Billy Bishop's Balloon Bop And Alternative Adventures In Aviation

William Avery Bishop, aka Billy, was Canada's World War I aviation hero...an ace. He was credited, or self-credited, with 72 victories. Of course the 'victories' were one sided, since you can't have a victory without a loss. A lot of people fell from the skies. This was war, after all. I suppose a man has got to do do what a man has got to do. Did I mention that his total of 72 victories included 2 balloons? Shooting down balloon fliers sounds like some sort of carnival attraction, like Whack-A-Mole, eh?

Though I may sound trite about balloon popping, this 'theatre' didn't serve popcorn and over-sized drinks. Do you know the life expectancy of a WWI pilot in Billy Bishop's situation? Eleven days. Eleven days! The Germans were downing Allied airplanes at a ratio of 5 to 1. The pilots must have felt like lemmings, so why do it? Think of the many alternatives (i.e. a lifetime making bumpers for BMWs, among others)

Before Billy took to the skies he was in the trenches, and not happy about it. In his own words "it's clean up there! I'll bet you don't get any mud or horse shit on you up there. If you die, at least it would be a clean death." Being a pilot presented itself as a better way to die. The lesser of the evils, I suppose.

In Toronto, 2014, we don't worry about being shot out of the sky, we worry about jets landing at Toronto's Billy Bishop airport on the harbourfront. There's a dogfight for airspace superiority and it's unclear who will win. The battle pits proponents of extending the runway and allowing smallish passenger jets to arrive downtown, versus those who see this as a recipe for a less inhabitable city.

Would allowing jet service at Billy Bishop airport be something desirable for Toronto's air-traveling population as a whole? Without question, yes. Anything that saves a $65 cab ride to the L.B.Pearson airport has got to be good, wot wot? On the flip side, would downtown jets add to the congestion and noise in Toronto's already busy downtown? Likely.

The question, I suppose, pits the good of the greatest number versus the good of a smaller but significant group. I'm leaning towards allowing jet service into the island airport, if and only if the jets are 'quiet'. I'll admit that I'm not well versed on the subject. My position was swayed towards pro-jetport by a conversation that I had with a retired pilot in New Brunswick over the Christmas holidays. His argument for jets on Toronto Island was compelling and forward thinking, but he doesn't own a condo on the waterfront.

It's a shame we couldn't just have a balloon-port on the Toronto Island airport. Hot air balloons are quiet and actually enhance the sky-scape, especially those shaped like cartoon characters. We could even have a fleet of them shaped like Rob Ford...imagine the tourism spin-off? 

Billy Bishop died in 1956. His contribution to the war effort made it possible for us to contemplate having jets fly into the airport we named after him. His death also made balloon flying just a little bit safer. There is much to consider....