Fly-past a final farewell to pioneer pilot with a larrikin spirit
FLIGHT is freedom in its purest form,
To dance with the clouds which follow a storm.
THESE words began the tribute poem Impressions of a Pilot which Ross Pay read yesterday to about 1000 people gathered at Saint Andrews Uniting Church, Scone, in the NSW Hunter Valley to farewell his father, pioneering aviator Col Pay.
Mr Pay, 75, died last Friday when his Air Tractor 802 plane crashed in Lake Liddell, between Muswellbrook and Singleton.
He is understood to have been testing the fire-bomber, by scooping up water, when the machine clipped the surface, flipped and sank where the lake was about eight metres deep.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators are expected to release a preliminary report in a month on the cause of the crash.
Mr Pay was considered a legend within the flying fraternity because of his passion for restoring old warbirds, dedication to aviation and the success of his crop-dusting and fire-bombing business.
He grew up at Narromine where he developed his love of planes, began learning to fly in 1951, obtained his pilot's licence in 1953 and became a commercial pilot in 1957 before moving to Scone and starting Pay's Air Service.
During yesterday's funeral, Ross told the congregation his father had been his hero and best mate.
Col Pay was a strong, loving, cheeky man who, although deaf when it suited, was the best role model anyone could wish for, his son said.
Ross recalled what could be considered his father's philosophy to life.
One day when complimented for his success, Col answered: "The harder I work the luckier I get."
Those who came to the funeral filled the church and nearby hall, which had video coverage of the service, and about 500 people crowded the grounds between the church and the hall.
Friends and relatives who spoke during proceedings described Mr Pay, first and foremost, as a dedicated family man and secondly as a pilot, historic aircraft enthusiast and businessman.
He was a hard working, practical and generous person who maintained a larrikin spirit, continued to learn and innovate all his life and most often chose to speak through actions, rather than words, they said.
Following the funeral, Mr Pay was buried at Scone Lawn Cemetery in a ceremony which ended with a fly-past by three planes.
The first to come in over the gathering was Mr Pay's private Cessna, then an Air Tractor, like the one in which he died, and the last was a Spitfire that performed loops and barrel rolls before disappearing into the clouds.
Source: The Herald, NSW
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A good tribute to a dedicated Aviator/Restorer
With Respected Regards
Robbie
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