonton celebrated it’s 100 years as a city). The project was organized by the Western Chapter of the Aerophilatelic Society and supported by many local businesses. We traveled to McLennan, Peace River and Fort Vermilion – the original stops on the 1929 flight. Ceremonies were held in each community. Travel was courtesy of the R.C.M.P. in their Pilatus PC-12 piloted by S/Sgt. Jerry Klammer. Canada post was also involved and produced a series of special postal cancels that were used on the commemorative covers. A few of the 300 cover sets (2 covers) are available – the set of two, signed by Bob Horner & Denny May & Jerry Klammer – contact us – price $21.00 including postage. Also on the flight were M.L.A. Gary Friedel, Canada Post was represented by Teresa Williams and the Edmonton Journal sent along reporter Nick Lees. Weather was much the same as it was in 1929 – when we arrived in Fort Vermilion on the morning of January 3rd it was -47°
December 2003 – Author Sheila Reid was asked by Vanwell Publishing to re-write the book “Wings of a Hero” for teenagers – “Conquer the Sky” was published in 2004. This book has been revised and can be found at the Alberta Aviation Museum, or directly from Denny May.
November 15, 2004 – The Jasper Gates Foundation in West Edmonton commissioned a mural for Wop May – painted by mural artist Dave Carty, it measures 16′ x 9′ and is mounted on the West side of the Alberta Treasury Branch building on the NE corner of 156th St & Stony Plain Road.
November 2004 – Author Alan Bennett (“The Red Baron’s Last Flight”) is working with co-authors Denny May & Margaret Brown Harmon on the biography of A. Roy Brown – “Captain A. Roy Brown” was published in 2011. It’s a 2 volume set published as a trade journal by Bricktower Press in the U.S.A.
January 2003 – on September 6, 2002 – A recording session was held with Songwriter/Singer John Spearn & sound recorder Ian Martin of Edmonton to record an introduction for his new CD, and the song “Roy Brown and Wop May & Roy Brown”. The CD “Canada Songs” was released this month.
September 3, 2002 – Evan Haddingham, Senior Science Editor for the PBS Series NOVA came to Edmonton from Boston to record an interview with Denny for an upcoming film on the Red Baron. The show “Who Killed The Red Baron?” was aired in the fall of 2003 and is available from WGBH Boston Video: 1-800-949-8670 or online at http://www.shop.wgbh.org
August 7, 2002 – We had a two hour interview with Lynda Goyette for the Edmonton History project which has been established to celebrate the 100th anniversary fo the City of Edmonton. The project will produce a web-site, historical archives and 2 books. Wop May moved, with his family, to Edmonton in 1902, so we do have stories to tell.
July 24-26, 2002 – Filming by Termite Art Productions (James Younger, J.V. Martin & crew) from California took place in Ontario (filming was also done in Australia, France and New York, USA) for a documentary on the Discovery Channel “Unsolved History” series – a shortened version (thanks to commercial breaks) the film entitled “The Death of the Red Baron” was shown in the USA on December 18th and early in 2003 in Canada. I do have some reservations about the conclusions reached in the film.
April 13, 2002 – this web site has had a face lift! Owen and his class of DevStudios e-media & design students were grateful to Denny to have the opportunity to use Wop as a case study for learning a team-based approach for website development.
February 28, 2000 – Wop was featured on Canadian History Television’s “The Canadians” series narrated by Patrick Watson. The hour long documentary entitled “Distant Skies – the Wop May Story” may be ordered – check out the Videos section under resources in this web site.
October 25, 1997 – the biography of Wop May, “Wings of a Hero” was launched at the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton, with author Sheila Reid and Denny available to autograph copies of the book. The book which was out of print has been republished by Denny May and is available from him, or at the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton.