Maurice 'Nobbie' Clarke
This is my first posting on PPrune and it is to sadly announce that my father, known to everyone involved in helicopters as Nobbie, sadly passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday the 13th of March.
He joined the RAF in 1944 and after training went on to fly beaufighters and Brigands in the ground attack role before going onto Mosquitos and Canberras doing photo reconnaissance. In the mid 1950's he went to Bristols, as the air force at the time didn't have a helicopter training programme' to convert on to the R4 and the S51.He then remained on helicopters for the rest of his aviation career, flying the Sycamore in Cyprus before going on to the Whirlwind at the search and rescue unit at Leuchars. He then became an A2 QHI at the CFS at valley, before finishing his time in the RAF as a Master Pilot, flying the Wessex at Odiham.
He then joined Bristows where he was sent to Tehran to train The Iranians to fly, before predominately working in Nigeria at Warri, Port Harcourt, Eket and Calabar. He broke up his time in Nigeria with spells on the North Sea, The Gulf, flying out of Das Island and Ecuadorian Jungle.
During his time in Bristows Dad flew the Bell 47, 204 206 and the 212 he continued to fly the Whirlwind and the Wessex and completed his list of types with the SA330 Puma.
Dad retired from Bristows in 1984 and enjoyed a good retirement intespersed with bouts of ill health, from which he always bounced back and the sudden loss of his wife Gladys.
The funeral will take place at St Marys' Church, Bexley, Kent on Friday the 23rd March at 1330. If There is anyone out there who remembers him and would like to attend, they are most welcome. Any donations in his memory to either Cancer research or the RAF Benevolent fund.
Ian Clarke