Ex-senior airline captain George Hendry dies

Former Senior airline captain George Hendry, who lived at Glen Prosen, near Kirriemuir, has died. He was 78.

The death of Captain Hendry on Monday came exactly 20 years to the day since he retired to the picturesque glen with his wife, Irene.

Born in Dundee and educated at the city's Harris Academy, much of his adult life was to be spent as a pilot. His flying career began during the second world war when he volunteered, at the age of 19, for the RAF and trained as a pilot in Canada. He reached the rank of warrant officer and served across Britain and India, flying a variety of aircraft.

At the end of hostilities Captain Hendry spent four years teaching in Dundee before the skies lured him away. He had been a member of the RAF Volunteer Reserve, flying at Scone, and went on to teach men on national service to fly at RAF Desford in Leicestershire.

Captain Hendry became a civilian pilot in 1952 with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), later British Airways, and enjoyed a career there spanning twenty-eight and a half years. It was spent flying aircraft such as the Constellation, Britannia, 707 and then 747 jumbos.

His long-haul work meant he, his wife and family travelled and lived abroad in Honolulu, Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong. The family had a home in Ascot during this time, but regularly visited the Angus glens on holiday.

On his retirement, Captain Hendry, in contrast to his life in the noise and bustle of aircraft and airports, settled in Glen Prosen. It became his beloved glen suiting the interests of cycling, walking and climbing which he shared with his wife of 52 years.

Captain Hendry, a keen tennis player as a young man, enjoyed gardening and golf and was a member of Blairgowrie Golf Club. He was also a member of Tayside Aero Club and well known for his entertaining lectures.

The family's links with airlines have been maintained by son, Roger, a captain who flies 747s for British Airways. In 1981, while based at Sydney, he won permission from the airline to act as first officer to his father on his last flight, to London, before he retired. That was the return leg of British Airways' inaugural flight to Edmonton, Canada, of which Captain Hendry (senior) had been in charge.

Captain Hendry is survived by his wife and son and daughters Janine, Heather and Fiona.

Taken from "The Courier", Wednesday August 1, 2001