Ken Bradley featured so much in my career and all of it so fondly remembered. As one of his junior Gas Pipeline and Charter pilots Ken gave me every opportunity to fly the Whirlwind, Bell 206 and Bell 47. sometimes all three in the same week !
I held the office duty once when he said he had some official business to attend to and then phoned me up to say he had dropped his car keys down a drain and his spare set was in the top drawer of his desk. Where are you I enquired - "Lingfield Race Course" was the reply.
My Whirlwind Line Check consisted of a flight from Redhill to Le Touquet for lunch. His secretary at the time Sarah, now married to Alec Lugg, was down in the cabin for the outbound Line Check leg. Line Check complete and Ken "refuelled" over lunch the new Captain flew Sarah up in the cockpit with Ken sleeping it off in the cabin below back to Redhill - job done!
"We'll do the paperwork in the morning dear boy"
The most touching gesture came when I had flown all over the place for weeks and just about to fly home in my Bell 206 from Newcastle and he phoned me up and asked me to stay in Newcastle to carry out some charity pleasure flying for British Gas in aid of NSPCC. Naturally I was little disappointed but tried not to show it.
Ken said look out of the airport hotel window about 5pm as the flight from London came in. He had organised my wife to join me and we flew back down in the B206 on a lovely summer's evening. Ken could do no wrong in our eyes.
Mind you he had also organised me to pick up a wedding charter in Surrey on the leg home - wonderful guy and so good for the business and to his staff.
That was the way it was in those days.
God Bless you Ken and thanks