John Mckenzie, 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 GryllsBorn 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:
