Vale Mary O'Brien
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Australia
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Vale Mary O'Brien
All who knew her will be saddened to hear of the passing of Mary O'Brien after a battle with illness.
She was a great lady and will be missed by many. The industry is worse off without people such as her.
She was a great lady and will be missed by many. The industry is worse off without people such as her.
Join Date: Jan 1999
Location: Abeam Alice Springs
Posts: 1,109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes, she will be missed. She was a friend and a true professional. She contributed in many areas of GA over the years from instructing in Singapore, flying night freight in a Lear, time as an FOI and then a uni lecturer.
She was a leading member of AWPA and the 99's and I am sure she will be missed within those groups.
May she soar around the clouds for ever.
She was a leading member of AWPA and the 99's and I am sure she will be missed within those groups.
May she soar around the clouds for ever.
PPRuNe Handmaiden
Vale Mary 
She was my mentor and my friend. Words fail me to describe her and her achievements. Knowing her she wouldn't want me (us?) to be sad but to rejoice her life and remember the good times.
I'll definitely raise a glass to you in Italy this week.
My thoughts go to Mary's family.
Rest In Peace.
You're with your la Chat Noir now too.
She was my mentor and my friend. Words fail me to describe her and her achievements. Knowing her she wouldn't want me (us?) to be sad but to rejoice her life and remember the good times.
I'll definitely raise a glass to you in Italy this week.
My thoughts go to Mary's family.
Rest In Peace.
You're with your la Chat Noir now too.
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: earth
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Funeral Arrangements
Mary's funeral will be held in Walgett at 11am on Friday 8th followed by a wake at the Sports Club.
A Celebration of Her Life is being planned for Saturday 16th October in Sydney. I will post venue and time once it is organised.
A very sad time for all of us.
A Celebration of Her Life is being planned for Saturday 16th October in Sydney. I will post venue and time once it is organised.
A very sad time for all of us.
PPRuNeaholic
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Cairns FNQ
Posts: 3,255
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Farewell Mary.
Aviation in Australia is poorer for your passing, but richer for your many and varied contributions to it.
I only heard, quite latterly, that she was ill and her passing came as a great shock. Sorry that I won't be able to attend the funeral or the celebration of her life. I expect that the celebration will be quite lengthy because of all the things she has done and all the people she has influenced and guided.
Rest in Peace.
Aviation in Australia is poorer for your passing, but richer for your many and varied contributions to it.
I only heard, quite latterly, that she was ill and her passing came as a great shock. Sorry that I won't be able to attend the funeral or the celebration of her life. I expect that the celebration will be quite lengthy because of all the things she has done and all the people she has influenced and guided.
Rest in Peace.
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Living next door to Alan
Posts: 1,521
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I only knew Mary while she was in CASA. Mary was always a friendly person to deal with, and always had time to answer my dumb questions, whether on the phone or just turning up at her office....
Rest in peace Mary.
Rest in peace Mary.
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Oz
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Very sad to hear of Mary's passing. Mary was behind "Dine with the Aviators", an annual fundraiser for the AWPA and Australian Aviation Museum. She was a fantastic mentor and her presence will be very, very sorely missed.
Rest in peace Mary.
Rest in peace Mary.
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: earth
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Celebration of Mary's life
A Celebration of the life of Mary O'Brien will be held at the Haberfield Rowing Club, Dobroyd Parade, Haberfield from 1.00pm until 4.00 pm on Saturday 16th October 2004.
Regarding her funeral at Walgett on Friday 8th October, flowers may be sent to Ford Funeral Director Walgett and are being organised by Jan's Flowers, Dubbo.
Mary was born in Walgett on 13th September 1940 where she grew up and studied school by correspondence until the age of nine on the family property at "Coolabong" on the Barwon River.
She completed her private pilot Licence at the Walgett Aero Club where she was the first female club member.
After completing her Commercial Pilot Licence at the Hastings District Flying Club in Port Macquarie and an Instructor Rating at Navair Flying School, Bankstown, she commenced working as a pilot in Sydney in August 1969, when she was employed as a flying instructor at Navair.
From 1970 to 1974 she lived in Singapore training pilots, including Singapore Airlines cadets. There were no other women Commercial pilots in South East Asia at the time. Mary was the first Australian woman to work as a pilot overseas. She has recently had the pleasure of congratulating the first female pilot cadet on her graduation and check to line with Silk Air, Singapore's regional airline. Singapore Airlines has never employed a female pilot to date.
With Wards Express she flew a Lear Jet on night freight runs all over Australia, and became the first woman in Australia to Captain a Lear Jet aircraft.
She became the first woman operational Examiner of Airmen with the Department of Transport and Communications. Later as District Flight Operations Manager at Bankstown airport she was first woman appointed to an operational management position. During this time she completed a BSc(Aviation) at Newcastle Universtiy.
When the University of Western Sydney's Aviation degree programme offered Mary an opportunity to return to teaching in 1999, she welcomed the challenge and an opportunity to return to her first love, education.
She has flown over outback Australia, the deserts of Iran and Africa, Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, the Rocky mountains, and the jungles of Guatemala. She has flown more than thirty different types of aircraft from the low speed fabric variety to high speed jets. her students, who are active in the aviation industry, both locally and internationally, are an expression of her contribution to aviation.
Regarding her funeral at Walgett on Friday 8th October, flowers may be sent to Ford Funeral Director Walgett and are being organised by Jan's Flowers, Dubbo.
Mary was born in Walgett on 13th September 1940 where she grew up and studied school by correspondence until the age of nine on the family property at "Coolabong" on the Barwon River.
She completed her private pilot Licence at the Walgett Aero Club where she was the first female club member.
After completing her Commercial Pilot Licence at the Hastings District Flying Club in Port Macquarie and an Instructor Rating at Navair Flying School, Bankstown, she commenced working as a pilot in Sydney in August 1969, when she was employed as a flying instructor at Navair.
From 1970 to 1974 she lived in Singapore training pilots, including Singapore Airlines cadets. There were no other women Commercial pilots in South East Asia at the time. Mary was the first Australian woman to work as a pilot overseas. She has recently had the pleasure of congratulating the first female pilot cadet on her graduation and check to line with Silk Air, Singapore's regional airline. Singapore Airlines has never employed a female pilot to date.
With Wards Express she flew a Lear Jet on night freight runs all over Australia, and became the first woman in Australia to Captain a Lear Jet aircraft.
She became the first woman operational Examiner of Airmen with the Department of Transport and Communications. Later as District Flight Operations Manager at Bankstown airport she was first woman appointed to an operational management position. During this time she completed a BSc(Aviation) at Newcastle Universtiy.
When the University of Western Sydney's Aviation degree programme offered Mary an opportunity to return to teaching in 1999, she welcomed the challenge and an opportunity to return to her first love, education.
She has flown over outback Australia, the deserts of Iran and Africa, Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, the Rocky mountains, and the jungles of Guatemala. She has flown more than thirty different types of aircraft from the low speed fabric variety to high speed jets. her students, who are active in the aviation industry, both locally and internationally, are an expression of her contribution to aviation.
I knew Mary only in a social context, by association with other aviators.
I found her charming, sensible, practical and forthright.
She was a great raconteur, and wonderful company at a barbecue or dinner party.
Many of us will miss her, but we won't forget her.
I found her charming, sensible, practical and forthright.
She was a great raconteur, and wonderful company at a barbecue or dinner party.
Many of us will miss her, but we won't forget her.
Vale
You were one of the 'sensible' students at Uni but a great role model and mentor.
Fair winds, Mary.
Fair winds, Mary.
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Bus Class
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Many in the Industry will miss Mary. She was a delightful lady and a pleasure to work alongside. She was always ready to lend a helping hand. Although I knew her but briefly, she was a friend who's memory will be lasting.
Last edited by PT6; 6th Oct 2004 at 03:43.
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thankyou Lunar landing for that run down of Mary's career.
The first I heard of her passing was the post on ppprune.
Mary comes from Gadooga in northern NSW and she used to remind me often when we would talk about where we had worked.Apart from CASA, we both came from flying in the NW of NSW to flying small jets and working in Singapore.
Mary was the greatest pilot/FOI in ever had the pleasure to know, acomplete professional.I came back to Australia in 1999 and went to the YBBK ofice to see Mary. I was told she left under a clould.I automatically new it was a CB created by the incompetent, ass covering fools now remaining at CASA BK office.I would love to cotinue, but this is about the finenest aviator and proffesional god has given breath to.
Mary......I love and respect you, Thankyou for making me the pilot I am today
My family thankyou
The first I heard of her passing was the post on ppprune.
Mary comes from Gadooga in northern NSW and she used to remind me often when we would talk about where we had worked.Apart from CASA, we both came from flying in the NW of NSW to flying small jets and working in Singapore.
Mary was the greatest pilot/FOI in ever had the pleasure to know, acomplete professional.I came back to Australia in 1999 and went to the YBBK ofice to see Mary. I was told she left under a clould.I automatically new it was a CB created by the incompetent, ass covering fools now remaining at CASA BK office.I would love to cotinue, but this is about the finenest aviator and proffesional god has given breath to.
Mary......I love and respect you, Thankyou for making me the pilot I am today
My family thankyou
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Australia
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Quoted from the Sydney Morning Herald 16/10/04, written by Shane Nichols. Reproduced in full.
Air pioneer with a gift for teaching
Mary O'Brien, who has died in Sydney at 64, was a pioneering woman aviator.
When she took up flying in the 1960s, aviation was still a male preserve, dominated by ex-military pilots. Career prospects for women were limited, but although airlines and the military flatly refused to employ them, general aviation companies were more enlightened.
O'Brien, who was born in Walgett on September 13, 1940, made her mark by becoming the first female member of the town's flying club. She came from a longstanding farming family in the district, although she had been educated in Sydney from the age of nine.
After completing her commercial pilot licence and instructor's rating in NSW she worked as an instructor with Navair in the late 1960s. In 1970 she took a job as an instructor with Singapore General Aviation Services and her flying in the next four years included ferrying an aircraft to Africa, dropping payrolls into isolated mining camps in Asian jungles, searching for ships lost at sea and transporting freight and passengers.
There were no other women commercial pilots in South-East Asia at the time and O'Brien was the first Australian woman to work as a pilot overseas. With persistence, hard work and a sense of humour she overcame considerable resistance by the Singapore aviation authorities to her obtaining local licences. In doing so, she became not only a pioneer but a role model for the next generation of women pilots.
From Singapore, O'Brien went to the United States, where she took further qualifications and flew extensively in light aircraft, from Alaska to Guatemala. In 1980 she brought the first Grumman Cougar aircraft to Australia, crossing the Atlantic, Europe, the Middle East and India on the way.
Returning to Australia, O'Brien worked as a flying teacher and was part of the crew that ferried a Nomad aircraft to the US. She joined Wards Express, flying a fast, twin-engined Lear jet on night freight runs all over Australia and occasionally to New Zealand, and became the first woman in Australia to captain a Lear jet.
In 1985 O'Brien began a 15-year career with the Department of Aviation, where she became the first woman operational examiner of airmen. Later, as district flight operations manager at Bankstown Airport, she was the first woman appointed to an operational management position. During this time she completed a BSc (Aviation) at the University of Newcastle.
When the University of Western Sydney's aviation degree program offered O'Brien an opportunity to teach in 1999, she welcomed the chance of a return to her first love. In recent years she studied for a Master of Education in Higher Professional Education.
She was a role model, teacher and mentor to many people. Her annual Dine with the Aviators events at Bankstown, which paid homage to well known figures in aviation, demonstrated her sense of history.
She took particular interest in fostering women's recognition and advancement - she was a committee member and national president of the Australian Women Pilots' Association; a member of the Ninety-Nines, an international organisation of women pilots; was awarded the Nancy Bird Trophy for her contribution to aviation by women; patron of the Mary O'Brien Wing of the Australian Air League; and a board member of the Zonta Club of Sydney, an international organisation that seeks to raise the status of women.
O'Brien is also featured in the Stockman's Hall of Fame at Longreach, and in the Powerhouse Museum photo exhibition and publication Women With Wings (2002).
O'Brien's implacable nature and organisational zeal made her a valued member of many organisations. Though she became a resident of Sydney's inner west - where locating one of her many favourite but obscure Asian eateries on a rainy night hardly tested her navigational skills - she was truly a person of the world.
Her friends within aviation and beyond enjoyed her country girl's forthright nature, her intelligence and larrikin spirit. She was open-minded, non-judgemental and maintained a vast network, people who would never have crossed paths but for O'Brien's many gatherings.
Her loyalty and generosity were limitless and her home was a waypoint for any friend who needed a place to stay.
To the Irish-Australian clan who raised her, the slender red-haired girl was "Splinter"; to her Singaporean students she was Dear Red Pen; to her Aviation Department colleagues she was Auntie Mary. The last helped during her recent stint in hospital when friends, making inquiries of the switchboard sentinels, would ask to speak to Auntie Mary; the hospital staff assumed they were relatives.
She never married - though not for lack of suitors - and is survived by her brothers Bill and Frank, seven nephews and nieces and 11 great-nephews and great-nieces, so there were also many who called her Auntie Mary who were genuine relatives.
Her daring and spiritedness were matched by a pilot's diligence and capability. The air is an unforgiving element for anyone careless, incapable or neglectful, as she was known to remark. And although she was a natural leader, one of her gifts was the ability to find consensus among people and take them with her. She would simply say, "Let's just do that, then", and everyone would know she was right.
But she didn't take herself too seriously, and loved to tell a yarn. In Singapore she used to drive a Fiat Bambino car. One day she lent it to a friend who happened to be driving it when it caught fire. At a loss for water, he urinated on the engine to put the blaze out. For weeks O'Brien was reminded of this as the reek from the hot motor filled the cabin. "How dare you pee on my car!" she rebuked her friend, but it was just the sort of thing that amused her.
She would have chuckled too at the recent misfortune of her old chum Ray Clamback, who had to be fished out of the Pacific after ditching a Cessna he was ferrying to Australia just a few days after her death. It was his second rescue. "Oh dear, Ray ... !"
She lived a large life, in the air or teaching aviation. The mystique and adventure of the air caught her young and never left. She told the author of Women With Wings: "The take-off is always a thrill: the massive acceleration, followed by the rapid rate of climb out into the night sky, takes your breath away. Some think there is nothing to see at night, but the night sky has its own magic. There are times when the incredible aurora australis stretches across the southern sky like a magic carpet, and the view from 39,000 feet is the best."
Mary O'Brien, who has died in Sydney at 64, was a pioneering woman aviator.
When she took up flying in the 1960s, aviation was still a male preserve, dominated by ex-military pilots. Career prospects for women were limited, but although airlines and the military flatly refused to employ them, general aviation companies were more enlightened.
O'Brien, who was born in Walgett on September 13, 1940, made her mark by becoming the first female member of the town's flying club. She came from a longstanding farming family in the district, although she had been educated in Sydney from the age of nine.
After completing her commercial pilot licence and instructor's rating in NSW she worked as an instructor with Navair in the late 1960s. In 1970 she took a job as an instructor with Singapore General Aviation Services and her flying in the next four years included ferrying an aircraft to Africa, dropping payrolls into isolated mining camps in Asian jungles, searching for ships lost at sea and transporting freight and passengers.
There were no other women commercial pilots in South-East Asia at the time and O'Brien was the first Australian woman to work as a pilot overseas. With persistence, hard work and a sense of humour she overcame considerable resistance by the Singapore aviation authorities to her obtaining local licences. In doing so, she became not only a pioneer but a role model for the next generation of women pilots.
From Singapore, O'Brien went to the United States, where she took further qualifications and flew extensively in light aircraft, from Alaska to Guatemala. In 1980 she brought the first Grumman Cougar aircraft to Australia, crossing the Atlantic, Europe, the Middle East and India on the way.
Returning to Australia, O'Brien worked as a flying teacher and was part of the crew that ferried a Nomad aircraft to the US. She joined Wards Express, flying a fast, twin-engined Lear jet on night freight runs all over Australia and occasionally to New Zealand, and became the first woman in Australia to captain a Lear jet.
In 1985 O'Brien began a 15-year career with the Department of Aviation, where she became the first woman operational examiner of airmen. Later, as district flight operations manager at Bankstown Airport, she was the first woman appointed to an operational management position. During this time she completed a BSc (Aviation) at the University of Newcastle.
When the University of Western Sydney's aviation degree program offered O'Brien an opportunity to teach in 1999, she welcomed the chance of a return to her first love. In recent years she studied for a Master of Education in Higher Professional Education.
She was a role model, teacher and mentor to many people. Her annual Dine with the Aviators events at Bankstown, which paid homage to well known figures in aviation, demonstrated her sense of history.
She took particular interest in fostering women's recognition and advancement - she was a committee member and national president of the Australian Women Pilots' Association; a member of the Ninety-Nines, an international organisation of women pilots; was awarded the Nancy Bird Trophy for her contribution to aviation by women; patron of the Mary O'Brien Wing of the Australian Air League; and a board member of the Zonta Club of Sydney, an international organisation that seeks to raise the status of women.
O'Brien is also featured in the Stockman's Hall of Fame at Longreach, and in the Powerhouse Museum photo exhibition and publication Women With Wings (2002).
O'Brien's implacable nature and organisational zeal made her a valued member of many organisations. Though she became a resident of Sydney's inner west - where locating one of her many favourite but obscure Asian eateries on a rainy night hardly tested her navigational skills - she was truly a person of the world.
Her friends within aviation and beyond enjoyed her country girl's forthright nature, her intelligence and larrikin spirit. She was open-minded, non-judgemental and maintained a vast network, people who would never have crossed paths but for O'Brien's many gatherings.
Her loyalty and generosity were limitless and her home was a waypoint for any friend who needed a place to stay.
To the Irish-Australian clan who raised her, the slender red-haired girl was "Splinter"; to her Singaporean students she was Dear Red Pen; to her Aviation Department colleagues she was Auntie Mary. The last helped during her recent stint in hospital when friends, making inquiries of the switchboard sentinels, would ask to speak to Auntie Mary; the hospital staff assumed they were relatives.
She never married - though not for lack of suitors - and is survived by her brothers Bill and Frank, seven nephews and nieces and 11 great-nephews and great-nieces, so there were also many who called her Auntie Mary who were genuine relatives.
Her daring and spiritedness were matched by a pilot's diligence and capability. The air is an unforgiving element for anyone careless, incapable or neglectful, as she was known to remark. And although she was a natural leader, one of her gifts was the ability to find consensus among people and take them with her. She would simply say, "Let's just do that, then", and everyone would know she was right.
But she didn't take herself too seriously, and loved to tell a yarn. In Singapore she used to drive a Fiat Bambino car. One day she lent it to a friend who happened to be driving it when it caught fire. At a loss for water, he urinated on the engine to put the blaze out. For weeks O'Brien was reminded of this as the reek from the hot motor filled the cabin. "How dare you pee on my car!" she rebuked her friend, but it was just the sort of thing that amused her.
She would have chuckled too at the recent misfortune of her old chum Ray Clamback, who had to be fished out of the Pacific after ditching a Cessna he was ferrying to Australia just a few days after her death. It was his second rescue. "Oh dear, Ray ... !"
She lived a large life, in the air or teaching aviation. The mystique and adventure of the air caught her young and never left. She told the author of Women With Wings: "The take-off is always a thrill: the massive acceleration, followed by the rapid rate of climb out into the night sky, takes your breath away. Some think there is nothing to see at night, but the night sky has its own magic. There are times when the incredible aurora australis stretches across the southern sky like a magic carpet, and the view from 39,000 feet is the best."
