"DEDICATED TO A WOMAN OF COURAGE BARBARA HARMER"
compiled by Su DeNyme & John A Elliott
(original author unknown)
Barbara Harmer left school at the age of 15 without any qualification to work as a hairdresser.After five years of doing people's hair, she applied to become a trainee air traffic controller at London Gatwick Airport.
While working at Gatwick, she also decided to study for her A levels with the aim of studying law.
For this reason , her A levels subjects were Geography, English Law, Constitutional Law. But she later changed her mind , and started taking flying lessons after obtaining a £10,000 bank loan.
After obtaining her private pilot licence, she embarked on a 2 year distance learning course for her commercial pilot licence which she secured in 1982.
Even after obtaining it , her tenacity to succeed was put to a stern test once again, when she was rejected by potential employers. Her 100 applications for a pilot job were all rejected.
In 1984, after two years of tarmacking, she got her first pilot job in a small commuter airline, and within that same year lady luck came calling when she joined British Caledonian Airlines.
Things became even more better for her three years later in 1987, when British Caledonian Airlines merged with British Airways.
She kept on soaring and after four years flying British Airways' DC-10 plane , she was selected to train as Concorde pilot, becoming the first woman qualified to fly the supersonic plane.
By the time Concorde was withdrawn from service in October 2003, Harmer had served 10 years as a pilot flying regular scheduled services.
After Concorde she converted to flying Boeing 777 Jumbo jet, until 2009 when retired voluntarily to pursue other things. Her aim was to sail in her yacht across the Atlantic in 2013, something she had started preparing for.
But unknown to her, she had developed ovarian cancer which was slowly eating her life away. By the time it was diagnosed, she only had slightly more than a year live.
Captain Harmer, who never had children, died in 2011 at the age of 57 leaving behind her husband of 27 years. Her ashes were flown high and scattered over the sea near her home.
She started low in life, climbed and soared. Her legacy is an inspiration to women and to youngsters everywhere. Through her pragmatic, can-do attitude, she achieved success in a male-dominated industry.
