Ernest Charles Hoy | |
Alt: | Captain Ernest Charles Hoy DFC was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 13 victories. |
Birth Date: | 6 May 1895 |
Death Date: | 22 April 1982 |
Birth Place: | Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada |
Death Place: | Toccoa, Georgia, United States |
Allegiance: | George V of the British Empire[1] |
Branch: | Royal Aircraft Factory |
Rank: | Captain |
Unit: | No. 29 Squadron RAF |
Awards: | Distinguished Flying Cross |
Laterwork: | Pioneered airmail flight over the Canadian Rockies |
Captain Ernest Charles Hoy DFC (6 May 1895 –22 April 1982) was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 13 victories. He later pioneered airmail flight over the Canadian Rockies.[2]
Hoy was serving in the Canadian militia, in the 93rd Regiment, when he enlisted in the regular forces on 3 March 1915. He gave his next of kin as Charles Hoy, and his occupation as salesman.
Hoy joined 29 Squadron as a Royal Aircraft Factory pilot in January 1918. He would not begin to score with them until 12 August. He then tallied up seven wins in August, and six more in September. In summary, he shared in being a balloon buster along with Lieutenant Charles Ross and another pilot, as well as downing one of the observation gasbags solo; he destroyed nine enemy airplanes, including a triumph shared with Lieutenant Christoffel Venter; he also drove two planes down out of control.[3]
On 28 September 1918, the day after his final victory, Hoy was shot down by Leutnant Josef Raesch[4] and imprisoned for the rest of the war.[3]
In August 1919, Hoy used a Curtiss Jenny to carry the first airmail from Vancouver to Calgary across the Canadian Rocky Mountains; the pioneering flight took sixteen hours, forty-two minutes.[3]