Frederick McCall Frederick Robert Gordon McCall DSO , MC & Bar , DFC ( 4 December 1896 - 22 January 1949 ) was a Canadian air ace during World War I , with 35 confirmed and two unconfirmed victories . After a career in civil aviation , he returned to service in World War II . Early life . Born in Vernon , British Columbia , McCall came to Calgary with his family in 1906 . In February 1916 McCall enlisted with the 175th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force ( CEF ) . Eight months later , he was in France with this battalion as a sergeant . McCall received a commission as a lieutenant pilot trainee in March 1917 , and in December was assigned to No . XIII Squadron RAF on the Western Front , flying the two seater Royal Aircraft Factory R . E . 8 reconnaissance aircraft with F . C . Farrington . Aerial service in World War I . McCall ' s first aerial victory occurred while flying the R . E . 8 , shooting down a German aircraft . McCall was awarded the Military Cross " for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty " , and two weeks later the accompanying Bar for downing an enemy scout aircraft while on a mission to take photographs . After his third victory while flying the R . E . 8 , McCall was next transferred to No . 41 Squadron RAF and began flying the Royal Aircraft Factory S . E . 5 . He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after scoring four " kills " in May 1918 . On 28 June 1918 McCall downed four enemy aircraft , including one shared with Eric John Stephens . On 30 June 1918 now Captain McCall downed five more Germans , four in the morning and the fifth that evening . For this McCall was awarded the Distinguished Service Order . On 17 August , he was accompanying William Gordon Claxton when the pair of them ran into Jagstaffel 20 , which consisted of at least 40 planes . In the ensuing fight , which saw Claxton shot down , McCall scored a victory . McCall was ordered to England , and eventually to Canada , on convalescent leave . The armistice ending World War I was signed while McCall was in Canada recuperating from illness . Life between the wars . Following the armistice McCall embarked upon a variety of civil aviation ventures , beginning with stunt flying . On 5 July 1919 , while barnstorming , he crash - landed when his engine failed while he was taking off . His landing site was the top of the merry - go - round at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede . He and his two passengers were uninjured . He founded his own company , McCall Aero Corporation Limited , in 1920 . With this company McCall flew commercial freight and passengers across Canada , pioneering air travel to Banff . Later , he founded another aviation company , Great Western Airways . One of his more spectacular achievements was the flying of 200 quarts of nitroglycerin from Shelby , Montana to Calgary in 1928 . The following year , he ignored bad weather to fly a doctor to the Skiff oil fields to treat two seriously injured workers . McCall also worked to encourage the formation of Canadian flying clubs in the inter - war years . World War II and beyond . With the arrival of the Second World War McCall was recalled to service with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Squadron Leader , based at numerous western Canadian bases . McCall died in Calgary Alberta on 22 January 1949 at the age of 52 . In the city of Calgary , Alberta , the McCall industrial park and the road " McCall Way " is named after him , as well as McCall Lake Golf Course . Freddie McCall appears in exhibits in several museums in and around Calgary such as the Glenbow Museum and the Calgary Aerospace Museum . In 1939 the Calgary Airport was named after him but has since been renamed Calgary International Airport . There is also a provincial electoral district bearing his name , Calgary - McCall , which was established in 1971 . A book entitled " Mavericks History Of Alberta " ( see external links ) contains some information on McCall as well .