Last night Bob Hay passed away.
He was a figure that is synonymous with both my childhood memories at Baragwanath Aerodrome and my growth into becoming a pilot myself. Uncle Bob taught me so much about flying and about life. He had a spirit that was unquenchable and the lightest touch when he flew an aeroplane. Uncle Bob taught me how to do slow rolls in the Tiger Moth, about the intricacies of a Gypsy Major engine, how best to tame the Tiger and what good airmanship was all about. One of my earliest memories is flying with Uncle Bob in FZF back from an event in Rustenberg, when he passed me the map before we took off and said 'you take us home'. He nudged my young nerves along by pointing out various landmarks to help me match them to the map and offered words of encouragement to spur my triumph at getting us back to BaraG. There is an image of Uncle Bob that stays with me as the embodiment of a true aviator, standing next to his Tiger, holding his flying helmet with ski goggles and wearing thick World War 2 era flying boots. Uncle Bob always wanted to be involved in whatever was going on, even when his Parkinsons got bad. He was in our hangar offering advice, wielding a spanner and looking closely at whatever mechanical intricacies he was helping to solve through his thick glasses. Uncle Bob's stories are interwoven with the hangar talk that my father reminisces about, and he has made an indelible impression on my family and I. I am privileged to have known him and can only hope to be the sort of aviator that he was. Uncle Bob was a gentleman, a mentor and a friend. He will be sorely missed and his passing is a loss for all of us.
1 Comment
I am busy reading the autobiography of one of my role models, David Attenborough. Quite appropriately titled 'Life on Air', it is the story of his adventures throughout the world, documenting wildlife.
There is one passage in particular that piqued my attention, and it comes from a chapter where he embarks on a trip to Guiana in South America to film the second season of 'Zoo Quest'. So here goes (and you have to read this in his voice): "Today, anyone starting on such a trip would, of course, have carefully researched script, long lists of contacts and pages of detailed itineraries. There would be lengthy telephone conversations by satellite half way round the world and exchanges of emails with scientists defining exactly the optimum time to film a particular species. Chartered aircraft and ferries would have been booked, accommodation reserved, detailed costings approved, film editing suites and recording theaters allocated and completion dates agreed. In March 1955, it seemed sufficient for me to say airily that we would be back some time in June with, I hoped, enough material for six half-hour programmes; and for Cyril Jackson, on behalf of the Talks Department, to tell me not to spend more than a thousand pounds while I was away." I have just concluded this series, and the final episode is perhaps the most inspiring and hopeful. I continue to be astounded by this man. I remember watching him many years ago while he was filmed interacting with Mountain Gorillas in Central Africa and I was spellbound. I still think that he has the coolest job in the world, not the Top Gear Team (although to be fair, Clarkson's passé used to have the best job in the world...maybe).
It is incredible how he is able to retain that childlike wonder even thou he is now 90 year old. Even as an adult, I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment of Attenborough's adventures, and his documentaries get better and better, although how that is possible, I can't quite work out. At the end of last year it started with 'Life Story', shortly followed by 'The Hunt'. Both of these series confirmed again that perhaps I should have tried out as a Wildlife Film maker, or at the very least a conservationist. Romantic thoughts, but probably not practical. I did make an amateur documentary when I began high school, in all fairness. It wasn't very good, and quite a frustrating enterprise as I tried to use our VCR (those born post 1990 probably won't know what this is) that was married to another VCR via a series of coloured cables. It was tenuous in that I had to time playing the one tape to the recording of the other with what I had in mind to say somewhere in between. Funny how much easier technology has made things... But back to 'Life Story'. Whoever said that you learn something new every day was absolutely spot on. And there was so much to learn through each episode. Did you know that there is a species of Malaysian octopus that has worked out hoe to protect itself by carrying around two halves of a coconut in which is hides? Or how Barnacle Geese chicks skydive from perilously high nests crash landing on hard rock and somehow survive. There is the Racket-tailed Hummingbird that is so small that it competes for nectar with bees and has to dodge raindrops in flight. There are some hermit crabs that arrange themselves into an orderly line, smallest to largest when a big shell washed up on the beach so that when the largest crab takes occupation of the new shell, he sets off a chain reaction where every crab swaps their shell for the vacated bigger one. There is the Archer Fish that shoots a jet of liquid from beneath the water to dislodge an insect from a branch that overhangs his pond,and the physics of getting that aim right is incredible. My favorite, though, is a rather drab puffer fish that builds the most exquisite pattern on the ocean floor, rivaling currents and perspective, with precision that I think we could never match. Then there is 'The Hunt' which was not on,y fascinating, but also groundbreaking in the way in which the filmmakers managed to capture such unique footage...some never seen before. Watching a Blue Whale, in all of its enormous splendor open its gigantic mouth to feed of s pod of krill was impressive. As was watching a pack of wild dogs chase down a wildebeest from both the air and alongside each dog. Seeing a polar bare take to the water and use various ice holes to hunt seals. There was the expert camouflage of both leopards and tigers and how they out it to good use. And then there are the dolphins, that leave the safety of the ocean to fish, chasing their quarry onto sandy and muddy banks and then scoffing themselves full of the beached fish. Incredible... Most recently though, I watched 'Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur'. And it was amazing. The sheer size of the bones that they found in Patagonia was just incredible. From the first femur which was taller that a full-grown man, to the enormous heart that beat every five seconds to pump 90 liters of blood around the body in that single beat. The titanosaur was brought to life with computer animation that showed what the animal would have looked like based on the comprehensive skeleton that was exposed as well as the full size replica of the giant. The documentary even explored the life cycle of this dinosaur and ones just like it, with fossilized eggs with shells that show a perfectly preserved texture and even fossilized baby dinosaur skin! The seventy tonne behemoth is the largest dinosaur ever discovered and might be the largest animal that ever walked earth...and the one that they found was still growing! People talk about the meaning of life, and I suspect that there are so many meanings, that change with age and experience, but I think that maintaining curiosity is part of that meaning. And Sir David Attenborough has achieved just that for himself but even more noteworthy, is that he has done it for many others as well. Myself included. |
ContentSome thoughts about things, sometimes philosophical, sometimes just musings. The world through my eyes... Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|