Passion for flying shaped his life
Te Anau pilot
FROM Tiger Moth to gyrocopter, Bill Black did it his way. Mr Black was known to many as a top Te Anau pilot who had a gruff but generous nature.
His wife, Shirley Black, said his family had gathered together during his final days — Mr Black died on July 1, aged
76, in Invercargill.
He was well known for his love of flying, which Mrs Black said he discovered at a young age. He was only 17 when he got his private pilot’s licence.
As of March 2000, he had flown 129 different aircraft. That passion influenced many aspects of his life, from how he met his wife to his career choices and his hobbies.
He moved to Te Anau in February 1964 and started work for Ritchie Air Services flying fixedwing planes.
After a few years there, he began working on Sir Tim Wallis’ venison recovery operation then branched out into flying tourists and helping with search and rescue.
He also dedicated time as a volunteer firefighter for 28 years.
His health began deteriorating about 20 years ago; in 2004, he had major heart surgery, and eight years ago began having strokes. He was also diagnosed with vascular dementia and had been in care for about three and ahalf years.
After Mr Black had heart surgery and could no longer fly as a career, he got his skipper’s ticket and took a barge once a week to carry stores up to the Milford Track. He also began driving a school bus but retired when the strokes began.
Shortly after his death, Mrs Black spent time looking at photographs and awards he had received; those included an MBE in 1977 and the Jean Batten Memorial Trophy for his contribution to New Zealand Aviation in 2014 in London. He received the Robert E. Trimble Award, which honours a qualified pilot who is especially distinguished in mountain flying, in 1979 in Las Vegas.
In August 2000, he received a
New Zealand Police certificate of appreciation for his effort in search and rescue, and he received a Southland District Council community services award in 2014 for his contribution to aviation.
Department of Conservation directorgeneral Lou Sanson said Mr Black was a brilliant, largely selftaught pilot who was a pioneer in deer recovery and who saved countless lives during more than 500 search and rescue missions.
“Sharing stories with Doc colleagues, Bill is remembered as a gruff but lovely guy who was always there to help — ‘Just don’t slam the doors.’
“Bill smoked while flying. He possessed the ability to roll a durry or pack a pipe while flying the helicopter with his knees.’’
Mr Black made a massive contribution to conservation where his flying skills played a key role in Doc’s kakapo recovery work in the 1970s.
These adventures were detailed in his biography, I Did It My Way, which was published in 2013.
It was compiled and edited by fellow pilot Merv Halliday, who wrote in his own obituary for Mr Black that the book’s title, named after the Frank Sinatra song, was a good fit with Mr Black’s philosophy.
Mr Halliday described how, at the time of writing the book, Mrs Black was ‘‘horrified’’ at the number of swear words.
‘‘You see, in Bill’s mind, everybody was a bastard.
Albeit, everybody was a good bastard.’’
An extract from the book described a momentous occasion for Mr Black in 1957.
‘‘Don Telford took me to the Alexandra Blossom Festival so I could participate in a model aircraft display. This day was to be a day which I shall forever remember.
‘‘Mrs Sutherland was giving joyrides in an older model Cessna 172, the cost being 10 shillings. I was so impressed with this flying lark that I joined the back of the queue and lined up again and went for another flight. At the age of 14, I guess that 20 shillings I spent was to be an investment that was to shape my future destiny.’’
Mrs Black described him as kind, generous and safetyconscious.
‘‘He came across sometimes as being quite gruff, quite tough. But he was a big softie.’’
They first met about 37 years ago, when he took her father up for a helicopter ride.
It was the second marriage for both of them, and as a combined family, he had three daughters. They married on July 7, 1989. Mrs Black said he flew model aeroplanes, but his real passion was the gyrocopter he bought in 1996.
‘‘It really looked like a flying bicycle . . . that was his joy.’’ Anything that flew, he loved. ‘‘Anybody who flew with him knew they had to be careful around the helicopter. He was very fussy — if they did anything wrong, they got told off.’’
William Arthur Black was born in Owaka on August 18, 1943, and attended Waiwera South Primary School.
His parents were lighthouse keepers at the Nugget Point Lighthouse near Kaka Point, and he spent his high school years in Balclutha at South Otago High School.
‘‘But he always wanted to fly so he left there as soon as he could. I think . . . he worked very hard until he could buy his own Tiger Moth.’’
He left high school in 1959 and worked at the Finegand Freezing works.
Mr Black is survived by wife, Shirley, and daughters Marlene Black, Janine O’Connor and Michelle Coombes as well as his three siblings, Margaret McColl and John and Neil Black.
— Laura Smith