Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Both sides previous revision Previous revision Next revision | Previous revision Next revisionBoth sides next revision | ||
more_thomas_m-ps [2020/06/12 12:22] – judith | more_thomas_m-ps [2020/06/12 14:35] – [Richard John M-P] judith | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
Richard John (12 June 1945 - 8 December 2001) was remembered in his eulogy as a ' | Richard John (12 June 1945 - 8 December 2001) was remembered in his eulogy as a ' | ||
\\ | \\ | ||
- | This vibrant man was born at his parents' | + | This vibrant man was born at his parents' |
\\ | \\ | ||
Richard as a baby{{: | Richard as a baby{{: | ||
\\ | \\ | ||
- | Richard M-P with his elder brother: | + | Richard M-P with his elder brother: in July 1948, {{: |
\\ | \\ | ||
- | On leaving school, Richard' | + | On leaving school, Richard' |
\\ | \\ | ||
Richard turned 20 in 1965, a year after Australia introduced compulsory national service for 20-year-old males, and the year before conscripts could be sent to fight in the Vietnam War. He was rejected on health grounds as his kidneys were damaged from his childhood illness. He also had an irregular-shaped iris which required him to wear sunglasses in the bright sunshine. At the time he regretted not having the opportunity to experience Army life overseas.\\ | Richard turned 20 in 1965, a year after Australia introduced compulsory national service for 20-year-old males, and the year before conscripts could be sent to fight in the Vietnam War. He was rejected on health grounds as his kidneys were damaged from his childhood illness. He also had an irregular-shaped iris which required him to wear sunglasses in the bright sunshine. At the time he regretted not having the opportunity to experience Army life overseas.\\ | ||
\\ | \\ | ||
- | Richard returned to Cairns in the mid-1966 to work in his father’s business. Richard' | + | Richard returned to Cairns in the mid-1966 to work in his father’s business. Richard' |
+ | \\ | ||
+ | Richard had always had a love of flying. Encouraged by his father and his father' | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | Amagraze operated prawn trawlers and they contracted Richard to fly in the Gulf of Carpentaria to find the prawns and notify the trawlers where the ‘prawn boils’ were to be found. A ‘prawn boil’ is a discolouration of the water caused by the prawns emerging from mud. Richard and a friend formed a company, purchased a Twin Comanche long range aircraft, and formed Outback Air. Over the next 28 years, Richard took the skill of finding prawns from a chance operation to a highly-skilled and technical process. He was able, using water temperature, | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | After a few years, Richard and Ilma bought out their partners who were keen to move south. Ilma gave up teaching to take on the day-to-day running of the company. By this time, Outback Air leased five aircraft and had its own engineering set-up. Richard inspired their pilots. This was demonstrated when QANTAS’s recruiting department congratulated him on the fact they employed more pilots from his small family company than any other single charter operation. On the home front, in the mid-1970s, Richard and Ilma had a daughter.\\ | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | Outback Air was not just about prawns. During these years both Richard and Ilma spent a lot of time travelling to and staying in Aboriginal communities, | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | The Royal Flying Doctor Service was another important aspect of Outback Air's work. Richard did a lot of gratis piloting for the Service, sometimes using his own aircraft and at other times flying their aircraft. He saw this as his way of giving back to the outback he loved so much.Outback Air was also frequently chartered to fly contractors and State and Federal politicians to the Torres Straits. More dangerously, | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | One time, just after Richard obtained his private licence, he flew to a cattle station to deliver emergency rations after a cyclone. As he landed, he encountered a roll of fencing wire, blown there by the cyclone, and it wrapped itself around the front of the plane. Nobody had thought to check the landing strip. The next incident was years later when he was returning to Cairns from a charter. It was dark night with a thunderstorm between his position and the Cairns airport. His aircraft lost all its electrics including radios and undercarriage motor. When Richard eventually landed, it was with his wheels up in a blaze of sparks. Given he still had a lot of fuel stored in the auxiliary wing tip tanks, Richard quickly left the plane in case it blew up. The third incident was when Richard and Ilma were spotting for prawns over Fog Bay in the Northern Territory and had an encounter with a Lesser Frigate bird with a wing span of one and a half meters. The bird smashed the windscreen, hit Ilma on the way through and ended up in the back of the cabin. Following a ‘Pan’ call Richard flew the plane back to Darwin. A few stitches later, a new windscreen and aerials, and a sustained industrial clean to remove fish and bird parts, they were able to resume spotting.\\ | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | Richard and Ilma sold Outback Air in 1985. The next two years were spent primarily in the Torres Straits helping the Islanders to establish their own crayfish businesses. They helped the Islanders to process, pack, store and market their catches. Richard purchased a boat named Moi-Kuzi (meaning successful hunting) and sailed it up from Cairns with friends. Following this trip Richard declared “Adventure is sheer terror recollected in tranquillity”. | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | On returning to Cairns, Richard accepted a government contract to assist Aboriginal people living in their communities to establish businesses and make them profitable. During this time Ilma worked for the Royal Flying Doctor Service to establish and run its Visitors Centre catering to domestic and international visitors. They then relocated to Townsville, while maintaining their house and ties in Cairns. The move to Townsville was because their children were both living there. | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | Richard became ill in 2001. Following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, he died only six weeks later. A great joy was that he got to hold his daughter' | ||
- | {{: | + | |
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | \\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | {{: | ||