Richard Rayward - From Cameraman to Venison Pilot to Air Safaris CEO
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2024
- Richard Rayward has an incredible 60 years of aviation history that began back in 1966 when he quit his job and moved to live in a remote high altitude area of South Westland to hunt venison. With him he took his new wife, his new Cessna 180, and 70 hours total flight time. Since then he has created and stills runs (with his family) Air Safaris based in Tekapo.
NOTE: I do apologise for the very average video quality in this interview. I am investing in new lighting equipment and upskilling myself to do my best to improve in the future. For this reason I have decided to not include the first few minutes of this interview which had some serious focussing issues due poor lighting conditions.
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0:00 Introduction
1:26 Previous career
7:56 Mark's Flat/Learning to Fly
26:38 Venison Recovery with C180
34:33 Tony Hawker
41:20 Formation of Air Safaris
1:03:53 Pilatus Porter
1:06:28 Ski Planes
1:08:54 GAF Nomad
1:18:01 Dealing with Civil Aviation
1:22:20 IFR Operations
1:28:06 Franz Josef Operation
1:31:52 1998 Accident
1:42:56 Airvan, Caravan, Helicopters
1:52:31 New Pilots/Training
1:57:46 Personal Involvement in Business
2:00:06 Coast to Coast
2:03:37 Safety Awards
2:09:52 Taking Risks in Life
2:13:36 Ethics & Leadership in Business
2:20:00 Final Questions
2:23:09 Original 1967/68 Footage
2:33:48 Air Safaris Facebook Photos
I have a huge amount of respect for Richard after working with him and Air Safaris when they operated a schedule service for Air NZ out of Timaru Airport. Air Safaris and team were such a professional operation. Richard is a true scholar and gentleman, a person you do not find very often in your life.
Thanks for an excellent interview , for the odd time we have had our boots in the high country together and yarning over a "cuppa".
Thankyou :)
Fantastic interview with a very interesting person who has made a real impact on aviation in the South Island
Thanks for the feedback. Pleased you enjoyed Richards story !
I had a lot to do with Richard when I worked in flight service at Timaru Airport in the 1970's and 1980's. A lovely guy to work with and always extremely polite. He was then based at Mesopotamia and then Lake Tekapo.
Great video Craig. Awesome to see aviation legends like Richard sharing their stories and encouraging new pilots
Thankyou! Yes it's been great being a little part of sharing Richards story.
Excellent podcast, so interesting to get the full story, what an achievement, well done Richard.
What a fantastic podcast. An incredible story. Well done to everyone involved. I look forward to reading the book.
Have just seen your interview with Richard a very good indent interview with a all round guy I remember when Richard first got the porter he took off across the runway at Dunedin airport once again thanks sharing and keep up the good work
Cheers!
Looking forward to watching this tonight :-)
Tekapo Airport operated by Air Safaris illegally for nearly 24 years. It had no planning or resource consent until 1998. This was confirmed by the Environment Court.
Air Safaris was granted planning consent in 1975 by the Mackenzie County Council subject to conditions. Air Safaris appealed one of those conditions at the time, but it was never heard until 1998. No consent is valid until all appeals are disposed off.
Richard Rayward misrepresented the lawful status of Tekapo Airport up to 1998. He objected to my companies resource consent applications for helicopter operations on Cowans Hill, Lake Tekapo. Those objections led to two public hearings and one Environment Court appeal at great cost to both myself personally and the ratepayers of the Mackenzie District. It was only later that it was learn't that Air Safaris submissions had no lawful weight whatsover.
If anyone wants to confirm these facts (which are a matter of record), they are welcome to contact me on 027 560 9618.