.
There have been a handful of comments regarding Gay on this and a couple of other threads and I thought it would be useful to consolidate them:
Plank Cap wrote: Mid 70's and a still vibrant memory of the most gorgeous silver and black Hughes 500C on high skids. As a 10 year old boy my future fate and career were shaped by this image, fully rammed home a few minutes later at the sight of an even more gorgeous long-haired blonde lady purposefully striding out to the aircraft and taking off on some undoubtedly fabulous mission.
To a youngster it didn't get any better.....
CharlieOneSix wrote: That would have been Gay Absalom.
She followed a family trend in joining her father (Roland) in flying helicopters and passed her PPL in 1966. It was not long before she progressed to a CPL in a period when females and helicopters were not an accepted combination in the commercial world. She was 23 when she enrolled at the Oxford Air Training School at Kidlington and got her commercial licence.
Bristows turned her down and, although he was not a party to the original decision, Alan Bristow himself rejected her subsequent appeal. She then got a job with Air Gregory. I remember seeing her at Battersea many times during the early/mid 70's - wonder what became of her?
DennisK wrote: Gay Barratt (née Absalom) flew for my firm many times. She was the lady pilot featured flying the Enstrom Shark, G-PALS in "To the Manor Born." The director wanted a lady 'blonde' pilot and I believe Gay was in fact the ONLY CPL in those days.
Cornish Jack wrote: Of the two memories of the day, one was dropping our smoke grenade UPWIND of the VIP guest enclosure, the other was the arrival of a Jet Ranger and being goggle-eyed at the tall, blonde lime-green trouser suited lady pilot.
Gay Absalom returns to the UK having completed a solo-cross-channel flight to Deuville, France and for which endeavour she received an award from the French Aero Club. June 1967.
..Flight International 9th May 1968
Would be great to discover the 500 of which Plank Cap speaks as well as to find out, as CharlieOneSix suggests, what happened to Gay!
I was pleased to happen upon this image (however poor) of the late-great 'Antonio' 'Nobbly' 'Nobby' Clarke! Besides calling him Antonio I would also refer to him as Leo based on my belief (which he disputed) of his similarity to the actor Leo McKern. Basically, whenever he did anything I didn't fully appreciate I would respond 'Yes Leo'. This exchange most frequently occurred after work when we would stop at his local for a pint whereupon, having purchased not a single round, he would say 'I think this is your round!'
A gentleman flyer much missed!
Leo McKern whom Savoia accused of resembling 'The Clarke'
Sav