Written by Leroy Smith
GUYANA’S first female military pilot, Cheryl Moore, and this country’s first female commercial pilot, Beverley Drake, last evening had individual $20 Guyana stamps and a joint $80 international stamp  unveiled in their honour as World Post day was observed.

The two women were among six other women in the local aviation industry who were honoured for their contributions to aviation in Guyana and its pioneering.

Cheryl Moore recently retired from flying for regional carrier LIAT.  Ms. Moore was the first female to fly for the Guyana Defence Force while carrying out personal assistant duties for the commander.
Ms Moore also conducted interviews, assessments and training for new inductees to the Women’s Army Corps.
Lieutenant Cheryl, as she was called before being married, was the colour ensign in the first all-female guard of honour which was held at the then Timehri International Airport during the visit of Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1975, which was also the year designated International Women’s Year.

Mrs. Moore joined the Guyana Defence Force Air Corps where she flew the British Norman Islander in 1977 and also served as the executive officer, Air Corps from that year to 1978. She flew the Twin Otter, Hawker Siddley HS 784 and the DeHavilland Dash 8 aircraft.
Meanwhile, Ms Beverly Drake, who was Guyana’s first female commercial pilot, is also a senior aviation accident investigator and analyst, and also serves as a Federal Women’s Programme Manager with the National Transportation and Safety Board.
As a military pilot in Guyana, she, like her colleague, also flew the Britten Norman Islander and did so in the jungles of this country. She then went on to work with the Guyana Airways Corporation. She was also regarded as the first woman to fly the Twin Otter and Hawker Siddley 748 on both national and international routes.

To date, she remains in history as the only and first African-American female to serve as a Senior Aviation Accident Investigator. In her lifetime, serving in that position, she has thus far investigated more than 300 small and large-scale accidents.
The Guyanese also served as the witness chairman of the USAir flight 427 and the reconstruction of the TWA 800, a 747 that exploded shortly after takeoff from the JFK in New York in 1996.
Present at last evening’s event for the two very proud female Guyanese pilots were their families, friends and members of the local aviation industry. There were also Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Transport Minister Robeson Benn, along with Post Master General Henry Dundas.
He said that the stamps could be likened to roving ambassadors, since they go to all parts of the country and regionally and internationally, ending up in thousands of homes across the world. The stamp tells a story of a nation’s history, culture and other important facts of the country of origin Dundas added.
He said that the Post Office Corporation is also looking forward to the releasing of other stamps that will this time feature other women who have contributed tremendously to the local aviation industry in Guyana.
In his address, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said that the women who were honoured last evening are the pioneers in the local aviation industry and it was pleasing that the unveiling of the stamps and the honouring of the women was done in the year that Guyana observed 100 years of flight.
Transport Minister Robeson Benn told the gathering that aviation and airlift are the primary means of bringing persons into this country from the Caribbean and the rest of the world. He added that it is with that fact being understood that the government has been putting the infrastructure in place to accommodate incoming flights.
Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Brigadier Mark Philips, who was also present at the event, thanked especially the women who had started their careers in flying while with the GDF.