Bill Rewarded For Hanging Around

By Marcus Braid on March 10, 2015 in

Australian hang gliding pioneer Bill ‘The Birdman’ Moyes has added another addition to his already impressive trophy cabinet.

The 82 year-old Bronte local recently received the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) gold medal in recognition of his longstanding contribution to aviation through hang gliding.

The medal is one of the highest accolades awarded by the FAI and Bill joins the likes of legendary trans-Atlantic aviator Charles Lindbergh, glider inventor John Dickenson, first human in space Yuri Gagarin and the first pilot to break the sound barrier, Chuck Yeager, on the FAI honour boards.

His amazing feats of gliding through the Grand Canyon and leaping off Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa have long been recognised. In 1995 he was inducted into the NASA Space & Technology Hall of Fame and in 1998 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his contribution to sport.

Although the sky has been Bill’s home for more than 40 years, when his feet are firmly planted back on terra firma he loves nothing better than jumping into the briny for an early morning swim at his beloved Bronte Beach, where he was born.

It was here he was first hypnotised by the effortless flight of sea birds, and he turned that fascination into a passion that still remains today.

“I would chase seagulls along Bronte beach when I was a kid and often dreamed of jumping off a ledge and flying like them,” Bill said.

“John Dickenson was the first Australian to design a hang glider and in 1967 I became his first test pilot. I jumped off Mt Crackenback unassisted with snow skis on. I was a keen water skier and the gliders around in those days were towed by a boat and you landed on the water.”

Since those halcyon days Bill has become a major force and his Moyes Delta Gliders have made major inroads in the world of hang gliding, with a swathe of titles to their name.