Australia has lost one of its great aviators with the death this week of Jim Hazelton.
One of the founders of Hazelton Airlines and very experienced ag and ferry pilot, Jim died on Tuesday 11 June, just 10 days short of his 83rd birthday.
Jim founded Hazelton Airlines in the early 1960s along with his brother Max, but left the company to form Navair, which would go on to train a generation of new pilots in Australia.
His logbook included well over 200 Pacific crossings, during which he never lost an aeroplane, and was one of the first people to make the trip in a single-engined aeroplane.
Family friend Grant Burley sums-up the character of Jim Hazelton with warm words.
"A modest person, Jim was and one of the greatest aviators and gifted pilots this country has seen.
"There are few people in the aviation community that have not known of him and the many achievements and contributions he made to general aviation.
"He imparted knowledge upon all who had the privilege to sit next to the master, and there were many.
"He was unselfish with his time and went out of his way to help others with the art of flying aircraft, often to his own detriment."
One of Jim's recent ferry jobs was to bring PBY Catalina VH-CAT to Australia from Portugal, and in 2011 joined Jeremy Rowsell in raising money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service by flying a Beech A36 from Oakland to Australia, following the route taken by Kingsford Smith in 1927.
They were just two adventures in a flying career that could have topped 50,000 flying hours.
Jim is survived by his wife, Pam, seven of eight children and several grandchildren.