Moretta Fenton Beall "Molly" Reilly (February 25, 1922 – November 24, 1980) became the first female Canadian pilot to reach the rank of captain, the first female Canadian corporate pilot, and the first woman to fly to the Arctic professionally. Her modifications to the

Beechcraft Duke The Beechcraft 60 Duke is an United States, American-built twin-engine, piston-driven fixed-wing aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft has retractable tricycle landing gear and a pressurized cabin. The engines are turboch ...

were used to improve the aircraft. Over the course of her career, Reilly logged over 10,000 flight hours as a pilot-in-command — without a single accident. She is a member of the

Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame, based in The Hangar Flight Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, commemorates and honours those whose accomplishments in aviation contributed so much to Canada's development as a nation. Founded in 1973, the Hall of ...

Early life

Reilly was born February 25, 1922, in

Lindsay, Ontario Lindsay is a community of 22,367 people ( 2021 census) on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough. It is located in the City of Kawartha Lakes, and is the hub for ...

. She had seven siblings, three sisters and four brothers, at least one brother enlisted as a pilot during

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

World War II

After graduating from high school in 1940, Reilly took flying lessons at Pat Paterson's Flyers Limited School at

Barker Field Barker Field was one of several airfields in the Yorkdale area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Opened in 1927, it was a civilian and privately owned airfield for the early era of flying in Canada and was named after William George Barker in ...

. One of her teachers was fellow Canadian aviator Violet Milstead. Reilly's flight training was cut short when WWII forced civilian aviators to stay grounded, so she applied to join the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF) in order to complete her pilot certification, but was rejected due to her gender. Although the

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between fac ...

accepted women, Reilly couldn't join without her pilot's license. Determined to find a job that involved flying, in 1941 she finally enlisted with the RCAF as a photographer in the new Women's Division. She continued working as a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

for the RCAF until 1946.

Post-war era

In 1946, after the war ended, Reilly was finally able to finish her flight lessons, earning her private pilot's license from what would later become the Rockcliffe Flying Club in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. By 1947, she had earned her commercial flight license. That same year, Reilly gained national media attention when she participated in the 1947 Webster Trophy aviation race. She was awarded the Sanderson Shield for placing as runner-up, finishing barely three-tenths of a point behind the first place winner. After completing her instructor's certification, Reilly was hired as a flight instructor at the Leavens Brothers Flying School in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. During her employment at the school, she continued to upgrade her aviation skills, earning multi-engine and instrument ratings at the

Spartan School of Aeronautics Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology (Spartan) is a private for-profit aviation college with its main campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. Satellite campuses are in Inglewood, California, Broomfield, Colorado, and Riverside, Califo ...

before completing her seaplane pilot qualifications at

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. Port Alberni currently has a total popu ...

. In 1953, Reilly travelled to England to earn a senior commercial license, a public transport license, and her air transport ratings. A year later, she was hired as the chief flying instructor and charter pilot for Canadian Aircraft Renters. In 1957, she was promoted as full-time charter pilot for the company, transferred to its subsidiary Southern Provincial Airlines, becoming the first Canadian female pilot to reach the rank of captain. During her work at Southern Provincial Airlines, Reilly became the first woman to fly professionally to the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

, and assisted in the development of the company's air ambulance service in Eastern Canada. Duke2

Taking a new job with the

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

company Peter Bawden Drilling in 1959, Reilly co-piloted a

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

airliner. She flew extensively throughout the north, piloting back and forth between major oil airfields and making runs to places such as

Frobisher Bay Frobisher Bay is an inlet of the Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island. Its length is about and its width varies from about at its outlet into the Davis Strait ...

and

Resolute Bay Resolute Bay is an Arctic waterway in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Named after the Arctic exploration vessel , it is located in Parry Channel on the southern side of Cornwallis Island. The hamlet of Resolute is located on the nor ...

. Reilly often dealt with extreme weather conditions, poor visibility, and few navigational aids. In 1965, Reilly joined Canadian Coachways (later

Canadian Utilities Canadian Utilities Limited, a member of the ATCO Group of companies, is a Canada-based worldwide organization of companies with around $22 billion in assets and more than 8,000 employees. Canadian Utilities has three business units: * ATCO Energ ...

) and was hired as their chief pilot, becoming the first female corporate pilot in Canada. She flew a

throughout North America, and made modifications to the aircraft in order to fly more efficiently in the Arctic, receiving a personal commendation from the

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and Military aircraft, military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacture ...

chairwoman Olive Beech in the process.

Honours

In 1974, Reilly was inducted into the

Personal life and death

In 1959, Reilly accepted a marriage proposal from pilot Jack Reilly, whom she had met through her first post-war job at the Leavens Brothers Flying School. He was her co-pilot for the DC-3 airliner at Peter Bawden Drilling. Reilly died on November 24, 1980. By the end of her career, she had logged over 10,000 hours as a pilot-in-command, without a single accident.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reilly, Molly 1922 births 1980 deaths Canadian aviators Commercial aviators 20th-century aviation Royal Canadian Air Force personnel Canadian women commercial aviators