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Canadian Aviation Hall Fame Inductee Passing
Posted by Brian on Thu Sep 11, 2003 11:07:08 AM
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Jack Reilly, an aviation icon
Kerry Taylor Staff Writer (Wetaskiwin Times)
The second half of the only couple ever to be inducted into Canada?s Aviation Hall of Fame died, Sept. 2. John Hardisty (Jack) Reilly was 82.
Reilly and his late wife Molly were inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974, for their outstanding contributions toward the advancement of aviation.
Reilly began flying in 1938. His career began with the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940, quickly becoming a flying instructor in Eastern Canada, before piloting Canso and Catalina flying boat patrols off Canada?s west coast and Alaska.
In a last ditch effort to fly overseas during the Second World War, he was posted with and eventually captained Coastal Command Sunderland flying boats on anti-submarine patrols from bases in northern Scotland and Ireland.
Before retiring from military service in 1946, Reilly, then a Flight Lieutenant, had earned the most senior military pilot?s license available.
His broad range of skills allowed Reilly to continue a varied aviation career in the private sector, as an instructor and chief pilot for numerous companies. It was his pioneering spirit that introduced high altitude photographic surveys using Second World War aircraft at stratospheric heights. Never one to sit back, Reilly flew these difficult flights in modified Mosquito fighters, a Sea Hornet and Boeing B17s.
?He was a consummate professional airman,? said Byron Reynolds, who flew and worked with Reilly for 30 years.
?One of the best stick and rudder men I ever met. He was a natural flyer; and the only member of Canada?s Aviation Hall of Fame to ever live in Wetaskiwin.?
Reilly chose to move to Wetaskiwin after a 59-year aviation career to enjoy the skies in the antique aircraft owned by the Reynolds.
?There were only three elderly people approved for flying them, myself, Jack Reilly and Dallas Schmidt. He was such a qualified pilot that was why he got to fly the antique planes,? said Stan Reynolds about his fellow pilot.
While flying was a life-long interest for Reilly, many also recalled his love for life and all it had to offer. ?He was purveyor of fine horseflesh, motorcycles, women and wine in his day. A real gentlemen,? said Byron with a smile. ?He was a character by the old world definition. Somebody who stood out. He was a true professional pilot, a very, very good friend and he?ll be sorely missed.?
Widely known for his aircraft operations over unmapped and inhospitable terrain, often in punishing weather conditions, Reilly was joined by Molly as co-captain of a Douglas DC-3 on flights to most of the major oil fields in western and northern Canada, and throughout the United States.
Often without radio communication and navigational aids, Reilly?s pioneering efforts lead the way over Canada?s unmapped north during the 1960s.
He continued working in the corporate aviation industry until 1981 when he became a civil aviation inspector for Transport Canada. He was made an honourary Snowbird pilot for his assistance to the air demonstration squadron.
Even after his retirement, Reilly remained involved in aviation, devoting himself to Reynolds-Alberta Museum (RAM), home of Canada?s Aviation Hall of Fame.
Reilly was appointed to the RAM advisory board in October 1984. The advisory board was appointed by the government as champions for the new venture.
?That was way back before the opening of the museum. That was in the second year of donations from Stan, that?s how early he was here,? said Dan Bodie, RAM?s senior curator.
?He never slowed down,? said Bodie. ?The first time I met him is when he flew up here on his motorcycle, two to three years ago.? ?Wherever he went, he was an ambassador for this place,? said Dale Quinn, RAM volunteer co-ordinator. It was Reilly who led the fly-past of antique aircraft for RAM and the Aviation Hall of Fame?s opening day, Sept. 12, 1992.
He continued to hold an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with a Class 1 Instrument Rating until last fall and had clocked more than 30,000 hours as captain-in-command of 70 different aircraft without a fatality in any operation under his command. Reilly was always willing to share the encyclopedia of knowledge he had about the many aviation craft on display or secreted away in RAM?s warehouse, regularly taking small groups of people on specialized tours.
Those who knew the man, known to friends as Capt. Jack, describe him as an ?aviator?s aviator? and an inspiration.
?His accomplishments are one thing, but the man was something else,? said Quinn while reminiscing about how his visits brightened and inspired those working in RAM and the Aviation Hall of Fame.