Victim of fatal gliding crash died doing what he loved
Jan 20, 2022 9:18:26 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 20, 2022 9:18:26 GMT 12
'Flying in another realm': Victim of fatal gliding crash died doing what he loved
Jonathan Guildford and Hanna McCallum
21:03, Jan 19 2022
Robert Martin, also known as Bob, hang gliding in North Otago in the early 1980s. MARTIN FAMILY/SUPPLIED
At 72 years old, Robert Martin was still taking to the skies, doing what he loved.
“He almost lived to fly,” chief pilot of Omarama Gliding Club Gavin Wills said.
Emergency services were alerted to a glider crash on Mt St Cuthbert, near Omarama, south of Twizel,about 2.15pm on Monday.
For Martin’s family, the “heartbreaking” news of his death was accompanied by some comfort he had died doing what he loved.
“One minute he was doing his thing – flying was literally his thing – and the next minute he was flying in another realm,” his daughter Sheena Martin said.
Two days later, Sheena Martin along with her two younger brothers, mother and Robert Martin’s best friend, visited the crash site.
His glider remained at the site, though it didn’t “resemble much of a glider any more”, Sheena Martin said.
“He flew the entire length of the South Island, just him and his plane, soaring up there, no engines, just his wings, that was him.
Martin, who was the victim of a fatal glider crash, was also a keen artist, painting life-sized painting of the extinct Haast Eagle. MARTIN FAMILY/SUPPLIED
“It was just fitting that this is how he is leaving us.”
Growing up in Essex in the United Kingdom, Robert Martin, also known as Bob, started flying as a hang glider, hang gliding across the UK.
Sheena Martin said he studied in art school in London, but his adventurous personality led him to getting sponsored as a hang gliding pilot in the UK, competing in British leagues.
He was also a sponsored surfer, travelling around the world surfing and flying, she said.
“He was always into the action and adventure.”
Meeting pilots in the United States led him to visiting New Zealand in his early 30s, where he met his first wife and later had three children.
Martin began hang gliding in the UK in the 1970s when he was flying in the British Hang Gliding League competitions. MARTIN FAMILY/SUPPLIED
“He always used to tell stories about him and Mum’s adventures overseas and all of his adventures and all of his dreams as well,” Sheena Martin said.
While he had a love for adventure, Robert Martin was also an “incredible artist”, designing book covers, digital illustrations and painting, she said.
Wills described him as “a bit of a Bohemian character” but who was “highly organised”.
He owned an art gallery in Gore for some time and did projects painting large scale Haast eagles.
“He was an artist in his own right.”
Wills said Martin picked up gliding later in life, about 15 years ago, but had since clocked up almost 1100 hours of flying, becoming an experienced glider.
A serious injury which saw him break his back around the time the pair met did not stop him from returning to flying, he said.
“He would drive with his glider trailer in his van and park under the trees, living in his van.
“He just loved to fly.”
Sheena Martin said “nothing could stop him from flying” and there was “no slowing him down”.
He even had plans to get back into windsurfing with his best friend next week, she said.
“He didn’t think he was 72.”
He had an “amazing charisma and a way of connecting with everyone that he crossed paths with... Everybody loved him,” she said.
Her younger brother, James Martin, had recently returned to New Zealand for a holiday, while living in Germany.
“This is the last thing we could imagine happening, but it’s just so good that he’s here.”
Going to the crash site brought closure to the family, she said.
“It’s heartbreaking but at the same time, we’re also glad he was doing his favourite thing in the world to do, that he was flying, in all different forms he just loved to fly, it was what he did.”
A memorial service for Martin was to be held at the Omarama Gliding Club airfield.
www.stuff.co.nz/national/127539470/flying-in-another-realm-victim-of-fatal-gliding-crash-died-doing-what-he-loved
Jonathan Guildford and Hanna McCallum
21:03, Jan 19 2022
Robert Martin, also known as Bob, hang gliding in North Otago in the early 1980s. MARTIN FAMILY/SUPPLIED
At 72 years old, Robert Martin was still taking to the skies, doing what he loved.
“He almost lived to fly,” chief pilot of Omarama Gliding Club Gavin Wills said.
Emergency services were alerted to a glider crash on Mt St Cuthbert, near Omarama, south of Twizel,about 2.15pm on Monday.
For Martin’s family, the “heartbreaking” news of his death was accompanied by some comfort he had died doing what he loved.
“One minute he was doing his thing – flying was literally his thing – and the next minute he was flying in another realm,” his daughter Sheena Martin said.
Two days later, Sheena Martin along with her two younger brothers, mother and Robert Martin’s best friend, visited the crash site.
His glider remained at the site, though it didn’t “resemble much of a glider any more”, Sheena Martin said.
“He flew the entire length of the South Island, just him and his plane, soaring up there, no engines, just his wings, that was him.
Martin, who was the victim of a fatal glider crash, was also a keen artist, painting life-sized painting of the extinct Haast Eagle. MARTIN FAMILY/SUPPLIED
“It was just fitting that this is how he is leaving us.”
Growing up in Essex in the United Kingdom, Robert Martin, also known as Bob, started flying as a hang glider, hang gliding across the UK.
Sheena Martin said he studied in art school in London, but his adventurous personality led him to getting sponsored as a hang gliding pilot in the UK, competing in British leagues.
He was also a sponsored surfer, travelling around the world surfing and flying, she said.
“He was always into the action and adventure.”
Meeting pilots in the United States led him to visiting New Zealand in his early 30s, where he met his first wife and later had three children.
Martin began hang gliding in the UK in the 1970s when he was flying in the British Hang Gliding League competitions. MARTIN FAMILY/SUPPLIED
“He always used to tell stories about him and Mum’s adventures overseas and all of his adventures and all of his dreams as well,” Sheena Martin said.
While he had a love for adventure, Robert Martin was also an “incredible artist”, designing book covers, digital illustrations and painting, she said.
Wills described him as “a bit of a Bohemian character” but who was “highly organised”.
He owned an art gallery in Gore for some time and did projects painting large scale Haast eagles.
“He was an artist in his own right.”
Wills said Martin picked up gliding later in life, about 15 years ago, but had since clocked up almost 1100 hours of flying, becoming an experienced glider.
A serious injury which saw him break his back around the time the pair met did not stop him from returning to flying, he said.
“He would drive with his glider trailer in his van and park under the trees, living in his van.
“He just loved to fly.”
Sheena Martin said “nothing could stop him from flying” and there was “no slowing him down”.
He even had plans to get back into windsurfing with his best friend next week, she said.
“He didn’t think he was 72.”
He had an “amazing charisma and a way of connecting with everyone that he crossed paths with... Everybody loved him,” she said.
Her younger brother, James Martin, had recently returned to New Zealand for a holiday, while living in Germany.
“This is the last thing we could imagine happening, but it’s just so good that he’s here.”
Going to the crash site brought closure to the family, she said.
“It’s heartbreaking but at the same time, we’re also glad he was doing his favourite thing in the world to do, that he was flying, in all different forms he just loved to fly, it was what he did.”
A memorial service for Martin was to be held at the Omarama Gliding Club airfield.
www.stuff.co.nz/national/127539470/flying-in-another-realm-victim-of-fatal-gliding-crash-died-doing-what-he-loved
