ONE of the owners of a Haverfordwest-based aerospace company has been awarded an OBE by The Queen.
Patricia Porter has been accepted as an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the in recognition of her services to Aviation.
Mrs Porter is the first civilian Ghanaian woman to obtain a Ghanaian Pilots licence, the only black female aircraft inspector in the UK for the light Aircraft Association and British Microlight Aircraft Association
On Facebook Metal Seagulls wrote: “The Metal Seagulls team are fabulously proud to have received the following notification today: Her Majesty The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint Patricia Mawuli Porter as an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). This honour is conferred on Patricia by Her Majesty in recognition of services to Aviation.”
The Metal Seagulls added: “Thank you to all who have supported and encouraged Patricia in her journey that has led to this recognition.”
Local councillor, Tim Evans, added to the praise, and said: “I had the pleasure this morning of meeting the owners of Metal Seagulls Aerospace company, Jonathan & Patricia Porter OBE at their base at Haverfordwest Airport.
“Patricia’s story on how she got into the Aerospace industry is like something out of a Hollywood movie.
“[Amongst her other achievements] Patricia is the only woman worldwide to be factory trained by Rotax Aircraft Engines and ULP Power Aero Engines and for the last twelve months they have been running their successful aviation business at Haverfordwest Aerodrome.
“So no wonder that only in the last week Patricia has been awarded as an honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the The Queen in recognition of her services to Aviation.
“This couple are certainly flying the flag for the Aviation industry in Pembrokeshire.”
On Facebook many locals have given their congratulations, with Peter Stock saying: “Delighted she is in our town and Airport”.
Liz Clarke and Mandy Bennett described the couple as “truly inspirational” and “fabulous people”
On their website, company says: “The Metal Seagulls Team are passionate about all things aviation and engineering. We have many years of hands-on experience in light aircraft build, maintenance, adaptation, operation and related engineering solutions. From our base at Haverfordwest Airport in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK, we are able to offer a wide range of support from the odd cotterpin to builder support with build in our centre.
“We are a family business and our directors, Jonathan and Patricia Porter, are both LAA and BMAA inspectors, both factory trained at ULPower, Zenith/Zenair and Rotax, enabling them to provide a great service to their clients.
“The company personnel have extensive in-field experiences in building and flying aircraft in West Africa, where our directors were distributors for Rotax Aircraft Engines, X-Air and Zenith (Zenair), provides a great base from which to support various OEMs, NGOs, specialist operators and home-builders alike.”
