Our latest Inspired Edinburgh guest is John Mckenzie.


John, also known as The Flying Farmer, is a helicopter pilot, farmer and green energy advocate.


An ex-Army Air Corps helicopter pilot, he's flown on military and commercial operations worldwide for over 20 years and has more than 8,000 hours flying experience.


His flying has also included aerial filming of events such as the Great North Run, the Great Scottish Swim, the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup as well as television programmes including Monarch of the Glen, Monty Hall Great Escape, Bear Grylls Born Survivor and 3 Men in a Boat, and in 2015 he was Nicola Sturgeon's pilot during her general election campaign.


Most recently he's founded GlenWyvis Distillery, built on history - powered by nature. In the biggest ever community crowdfunding campaign in UK history, GlenWyvis is the world's first 100 percent community owned distillery, entirely powered by renewable energy, which will produce high quality craft scottish whisky and craft gin.


 


00.00 Trailer


00.18 Introduction


01.45 John’s early life


02.45 Dingwall and The Scottish Highlands


04.25 John’s career path


06.50 John’s experiences in the Army


10.25 Commercial flying compared to military flying


11.30 Some of the people John has worked with


13.30 How does John manage pressure?


15.30 Green energy


22.50 The genesis of Glenwyvis


26.50 Why has the crowdfund been such a success?


29.00 Buying into the vision


30.30 Fake it till you make it


32.00 Official bottling date


33.00 Rejuvenating Dingwall and The Highlands


35.00 Prioritising time


36.30 What does a typical day look like?


39.00 How has John evolved as a person throughout his life?


41.00 The function of alcohol


43.30 Is there anything John would have done differently?


45.20 John on his purpose


48.30 John on his legacy


50.20 John on success


52.30 Dealing with failure


54.15 Should national service be mandatory?


54.40 Best piece of advice


56.10 What would John say to his 20 year old self?


58.40 Changing the world


1.00.00 Travel and its impact on John


 


You can find John at:


https://flyingfarmer.co/


https://glenwyvis.com/


https://www.facebook.com/GlenWyvis


https://twitter.com/glenwyvis


https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-glenwyvis-open-share-offer


 


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