Leigh Allison (Resasi)

[GyrOZprey]

I interviewed Leigh in depth at Bensen Days - for E-zine articles ...it was a detailed article ...be published soon on the pra.org website!

 

[Sv.grainne]

I met Leigh around the time that Todd was threatening to shut the forum down. Leigh was in the middle of his Gyro Technic build and was using his posts here to document the build. I scraped all of his posts and put them on a DVD.

He later provided me with a single place transition guide and we carried on frequent discussions.

 

[Abid]

Very sad to hear this news. My condolences to his friends and family. Wish he had more time to enjoy his gyroplane flying.
Fly safe up there Leigh

 

[Gyro Technic]

........ it would be wonderful if a knowledgeable person wrote up a bio and posted it.

His sons are working on putting together a book celebrating his life's journey.
I'm sure that they would be willing to let me share it here once it is ready.
Denis

 

[dbgross]

Leigh took me under his wing when we moved to London and introduced me to a fascinating club, "The In and Out Club" for servicemen when they come back to London. What a great guy, wonderful stories, so nice of him to introduce us to things in London. He wrote two fiction books, one about the Rhodesian War and a second about a diamond being smuggled out of Africa. Both unpublished but really quite good!

Leigh with my wife at his club.

 

[Sv.grainne]

Leigh and I spoke at length on several occasions about transitioning to a single place Gyro.

He wrote up a very nice guide and I used it extensively after my rotor strike. In his honor I'm going to post it here and on the PRA Website.

 

[loftus]

Never met Leigh, only interacted through this forum, but he was always a gentleman. R.I.P.

 

[Kevin_Richey]

...He wrote up a very nice guide and I used it extensively after my rotor strike. In his honor I'm going to post it here and on the PRA Website.

How soon, Bobby? I'd like to read that.

 

[Sv.grainne]

Later today

 

[dbgross]

I was saddened to attend Leigh's funeral today. I met a fellow gyro pilot friend of his who now lives in the Netherlands. Lots of his friends were there from time when he flew jets in Kenya and Saudi Arabia. His son's Tristan and Stuart gave a wonderful Eulogy remarking on all the hobbies he had from deep sea fishing, scuba diving, gyroplanes, a love of flying and a passion for his children and grandchildren. He lost his parents (Dad was a pilot ) in a plane crash when Leigh was 11, he then went to a British boarding school. He had grown up in Kenya. He had various health challenges over the years, was on dialysis and lost pilots medical as a result, got a kidney that lasted 20 years. Always very positive, never complained about challenges. Was looking forward to his next Benson Days!

Do not stand
By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep—
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush,
I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the day transcending night.
Do not stand
By my grave, and cry—
I am not there,
I did not die.

 

[Sv.grainne]

I was saddened to attend Leigh's funeral today. I met a fellow gyro pilot friend of his who now lives in the Netherlands. Lots of his friends were there from time when he flew jets in Kenya and Saudi Arabia. His son's Tristan and Stuart gave a wonderful Eulogy remarking on all the hobbies he had from deep sea fishing, scuba diving, gyroplanes, a love of flying and a passion for his children and grandchildren. He lost his parents (Dad was a pilot ) in a plane crash when Leigh was 11, he then went to a British boarding school. He had grown up in Kenya. He had various health challenges over the years, was on dialysis and lost pilots medical as a result, got a kidney that lasted 20 years. Always very positive, never complained about challenges. Was looking forward to his next Benson Days!

Do not stand
By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep—
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush,
I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the day transcending night.
Do not stand
By my grave, and cry—
I am not there,
I did not die.

Thanks for the update.

 

[TyroGyro]

I was saddened to attend Leigh's funeral today. I met a fellow gyro pilot friend of his who now lives in the Netherlands. Lots of his friends were there from time when he flew jets in Kenya and Saudi Arabia. His son's Tristan and Stuart gave a wonderful Eulogy remarking on all the hobbies he had from deep sea fishing, scuba diving, gyroplanes, a love of flying and a passion for his children and grandchildren. He lost his parents (Dad was a pilot ) in a plane crash when Leigh was 11, he then went to a British boarding school. He had grown up in Kenya. He had various health challenges over the years, was on dialysis and lost pilots medical as a result, got a kidney that lasted 20 years. Always very positive, never complained about challenges. Was looking forward to his next Benson Days!

Do not stand
By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep—
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush,
I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the day transcending night.
Do not stand
By my grave, and cry—
I am not there,
I did not die.

Sometime at eve when the tide is low,
I shall slip my mooring and sail away
With no response to the friendly hail
Of kindred craft in the busy bay.

In the silent hush of the twilight pale
When the night stoops down to embrace the day
And the voices call in the waters' flow…
Sometime at eve when the tide is low
I shall slip my mooring and sail away.

Through the purpling shadows that darkly trail
O’er the ebbing tide of the Unknown Sea,
I shall fare me away, with a dip of sail
And a ripple of waters to tell the tale
Of a lonely voyager, sailing away
To the Mystic Isles where at anchor lay
The crafts of those who have sailed before
O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unseen Shore.

A few who have watched me sail away
Will miss my craft from the busy bay;
Some friendly barques that were anchored near,
Some loving souls that my heart held dear,
In silent sorrow will drop a tear—

But I shall have peacefully furled my sail
In moorings sheltered from storm or gale
And greeted the friends who have sailed before
O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unseen Shore.

---Elizabeth Clark Hardy

 

[Andino]

How sad! I'd met him only in passing, but wish I'd known him earlier and better. His aviation experience was remarkable. RIP Resasi!

 

[TyroGyro]

Ironically, Leigh wrote the obituary for Tony Melody, https://www.rotaryforum.com/threads/tony-melody-mr-gyro-rip.1148674/
published in the August 2024 edition of "Light Aviation", the magazine of the UK's Light Aircraft Association...

Leigh passed on less than 2 months after Tony.